The ongoing discussions about painting our blackbirds and the dates for
changeover to Chinese red reminded me of a question I've been curious about
for some time:
When did the Blackbird scheme itself come into existence and what went
before? I've seen a couple of black & white photos of the early Midwest
centercabs in solid paint -- I'd guess their color was either pullman green
or black?? And there are photos of Burlington doodlebugs from the early
1930s showing them in what looks like solid -- presumably pullman green --
paint (though I've seen other photos from as early as 1933 showing them
with their trademark red and yellow fronts). I bring up the doodlebugs
because the red and yellow of their fronts look like the same colors used
as trim for the blackbirds, and I'd guess there was some relation between
the development of those 2 paint schemes.
Do we know the story of how the blackbird scheme came to be? who thought it
up? and why they chose those colors?
Jonathan
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