Why was Parrish blue the "in" color of the 1910s? What was with those 1950s pink bathrooms? Remember the 1970s' "Harvest Gold" kitchen appliances?

A new book, "Pantone: The 20th Century in Color" (Chronicle Books), looks at how color and cultural history affect each other, and find their way into our homes.

Authors Leatrice Eiseman and Keith Recker are consultants for Pantone, the New Jersey-based company that developed a standardized color system used by designers, manufacturers, printers and publishers. They use a curatorial approach in discussing each decade's most prevalent colors and why they might have become popular.