Talk:Polka dot

What is the origin of the name ?

Polka dots from dots and dashes
I've done some research around the polka craze and polkists. The polkists has own cloth style and one question was if polka dots was introduced and used among them. There are som pictures of american polkists but nobody wear dotted cloths. My conclution is that polka dots is not a part of the polkist attributes. But I found other interesting events from that time: the transatlantic cable. The first was opened i 1857 and was absolutely high tech of that time. The alphabete of Morse was introduced already 1835 but made now big attention in connection to this cable. On Google book there is many magazines from this periog describing Morse's alphabete using the terms dots and dashes. Some links:


 * 1857: The Atlantic telegraph: A history of preliminary experimental proceedings
 * 1857: Chamber's journal of popular literature, science and arts
 * 1856: Proceedings of the annual meeting
 * 1855: Reading lessons, ed. by E. Hughes (but this is a school book?)

The first magazine describing polka dots I found was Godey's magazine, vol 60-61, page 383 (I'm sorry, I can't find a link to this page anymore, there are only string wievs, but my Google book will not find polka dot/polka dots anymore in that volume), from 1860 (earlier than the ref in this article). There they are described, not only mentioned, that can indicate they are brand new and need to be explained. It tells: "polka dots in various sizes, in white, on plain ground as usual". That ought to mean that polka dots are introduced just before 1860.

So two things are on everyones lips: The polka / the polka craze, that started to America in the period 1840-1850, and high tech dots and dashes actualized in this period 1856-1858 then the first transatlantic cable was projected, laid and opened. Are just this design invented in the same period by a coincidence? I don't think so.

I'm a Swede with more rudimentary english, so hopefully somebody native can boile this down in better formulations for the article. I have given some links above for references to lay on. --217.72.49.102 (talk) 23:30, 4 February 2011 (UTC) (I am the user Åke Persson at swedish Wikipedia). I have also an old account here I'm logged in to now --OkPerson (talk) 21:54, 5 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Has found a mention already 1854 on Google Book, and has updated the article. --OkPerson (talk) 14:25, 18 September 2011 (UTC)


 * I removed this reference to the supposed use in 1854; the edition of Yale Literary Magazine in question was from 1954. 92.232.35.216 (talk) 23:10, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Secret Polka Dot Society
The Secret Polka Dot Society (SPDS)is an operations force organized by the Illuminati and tasked with creating confusion in the public mind as to the origins of the term "polka dot." The members of SPDS (or "Speeders" as they refer to themselves) are recruited from social clubs at prestigious universities across the globe. SPDS is seen as a proving ground for young men of good character and appropriate station to demonstrate their ability to support disinformation campaigns, the likes of which are the lifeblood of the Illuminati. It is unknown how many have given their lives in service of the Polka Dot Campaign, but it is rumored that there is a wall at the Fox Final Club in Cambridge with a dot painted on it for each fallen brother. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.142.42.128 (talk) 23:33, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Does the half-tone picture belong on this page?
There's a picture on the page of two women in face paint, captioned "Two young women participating in Tour de Fat with polka dot facepaint". However, they're clearly painted to evoke classic comics (the "polka dots" are the half-tone printing process, and there are thick black lines and other details as one would find in such an illustration). I don't feel the picture belongs on this page. At the very least, it would make sense to correct the caption so that it was accurate (something like "face paint using polka dots to evoke the half-tone printing process used in comics"). Asmor (talk) 20:02, 20 July 2015 (UTC)

Neckties
I question the assertion (which I see is already marked with a "citation needed" tag) that "the pattern rarely appears in formal contexts... Occasionally, white-on-black small dots appear on more formal clothing." It seems to me that polka-dotted neckties are reasonably common, including ties with large dots, with both dots and backgrounds in various colors. Jcejhay (talk) 18:47, 15 May 2018 (UTC)