What is the origin of pink for girls, and blue for boys ?

Here's what I've heard:

"Blue [in Europe] was a color associated with nobility and power and was said to offer protection [from evil spirits]. So boys were clothed in blue to keep them safe. Girls were expendable, so they didn't have a color at all until the 17th Century, when there were popular stories of how girls were born from rosebuds. And now it's just a marketing ploy."

Straight from the Hip


Because of ultrasound and amniocentesis these days, everybody might know the sex of a baby long before it's born, and it seems that safe YELLOW baby clothes are not as common in stores as they once were.