(This Footnote to History article was printed on page 13 of the May 12, 1957 edition of the Los Angeles Times, and is reprinted word-for-word below.)

Color-Blind Plumber Gums Up The Works

OROVILLE, Cal., May 11 (AP)—Four young couples bought new houses. Each wife specified a different pastel color scheme for her bathroom … blue… pink… sand … green.

Plumbing Contractor Mike Kovitch assigned a subcontractor to install the fixtures. Now four irate housewives are demanding to know why a blue bathtub was installed with a green washbasin, etc.

“We’re having to pull out the fixtures and reshuffle them.” Kovitch said today.

“The plumber who installed them was colorblind.”