Bottom's Up, 2009 Gonna to Be Bubbly

Ask anyone who didn't live throughout it what color the Great Depression was and "gray" will be the likely response.

Sure, maybe that's because color photographs were yet to be invented, but gray likewise invokes images of dour faces and winding queues of destitute Americans in heavy overcoats donning sad fedora hats.

Not this time.

Yellow, it appears, is the new gray. Or, more specifically, "mimosa."

Yesterday, despite fears General Motors (GM) could go belly up without a multi-billion dollar government bailout and dire economic warnings from across the globe, the Pantone Color Institute made bold prognostications of optimism, hopefulness and joy in the coming year.

Pantone, the self-proclaimed authority on color, announced that 2009's fashion color of the year would be mimosa, a gentle hue most Americans associate with pre-noon cocktails and tipsy brunches.

"The color yellow exemplifies the warmth and nurturing quality of the sun, properties we as humans are naturally drawn to for reassurance," according to Pantone executive director Leatrice Eiseman. "Mimosa also speaks to enlightenment, as it is a hue that sparks imagination and innovation" she continued.

Such blissful words in these dark times are sorely needed. For, amidst the ubiquitous doom and gloom, the forecasters of fear and carnacs of carnage are missing the point. As Minyanville's Kevin Depew wrote back in July about the Modern Stealth Depression, "The time for preparations and battening down the hatches has passed. It's finally here. Let's party."

Indeed, bottom's up.