KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This time of year, Kansas Citians are usually painting the town a bright Chiefs red.
But this week, you might be seeing more orange, as Kansas City celebrates Taylor Swift's new album, "The Life of a Showgirl." The long-anticipated album announcement has even more excitement surrounding it after Swift sat down for a two-hour tell-all, marking her first podcast appearance, on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.
Orange's historical significance goes back decades, involves orange soda, and former President Harry Truman.
“Orange is kind of our thing,” Polly’s Pop General Manager Calvin Hays said.
Hays said this was the case for their Independence soda shop long before Taylor Swift's new album got the color trending.
“Harry Truman actually was good friends with Polly Compton, which is the creator of Polly Pop, back in 1923,” Hays said.
If the soda shop were an album, Easter eggs of the former President are all over the shop's tracks: from letters, to designs, to his favorite flavor.
“What's pretty cool and plays into all of this is that it was actually rumored that Harry Truman's favorite flavor was orange,” Hays said.
In Kansas City’s Martini Corner, Jhy Coulter's love for the color orange started when she moved to Spain.
“Something about the orange and the positivity of it really just drew me in,” she said.
Her time in Spain inspired her to combine her two loves: pizza and the color orange.
“Maybe I was one of the first on the orange tip, not to knock Taylor,” Coulter said.
The color is in her pizza shop's name and look: Orange By Devoured. It's why she can get behind the idea of KC supporting her favorite color.
“I hope that more people embrace this, this vibrant color, because it's not like red, it's not like blue, it's just its own,” she said.
It's all a unique blend of two moments in time, through past and present icons of Kansas City.
And Hays and Coulter both said it's not too late to get their products in the hands of the showgirl herself.
“Orange is actually a really special, really special color for us,” Hays said. “Taylor Swift, if you're hearing this, let us know.”
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KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
