Purple was in such vogue in the 1860s, thanks to

Aniline was first synthesised in 1826 by Otto Unverdorben by extracting it from natural indigo plant. This was followed up by Carl Julius Fritzsche in 1840, who treated indigo plant with caustic potash and named it "Aniline", after the indigo plant named "Anil".

Sir William Perkin, is undisputedly the Father of the Modern Synthetic Dyes industry...