What is "pearl white"

Pearl \Pearl\, n. [OE. perle, F. perle, LL. perla, perula, probably fr. (assumed) L. pirulo, dim. of L. pirum a pear. See Pear, and cf. Purl to mantle.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) A shelly concretion, usually rounded, and having a brilliant luster, with varying tints, found in the mantle, or between the mantle and shell, of certain bivalve mollusks, especially in the pearl oysters and river mussels, and sometimes in certain univalves. It is usually due to a secretion of shelly substance around some irritating foreign particle. Its substance is the same as nacre, or mother-of-pearl. Pearls which are round, or nearly round, and of fine luster, are highly esteemed as jewels, and compare in value with the precious stones.

2. Hence, figuratively, something resembling a pearl; something very precious.

   I see thee compassed with thy kingdom's pearl.
   --Shak.

   And those pearls of dew she wears.
   --Milton.

3. Nacre, or mother-of-pearl.

4. (Zo["o]l.) A fish allied to the turbot; the brill.

5. (Zo["o]l.) A light-colored tern.

6. (Zo["o]l.) One of the circle of tubercles which form the bur on a deer's antler.

7. A whitish speck or film on the eye. [Obs.]
   --Milton.

8. A capsule of gelatin or similar substance containing some liquid for medicinal application, as ether.

9. (Print.) A size of type, between agate and diamond. [1913 Webster] [hand] This line is printed in the type called pearl. Ground pearl. (Zo["o]l.) See under Ground. Pearl barley, kernels of barley, ground so as to form small, round grains. Pearl diver, one who dives for pearl oysters. Pearl edge, an edge of small loops on the side of some kinds of ribbon; also, a narrow kind of thread edging to be sewed on lace. Pearl eye, cataract. [R.] Pearl gray, a very pale and delicate blue-gray color. Pearl millet, Egyptian millet ( Penicillaria spicata). Pearl moss. See Carrageen. Pearl moth (Zo["o]l.), any moth of the genus Margaritia; -- so called on account of its pearly color. Pearl oyster (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of large tropical marine bivalve mollusks of the genus Meleagrina, or Margaritifera, found in the East Indies (especially at Ceylon), in the Persian Gulf, on the coast of Australia, and on the Pacific coast of America. Called also pearl shell, and pearl mussel. Pearl powder. See Pearl white, below. Pearl sago, sago in the form of small pearly grains. Pearl sinter (Min.), fiorite. Pearl spar (Min.), a crystallized variety of dolomite, having a pearly luster. Pearl white.

   1. Basic bismuth nitrate, or bismuth subchloride; -- used chiefly as a cosmetic.

   2. A variety of white lead blued with indigo or Berlin blue.

Pearl Fay White (March 4, 1889 – August 4, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. White began her career on the stage at the age of six, and later moved on to silent films appearing in a number of popular serials.

Dubbed the "Queen of the Serials", White was noted for doing the majority of her own stunts in several film serials, most notably in The Perils of Pauline.

Pearl White was a respected silent-era theatre organist and piano player who worked in the Chicago area.

She was born Pearl Eleanor Weiss on 10-26-1910 and at age three, was recognized as a child prodigy on the keyboard. At age four, she sang, danced and played concert grand at Chicago's Majestic (Shubert) Theatre. As a child, she studied piano with Rudolph Gantz and Florence LeClare.

At age eleven she studied with Robert Bing at Glen Dillard Gunn School in Chicago's Fine Arts Building and Jessica Wiley at the Bush Conservatory of Music on the North Side. Her early studies on organ were with Edward Benedict in the Kimball building and Dean Fossler at the Gunn School.

Miss White first played organ professionally at age 13 at the Virginia Theatre and later at the Echo Theater in Des Plaines. Al Carny, organist for station WCFL, recommended her for her next position—cutting master piano rolls in Chicago for the Capitol Music Roll Company. From 1925-32, White cut more than 100 rolls which appeared on labels such as Capitol, Imperial, Supertone, American and Columbia. As the Capitol company also made rolls for many coin operated nickelodeon and orchestrion type instruments, many of her performance also survive in this format, with added orchestration from instruments built into these coin operated instruments (such as drums, pipes, etc.) She also worked as substitute organist at the Uptown, Tivoli, Granada, Belmont and Embassy Theatres around this time.

White played the North Center Theatre from 1928 to 1932 and also had a six-week run at the Chicago Theatre.

As the need for organists in theaters diminished with the arrival of sound pictures, Pearl White began to perform on radio, first appearing on WBBM in 1929. In 1944 she joined the full-time staff of WIND providing background music and was also heard on WCFL. She was also considered to be an accomplished musical arranger and provided arrangements to the Phil Harris orchestra among others. The hallmark of her hard-driving jazz style is interlocking chords alternating between the right and left hands which she dubbed "double stuff".

White enjoyed a renaissance late in her career when theatre organs were removed from failing, aged theatres and installed in alternate venues. She performed with Al Melgard at Chicago Stadium on the giant Barton organ in 1962 and was featured artist at the in Shea's Theatre in Buffalo. She also played for the Chicago Area Organ Enthusiasts' conventions of 1965 and 1969 and provided organ accompaniment at silent film revival showings and made guest appearances at the Elm Skating Rink.

Despite a long and successful musical career, Pearl White made only one commercial recording showcasing the blazingly fast jazz technique for which she earned the nickname, "The Fireball". Entitled "Pearl White in Nostalgia and Flame", it was made at the Patio Theatre in Chicago in 1968 on her own label.

Pearl White died on May 11, 1978. She was inducted into the American Theatre Organ Society Hall of Fame in 1991.