Useful words: virtually (nearly, almost); far too expensive; forbade (forbid- pas tense); status stems from rarity; it is often thought of as gods; astronomically high; the hue; filthy rich; mass-produced; the status symbol faded away; Questions: 1) Was it a popular color? Why wasnt it used in flags? it was even more expensive than gold. 2) WHo used this color in the past? 3) Why is it expensive? the dye is difficult to find 4) How did they obtain the dye? from a small snail. 10 000 snails were needed to get one gram purple dye. 6) How it became known to lower class?English checmist Willian Perkin accidentally created purpple compound when attempting to syntehsize quinine , an anti-malaria drug.