This week, an important piece of American paint memorabilia made its way back to the U.S., thanks to two antique book dealers, one in England and one in the U.S., and Painting in Partnership, a house painting contractor from the Chicago area. In 1886, B.S. Mill wrote a book entitled The Painters’ Hand Book.

The Painters' Hand Book - cover

The Painters' Hand Book

It was published in Cincinnati by the Eckstein White Lead Company in 1887. It was leather-bound and measured only 4 inches in width and less than 6 inches in height. It is now considered a very rare book. Why is this little book such a big deal?

First, Mr. Mills was an authority in his field. He was Secretary to The Master House Painters’ Association, which had been formed in 1884. Although I could not confirm it, Mr. Mills had likely been involved in the founding of the Association. That Association changed its name in 1937 to Painting and Decorating Contractors of America (PDCA), which to this day is the voice of the painting industry in the U.S.

The Painters' Hand Book - Master Painter Colors

Second, this book contains 116 lithographed reproductions of the master painter colors, along with their color pigment formula. Why is this important? Because, up to that point in time, and for quite a while after, master house painters mixed their own paints and colors. It was not until decades later that paint manufacturers succeeded in their attempts to directly supply the public with ready-mixed and colored paints. Consequently, these master painter colors give very valuable insight into “historic” paint colors as they really were.

Painting in Partnership is a national award-winning house painting contractor who specializes in historic paint restoration. Purchasing this old book is an illustration of our commitment to give our clients the best color consultation possible for their “period” homes.

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House Painting had a rocky start in America. Pilgrims, known for their austere ways, looked upon the use of color in one’s home as a display of vanity and a sign that the owners enjoyed life too much. As history goes, in 1630, in Charlestown, a clergyman was charged with a sacrilegious crime for painting the interior of his house.

Needless to say, as the colonies grew and became more prosperous, those attitudes about paint and color began to change. However, because of the primitive paint-making process and the astronomical cost of paint in those days, house painting was regarded as a status symbol only a few could afford.

History of House Painting: First Paint Mill in America

The high cost of house paints, coupled with a strong desire to have painted houses and a strong dose of American ingenuity, encouraged the development of home-grown substitutes to the expensive imported paint ingredients. Cookbooks of the time became the place where folks stored their paint recipes and recipes for many other necessities of the time.

The Dutch created a white wash from lime and oyster shells. Red oxide from iron was used to create reds and used them to trim houses and paint their barns. Copper oxide was used to produce vivid greens. Here is a recipe for creating a blue shade, common for interiors of the time: “Boil for three hours a pond of blue vitrol and one-half pound of best whiting in three quarts of water”. Skimmed milk, egg white, coffee, boiled rice were often used to produce those early home-made paints.

The nineteenth century brought the Industrial Age. In 1804, the first white lead plant was built in Philadelphia. In 1815, the first varnish plant was opened also n Philadelphia. Early in the 1800’s, Zinc Oxide white pigment was invented in Europe, which would eventually come to play a huge role in the popularization of house paints. But it was not until 1855 that a patent was first issued for what is known as the American process of zinc oxide making. Unlike white lead, zinc oxide was non-toxic and possessed other qualities, which made it an ingredient of choice for house paints.

The information for this post is derived from a 1946 supplement to the Armstrong Paint Company’s employee magazine, “The Armstrong Paint Pot”.

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