January 24, 2012

1936 house painting invoice

All that talk of lead in house paint is exaggerated, right?  Here's a copy of a 1936 invoice from Ansonia, CT that sheds some light on the practices of the day.  Yes, that's five hundred pounds of white lead to be mixed with the 24 gallons of oil, along with gasoline (to clean brushes, I'm guessing), lamp black and raw sienna in pigment form as well as a gallon of green paint - interesting that the green came pre-mixed.
We also find "metal roof strips" (zinc strips to inhibit moss growth? or replacement flashing to accompany the "cement & sand" on the previous line?) and two gallons of "roof paint" - maybe some sort of asphalt-based mix for recoating a metal roof on a bay window or other projection.
Mr. Wilson doesn't specify how many panes of glass he replaced, but the 38 pounds of putty suggests that the windows weren't in great shape, which, along with the three days spent repairing the blinds (shutters) gives the impression of a house that might not have been painted for some time....

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me. exterior house painting

    ReplyDelete

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