National Lead's Dutch Boy Lead Paint

Recently, we got a question from someone who was interested in dating a can of Dutch Boy's white lead paint like we showed in a previous blog post on antique paint cans. As I looked into it, I found some cool and interesting information about the origins of Dutch Boy and their lead paints and figured I would link to those sites for those of you who may be interested in the funny history of lead-based paint in America.

I call it funny because they marketed lead paint as the be-all end-all in paint (which I guess it was in its day).  

Take a look at "Dutch Boy's Lead Party" on Weaselmouseonmarketing's blog. It shows how crazy they were about lead paint in the 1920s (including how they marketed it as being kid friendly!).

Also see Wellwooster.com's pages on Lawrence C. Earle, the artist who originally created the Dutch Boy logo. It's a good resource on National Lead, the company who created Dutch Boy Paint.

Also, as a side note, I have to say that while in the "good old days" Dutch Boy was good paint, today it is sold at Sears. Do I need to say more? Buy good paint.

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Antique Paint Cans and Equipment

This week we dropped in to see our dad at the University of Montana paint shop (where he is the foreman). Here are a few shots of the antique paint cans and tools he has collected over the last 30 years:

The UM stencil isn't old, of course.

Some old paint cans! I wish I had some of that sand finish for the baby room.

Note the 3 tiny detail brushes on top. 

Back when Dutch Boy was good paint. The one on the bottom is white
lead and weighs a LOT more than you would expect. Also,
apparently "Adehsium" is the stickiest thing on Earth!

 My dad has a lot more old paint stuff, which I need to get some pictures of. It's interesting to me to see how things change over time, especially marketing. Some of these cans have to be about a hundred years old, although I suspect most come from the 1920's or so. Most of the old brushes were made of horse hair (which is something you don't see in the US these days).

The giant brushes are wall brushes from before the days of rollers--you used
them to paint the entire wall from top to bottom, not just the edges like we do
today.

I wonder if "General Paint" is still around? I bet it's not! From the looks of the label, the soldier means business. That or he is just saluting the customer.

This one isn't so antique (maybe from the 60's?), but I think it's pretty damn funny.
"Tempo Buckeye" gets the job done. Or something.

Big Bucket is a pretty funny name, if you ask me.

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