From: JAMES R DRAEGER <jim.draeger@wisconsinhistory.org> Subject: RE: Historic Paint colors for commercial buildings Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2018 19:52:41 +0000 Message-id: <DM5PR06MB348127085DD124FF0CC4CEDF950F0@DM5PR06MB3481.namprd06.prod.outlook.com>
Paint was quite commonplace by the 1860s or so and pigmented as well, so I am not sure that you will find a “common” color. I would expect that any store would have been painted rather than whitewash to create a more hygienic and easily cleaned surface. White lead paint was used widely. The cheapest paint color was red, which was pigmented with inexpensive iron oxide. That is why so many barns were painted red. Not sure if that is helpful or not.
Jim
Jim Draeger
State Historic Preservation Officer
Wisconsin Historical Society
816 State St
Madison WI 53706
608-264-6464(o)
Email: jim.draeger@wisconsinhistory.org<mailto:jim.draeger@wisconsinhistory.org>
Wisconsin Historical Society
Collecting, Preserving, and Sharing Stories Since 1846<http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/?utm_source=Email%20Signatures&amp%3Butm_medium=email&amp%3Butm_campaign=si>
From: localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu [mailto:localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Katie Kirby
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 6:36 PM
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: Historic Paint colors for commercial buildings
We've got a small building we are turning into a country/general store exhibit and facing some challenges when deciding on paint colors. We would like to represent what general stores looked and felt like in the Northwoods at the turn of the century.
If I'm assuming correctly, most rural commercial buildings were white (white lead, whitewash?), but what about trim or accents? In this photo you can see the trim is a different color but as it is a black and white photo, it's hard to tell what it would have been.
Does anyone have experience with this and could tell us what the most common paint colors for commercial general stores in a logging town were? My internet research has not been very fruitful at all. Thank you!
Three Lakes Historical Museum
PO Box 250
Three Lakes, WI 54562
715-546-2295 (summer)
www.threelakesmuseum.org<http://www.threelakesmuseum.org/>
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