Design & Decorating

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(321) 236...
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United StatesUnited States
Address
428 South Crystal Lake Drive

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Company Description

The first American paint mill opened in 1700 in Boston, Mass. In 1718, the Englishman Marshall Smith devised a "Machine or Engine for the Grinding of Colours," which prompted a sort of arms race with regard to grinding pigment efficiently. In 1741, the English company Emerton and Manby publicized the "Horse-Mills" it used to grind pigment, which allowed it to sell paint at prices its rivals couldn't match. Owner Elizabeth Emerton bragged: "One Pound of Colour ground in a Horse-Mill will paint twelve Yards of Work, whereas Colour ground any other Way, will not do half that Quantity." As any steampunk aficionado will tell you, the turn of the 19th century meant the rise of steam power. Paint mills were no exception; at this point in time, most of them ran on steam. Another, more significant improvement also occurred around this time: Nontoxic zinc oxide became a viable base for white pigment, thanks to European ingenuity. (It came to the U.S. in 1855.) By the end of the 1800s, roller mills had started to grind pigment as well as grain, and the guild system that had organized English house painters for centuries became a network of trade unions. Mass production of paint was no longer a pipe dream, and linseed oil, a cheap binding agent that also helped protect wood, made it even easier. It was in the 19th century that decorating a home with paint became the norm rather than an outlier

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