Painting & Decorating in 1945

We found this historical video on YouTube that discusses painting and decorating in 1945.  A lot has changed since then.  First off, back then lead was included in household paint!  But around 1978, once they discovered how toxic lead was, they took it out of the list of ingredients.  Furthermore, back then there was no such thing as low VOC paint so after painting a room, if you didn’t have the windows open, you would be just about ready to pass out.

Also interesting to note in this video, not once do you see any of the painters using a roller.  Turns out the paint roller was invented by a man from Toronto named Norman Breakey in 1940 but he lacked the funds to mass produce them and so, the idea didn’t take off until much later.  In addition, Mr. Breakey neglected to obtain any patents for his invention so later, others who had the funds to mass produce them were the ones to profit.

The video also talks about how someone in the home painting trade needs to know how to tint paint to produce various colours that clients may ask for.  These days, the paint stores take care of that for us.  The paint stores can perfectly match a colour using their computer database.  So, it’s not something we painters need to have experience with.  Simply pick your colour swatch and the paint store will take care of the rest.

One funny part of this video talks about the tools of the trade with one of them being a blow torch to remove old paint.  Let us put your mind at ease and let you know that we do NOT use blow torches to remove old paint!!

If you are looking for help from a professional painter, contact Kitchener Waterloo painters for a no obligation estimate at 519-635-0253.