You other other timers - what is your memory of normal colors, other than white, of frame houses in the '50s - especially rural.
Gene
Well Gene, actualy they were mostly white. The trim varied, but the houses were painted with white lead paint as that was the cheapest way to go. Colors cost money and were just about only used for trim. Now there were brick houses and stone houses. Obviously those were the color of the region's brick/stone color. The trim on these also varied, but most of time I remember that being white...... :)
In the city the houses had more color. Lots of blue, tan (light brown) and I do remember one house that was purple. with white trim.
In the rural areas I never really saw more than white. I grew up in Wisconsin so others may have a different prespective on this. All those rural houses were "row houses" or farm houses.
Just my memories from 60 or so years ago.
HO-Ron
Yellow. A lot would depend on the type of construction. I also remenber some red houses.
When I was a kid we used a lot of whitewash. Lime was cheap, worked great on brick or soft woods such as cedar. Add a little portland for durability, even color it with pig's blood for a nice "Suffolk Pink". :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewash
It may be dialect, but a "frame house" to me is a wooden house, made with boards. I know white was the predominate color, but I'm looking for a bit of variety. OTOH, I've done enough "variety," and maybe this will stay white. :D
When I was a teenager I had two female cousins (far enough removed to be dateable) named Martha and Le-le, who lived in a pink stucco Mexican style rancher.
Gene
Yes, a "frame house" might be built up with wood studs, as opposed to a concrete block construction, however it might be finished with a brick or stucco veneer over plywood or celotex (tar board). Cedar has traditionally been an excellent choice for exterior siding and roofs.
Stucco is again becoming very popular, especially on single or double story commercial buildings. By mixing pigment in the stucco the color lasts a long time.
Yeah, I had several "kissin' cuzzins", like 32nd variety. Two were twins, double the fun. :D
Gene, I grew up in Central West Virginia and our house was whitewash. However, There were several frame houses in the hollow that had tar based shingles or siding on them. Usually a dark color. We only painted the barns red! lol The problem with the whitewash was it was a chore every year. Painted the metal roof with a tar based silver paint. Stephen
In older parts of the city, I still see some old frame houses built in the 40's and 50's. They're usually white, but trim varies wildly. Almost none are their original tan, and most have been repainted into gawdy colors such as pink, purple, cherry red, royal blue, yellow or even a lime green.
Gene,
While many where/are white, many other paint schemes have remained popular over the years. One of the best ways to understand paint colors is to go to your local paint store, like Sherwin Williams (not the big box center), and they will have brochures on traditional paint schems from various eras.
Colonial Revival, Craftsman and Victorian styles of Architecture all have their own "history" of paint colors and all have stayed "in use" since those styles came into their own and then progressed to the next.
Earth tones and greens have always been popular and Colonial Revival colors like yellow and light blue with white trim are also very timeless and quite popular in the 50's.
Sheldon
My old neighborhood when I was growing up had a lot of 2 story Asphalt shingled homes, 2 tone brown, some gray, some off white and a few still had wood siding, mostly browns and whites. Very generic looking.
The house where I grew up in the 40's and early 50's had light yellowy tan coloured wood siding. I can remember my Grandfather mixing the paint - white lead (lead carbonate), whiting (calcium carbonate), boiled linseed oil, raw linseed oil, and turpentine. This made white paint, some of which he set aside for the trim. The rest he coloured with tubes of 'colours in oil' which were a lot like artists oil paints. I believe he used both yellow ochre and an earth brown (umber? burnt umber? raw sienna?)
The same house had lattice work that closed in the space below the front and back porch. This was made of rough cut lathe (like the stuff used to hold the plaster on the walls inside the house.) Instead of paint, my Grandfather used a reddish brown stain made of linseed oil, iron oxide and a thinner, probably Stoddard's solvent. Iron oxide was cheap compared to white lead which was the reason it was used on barns and railroad equipment. While we think of barns today as being bright red, apparently in the late 1800's they were box car red. I can remember the neighbour's barn and garage as being a much darker red than barns today, roughly the colour of my Grandfather's rusty old burning barrel, but even darker.
In the mid fifties, my family moved into a new house which was finished with white asbestos/cement shingles with white trim. The first house I owned was built around that time and was finished with white stucco. Over the years, the stucco was repainted white and was still white the last time I saw it, about two years ago. And yes, all three of these houses were wood frame construction, the oldest was a two story built in 1908 using balloon construction, the two newer houses were bungalows built using platform construction. I had the pleasure of doing maintenance and alterations on all three and knew their construction very well.
Today, contractors use the term "stick built" to differentiate from modular or factory assembled homes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_(construction)
I don't remember what my Dad used to paint the barns and grain cribs, but it was, as Jim noted, a very dark red.
My job was to keep the picket fence around the house whitewashed, but I didn't have any friends living close by I could "con" into doing it for me. :D
LOL...I live in North Central West Virginia, Elkins, I just painted my house built in the 30's last summer, white with black trim. Most of the homes are at least 20-80 years old and still painted white with black, green or red trim. some foundations that are out of the ground are painted a brick reddish brown. Though I was born and raised in North Jersey most of the houses I lived in there were also white with the same color trim. My grandfather's house, built in the late 1800's was a very dark brown, but it was cedar shakes, with a white trim. His storm screen and window's were painted green. He used to remove the screens late fall and install the storm windows.
I lived in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago in the Fifties . There were some frame houses but not many, most of the housing at that time were multi-story brick houses of two to four stories. There were brownstone , greystones , brick of many colors for some reason painted some shade of red with contrasting trim . In the sixties it became fashionable to have the brick fronts to be sand blasted and tuckpointed and the natural face brick colors to be revealed again. A lot of the frame buildings were covered with sometype of shingles in various shades. The color I remember most is grey usually used on garages in the Alleys. It was then a great neighborhood to be raised in if you were a child . We lived in Lincoln Park and the Beach in the summer as it was less than a mile away , walking distance .
The house I'm thinking about is the old Revell/Heljin/Con-Cor farm house kit, with house, shed, chicken coop, and outhouse. The house itself is obviously wood plank. The one reason for painting it something other than white is that what's called for - protect it from being the same color as every other kit of its type. I guess it would be possible to cover the walls with shingles or something like that, but that's more than I want to do.
I need to find a barn for it - but I think I know where that'll come from.
Gene
I doubt if the houses were "white white" but some shade of grey. I suspect the color had a lot to do with the ability to "hide the dirt". an older house needing some attention could have peeling paint, especially on the sunny side of the house.
I'm not sure when the water based acrylics became popular. Most likely the paint came in a basic near white color to which you could add a tint of another color.
In a block of houses, you can be sure that the trim would be different from green to brown, black, blue, etc.
Rangerover, you stated you live in Elkins? Where at, I too live in/around Elkins. I've worked here for 17 years. I grew up in Harrison County and lived in Pendleton County for over 16 years. Stephen
Quote from: Stephen D. Richards on March 29, 2009, 05:40:20 PM
Rangerover, you stated you live in Elkins? Where at, I too live in/around Elkins. I've worked here for 17 years. I grew up in Harrison County and lived in Pendleton County for over 16 years. Stephen
I live on North Randolph Ave/Rt 219. The main road going into Elkins just off Rt. 33, the DOH yard and office is right next door. Couple more weeks and the Shays will be running back in the yard here in Elkins. Will post those pictures as soon as they roll in. I'll know when they are here, when they blow that extinctive whistle. I live 5 minutes away from the train station.
I visited here in Elkins, some 45 (1963-64) years ago when I was in the Army at Ft Knox, I was cadre at USATCA. A couple of my NCO buddy's brought me "home" with them on weekend pass's and we came to Elkins. I'll never forget when we got of the car in the train yard and I looked around at the yard with the roundhouse and turntable, and it was busy with coal cars and lumber cars, passenger cars. I looked at these mountains and said this is where I want to live. The folks here are as great now as they were back then, reminded me of the 50's-60's back home in NJ.
Quote from: GlennW on March 29, 2009, 03:21:08 PM
I doubt if the houses were "white white" but some shade of grey. I suspect the color had a lot to do with the ability to "hide the dirt". an older house needing some attention could have peeling paint, especially on the sunny side of the house.
I'm not sure when the water based acrylics became popular. Most likely the paint came in a basic near white color to which you could add a tint of another color.
In a block of houses, you can be sure that the trim would be different from green to brown, black, blue, etc.
Not to argue with anybody, but no, white was white back then and still is today, bright white. I'm 65 and my dad was a house painter, sign painter and paper hanger. Everything until 1960 was oil base paint with lead I might add, even flat colors for inside on walls, but most folks used semi gloss on walls and ceilings, it was easy to clean and still is. Water base house paints didn't catch on until the mid to late 60's.
Quote from: SteamGene on March 29, 2009, 01:18:08 PM
The house I'm thinking about is the old Revell/Heljin/Con-Cor farm house kit, with house, shed, chicken coop, and outhouse. The house itself is obviously wood plank. The one reason for painting it something other than white is that what's called for - protect it from being the same color as every other kit of its type. I guess it would be possible to cover the walls with shingles or something like that, but that's more than I want to do.
I need to find a barn for it - but I think I know where that'll come from.
Gene
Gene I have that same kit I put together 40 years ago, everything is still there even the chickens for the hen house, even the outhouse. But I left it the original white. If you take a ride out any place rural farm area's the farm houses and buildings, excluding the barn's, silo's, and pig pen's are practically all white, of course weathering with a light gray or even green on the north side for mildew or moss nearer the bottom of the siding, common in wet area's, brown in fact on the very bottom for rain splash. And most of the gutters and down spouts were painted green. The gutters on some of the older farm houses were built in or "yankee gutters" as they were referred to. Most also had slate roof's, dark gray. And some even here in West Virginia and I know in upstate New York and Vermont had and still have metal, tin roofs. I lived in one such here and it was tin painted red.
Rangerover,
I know that most were white. I'm just looking for a bit of authentic variety. :D After talking to my wife, who grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, I'm thinking of a light brown/beige. I've got the old Bachmann Sears kit house, which is blue, and I'm going to paint it white and use it for the mine superintendant's house in Hannahville. I'm probably also going to move the Classics Railroad Street company houses that I've updated back down to Nicksburg, and replace them with another set, either without the shed or with the shed all in the same place and all painted white - still company houses.
Gene
Gene,
Diging into the memory banks of a 1945 vintage "old timer" the follolw is what I remember about my hometown.
The block I grew up on in Covington, Virginia had a total of nine houses on it. Three were brick;three were wood frame painted white with dark trim;one was gray with greenj trim, one was yellow with brown trim and the ninth was stucco.
We were located three blocks from the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company -WESTVACO- mill and the same distance from the mainline so there was a lot of soot in the air to settle on houses so the choice of white may have looked more like a dingy white.
Most of the farm houses in Alleghany County were white, althoug barns tended to be red
After about 1957, newer houses sprang up as farms egan to be subdivided and a rainbow of colors began, although brick veneer was an extremly popular choice..
Thanks for the question, it is fun to think back to that simpler time.
Tom
My grandparents in South Carolina raised thousands of chickens and the chicken house was not painted. It had a corrugated tin roof and the wood was weathered to a grey color.
As for houses, the original Levitt Houses were available in colors.
Traditional New England colors were white with black trim.
An art teacher I once worked with did a painting with all white items on a table. There was a white tablecloth, eggs, a porcelain pitcher and a big serving plate. They were all white in color but yet different. All white houses on a layout need not be the same white color.
And now the rest of the story (short version):
1840-1865 Greek Revival - most houses and buildings white or brick
1865-1901 Victorian era - made up of at least 11 different architectural styles - popular architects, designers and home fashion editors did all they could to eliminate white from the landscape. By 1890 VERY FEW houses were white. Earth tones and greens most popular.
1901-1938 Craftsman and Colonial Revival compete neck and neck as most popular style. White mainly a trim color for dark or bright body colors. Style elements from both, and earlier Queen Anne style applied to many "vanacular" buildings - like farm houses and American Four Square.
1929 Stock market crashes - world enters depression. Even if you had money it was thought unseemly to paint your house in the flashly color schemes of the Victorian, Craftsman and Colonial Revival styles - White returns as dominate color.
1948 War over, economy rebounds, new simpler styles emerge and "color" schemes return - most revived from the past three styles. Many people still choose white.
Sheldon
Thanks Sheldon - an architect should know. I tried an internet search for "historic house colors" and apparently couldn't get the search parameters correct - nothing of interest for exteriors.
I think tan will do it for the farm house and then white for the super's house and a new company house row in white - weathered in soot.
Gene
Gene,
I wouldn't know where to find anything like that on the web, I have all these old fashioned things called books in my office with all this information.
But as I said, Sherwin Williams and the like will have some "historic" color brochures in their showrooms.
Tan sounds good. You could use dark brown or forest green for the trim.
Sheldon
I use both. <g>
There is no Sherwin Williams store close by, but I'm going to go with the tan. Green trim sounds good.
Gene
Rangerover
I probably know exactly where you live. I'm sure you have seen me around in various places before. It's a shame I won't be here for the trains this year. Had a blast last year. Do you live down Ervin Lane or on US 219 proper? Should be pretty close to Highland Park. I work for the City Police. Be interested in talking with you. I will be leaving for Reserve duty again next Sunday for about six weeks this time. Short tour!
Gene,
sounds like a plan. On the farm in the hollow I grew up in, we didn't paint the "out" buildings. Only those that had more money than we did! lol But even they painted with what they could get or had on hand. I spent the late 50's, all the 60's and early 70's growing up there but we just didn't have alot. Still wouldn't trade it for anything though. Still want to get down there and visit. Would love to see your layout in person. I'm still working on locomotives, rolling stock and track. I have a few buildings that I have just started to build, when I have the time that is! Stephen
Y
Quote from: Stephen D. Richards on March 30, 2009, 09:25:29 PM
Rangerover
I probably know exactly where you live. I'm sure you have seen me around in various places before. It's a shame I won't be here for the trains this year. Had a blast last year. Do you live down Ervin Lane or on US 219 proper? Should be pretty close to Highland Park. I work for the City Police. Be interested in talking with you. I will be leaving for Reserve duty again next Sunday for about six weeks this time. Short tour!
Gene,
sounds like a plan. On the farm in the hollow I grew up in, we didn't paint the "out" buildings. Only those that had more money than we did! lol But even they painted with what they could get or had on hand. I spent the late 50's, all the 60's and early 70's growing up there but we just didn't have alot. Still wouldn't trade it for anything though. Still want to get down there and visit. Would love to see your layout in person. I'm still working on locomotives, rolling stock and track. I have a few buildings that I have just started to build, when I have the time that is! Stephen
Yeah Stephen I live right on 219 across from the entrance to Highland Park, the old Phillips house. We've no doubt crossed paths possibly when I pay my water bill. I too have worked with police, state police and various county sheriffs depts, (police combat courses, retired now though) but not Elkins PD.
I know the Phillips house. If we are not overwhelmed tomorrow, I might try and stop by. Stephen
Gene,
You got me thinking, and searching. www.sherwin-williams.com now has a drag and drop color planner with all the historic color collections and auto suggested trim colors.
The same info as those old fashioned books.
Sheldon
Dear Gene,
Western PA, including Pittsburgh had a lot of what we called "Insulbrick" which was a tar based siding shingle with small aggregate impregnated in the surface. Our house was a dark dull gray. I have seen reds, etc that weathered ugly and dark. One still sees a lot of this stuff, especially in the Mon Valley where my mother now lives.
Northern Indiana has lots of white frame houses, mostly small towns of 50 to 150 houses, sometimes less. Bigger towns have a variety of clapboard, brick, etc.
Lancaster Co, PA has lots of limestone faced buildings.
Best Wishes,
Jack
Quote from: jsmvmd on March 31, 2009, 11:07:20 AM
Lancaster Co, PA has lots of limestone faced buildings.
That being the part of the state where I was raised, I feel qualified to add that that part of Pennsylvania also has a lot of buildings faced with a fake stone that my dad always called "formstone."
FWIW. ...
There was an article about using "Insulbrick" in a 2007 edition of Railroad Modeler Craftsman. I don't know who makes the stuff for HO scale, but it looked pretty neat on an old house for a layout. Very realistic.
I need to dig through my magazines to find the article. I don't subscribe but my son gave me a pile of back issues.