Have you ever thought about it? Why are most barns painted red?Early builders of farms took into consideration many factors. In addition to the health and welfare of his animals and stored harvest, the early farmer noted the direction of water runoff and drainage, the direction of sunlight and wind patterns. Equally important was the preservation of the barn’s wooden timbers.
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Early thinking considered the type of wood and its placement to be critical and the prevailing thought at the time was that wooden structures needed no paint. As the 1700’s began, barns, wooden bridges, and houses in the early settlements were not painted. It was thought that natural, unpreserved “seasoning” of the wood was satisfactory.
As the century progressed, by the late 1700’s, the practice of wood seasoning gave way to artificial methods of preservation. Paint was becoming the new law of the land. Virginia farmers paved the way for considering paint as a means of protection from the elements. And in Pennsylvania, Dutch settlers began using the color red. It is uncertain whether, at the time, the color red was just a fad or if the use of red had more practical purposes. It is apparently fact that red paint was the lowest price paint available at the time until the invention of “white wash”.
The Dutch, by custom, favored red for use in bricks, flower geraniums, barns and even reddish brown cows.
On the practical side, it was discovered that red paint, when combined with linseed oil would prevent certain contaminants and from subjecting wood to decay. Some farmers also added red blood from slaughter animals to the paint and as the paint dried, the color changed from a bright red to a darker burnt red. The exact reasoning for addition of blood remains unclear.
Ferrous oxide or rust was found to be a toxic poison for fungus such as mold, mildew, and moss which grew on the barns and decay the wood. Since rust was plentiful on the farm it soon became the practice to add it to the paint used to coat barns, again the color of rust contributed and preserved the continuing tradition of red.
It is also said that red barn became a fashionable thing that contrasted well with traditional white farmhouses.
As the century progressed, by the late 1700’s, the practice of wood seasoning gave way to artificial methods of preservation. Paint was becoming the new law of the land. Virginia farmers paved the way for considering paint as a means of protection from the elements. And in Pennsylvania, Dutch settlers began using the color red. It is uncertain whether, at the time, the color red was just a fad or if the use of red had more practical purposes. It is apparently fact that red paint was the lowest price paint available at the time until the invention of “white wash”.
The Dutch, by custom, favored red for use in bricks, flower geraniums, barns and even reddish brown cows.
On the practical side, it was discovered that red paint, when combined with linseed oil would prevent certain contaminants and from subjecting wood to decay. Some farmers also added red blood from slaughter animals to the paint and as the paint dried, the color changed from a bright red to a darker burnt red. The exact reasoning for addition of blood remains unclear.
Ferrous oxide or rust was found to be a toxic poison for fungus such as mold, mildew, and moss which grew on the barns and decay the wood. Since rust was plentiful on the farm it soon became the practice to add it to the paint used to coat barns, again the color of rust contributed and preserved the continuing tradition of red.
It is also said that red barn became a fashionable thing that contrasted well with traditional white farmhouses.
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