Sunday, April 25, 2010

Cook's Paint Almanac - 1950

Color style fascinates me. There are people who can look ahead and see what colors will be fashionable and there are other people who are determining what colors are 'hot' each season. It is as much a science as an art. Part of the reason that I love vintage fabrics is that they do not change from in style to out of style. They remain vintage style!

This is a booklet about color, that floated to the surface, some time ago.






It is an advertising piece printed by the Cook's Paints (for farm and home). It is a calendar/almanac that begins in April 1950 and ends in March, 1951.


According to the almanac, April is the beginning of the "Spring Decorating Period". It is the month for "brightening up your rooms to match the wake-up spirit of spring". Some of the special days in April of that year are 'Pan-American Day' ( the 14th) and 'Southern Memorial Day' (the 26th).

The almanac suggests 'dramatic colors for the walls, pastel tints for ceilings and sparkling enamel for woodwork'. I love dramatic colors for walls. When we moved to the desert, the house we left had dramatic colors. The realtor chosen by the relocation company to tell us what our house was worth, said that the colors of the carpets and walls reduced the value of the house by many thousands of dollars. We disagreed...

I have been looking through some quilting books that I picked up at various auctions/estate sales/thrift stores, etc. The illustrations in the books from the 80's and 90's have examples of the projects made up in colors that look very dated. I remember when they were 'current', though, and that makes me hesitate to buy the newest fabrics that are in the quilt stores.

I guess that is why it is easier for me to stick with the vintage reproductions or the fabric lines that have a 'vintage feel'.

I wonder how old something has to be before we call it vintage, rather than just outdated!

5 comments:

Gaynell said...

I think that the "vintage" fabrics were intended to be used and stay with the family until they wore out...not to make a fashion statement!

Martha said...

Now you've done it -- you've got me started! I rarely like the quilts that are hung in the shops -- the colors seem garish. I like the repro quilts much better, but even then some things look odd -- particularly in the scrap quilts. This sounds crazy, but to me they look overly planned and the 30s quilts are too cute, with no ugly prints.

I'm not all that good with color, but when I make a quilt with vintage scraps -- the colors all look good together (at least in my mind).

Allie said...

I prefer the vintage colors too, they always seem to come around again, don't they? I look at pics from the 70's and UGH....how I hated the 70's. But, people are calling them vintage now - *shudder* To me, vintage means 50's or earlier.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Well, I think the 80's are just a problem altogether. I mean... that was a seriously bad fashion decade. (I know because my daughter still tries on my clothes from that decade and makes fun of me.) I love the idea of this book, though. In springtime, I often head over to Home Depot and grab paint sample strips to start planning new colors for my gardens.

Iron Needles said...

Well, I am in need of color tutoring, so I have nothing to offer here...