Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1925-04-10
DO YOU KNOW FROM
WHENCE COMES VARNISH?
Modern Methods Are Rapidly
Replacing Use OF Age Old
Formulas.

The most mysterious and leas
understood things often are tn
most commonplace. For instance
who knows whence comes Varnish
of what it is made, or the rOmanct
of this oldest of finishing processes
now almost eXtinguished by modern
science?
Like the American bison, or buf
faco, real varnish has almost dis
appeared.
The dripping tears of a thousand
trees gave the beautiful and endur-
ling Varnish and lacquer of the an
cient Hindu and the more ancient
IChinese. But modern science has
almost dried the tears of the Bur-
lmese theetsee and the Indian mark
ing nut tree which once supplied
the world.
So this is the story of vanishing
varnish.
Originally the gums eXuded, like
tears, from a dozen varieties of trO-
pical trees. in Burma, India. Japan
in the Andes and Peru and the East
Indies were the sole source of var
nish, together with parings from
amber which after all. is only the
petrified gum of trees of an earlier
era.
The words used to describe the
gums have almost disappeared from
common usage-anime, cOpal, mas
tic, garbOge, tumeric-and the de-
mand for finely finished surfaces
long since exceeded the demand for
these purest substances which made
| the eVer-enduring, stOnY-hard lac
quer and varnish surfaces which
grace ancient oriental treasures.
Soon other resins began coming
| into the market-"ersatz", as the
Germans called them-substitutes
Resins and turpentines, asphalt
tum and dozen other substances
having something of the same chem
ical formation came to supplement
the naturally small supply of lit
tie beads of gums exuded by the an
cient trees.
Better furniture put demands
upon the vaTnish and lacquer MAX
ers which forced the adulteration of
the market with substitutes which,
while practically as good, yet were
not the original, age-wearing var
nish and lacquer.
With the wide eXpanse of the au-
tOmObile industry and its shining
finishes, the demand far over
reached the supply of the original
gums making up the base of var
nish.
So chemists turned to other in
gradients. Car owners of a dozen
years back know from the rapidity
with which the glossy finish on new
cars gave way before the weather,
to what extent the demand out
stripped the supply of original var
nish, and how the infltration of
substitutes through the market
failed to keep pace with the grow
ing surfaces of more and more cars
Quite by accident, chemists came
upon a new finish which is not a
substitute for varnish, but which |
is new finish-One infinitely bet
ter than the best lacquer of even |
the Olden days. It supplants it, lust |
as steamship luppsants the sailer, |
though still a ship; and as the air /
plane supplants the horse and bug
sy. though still a passenger vehicle.
There was a waste, during war
line, coming from nitro-cellulose,
II gum cotton, made from ammuni-
ion. Now, no manufacturer let's
waste be discarded; his profits Of
en- come from conversion of waste
materials into useful things. So
With this nitro-cellulose waste.
Experiment brought out a new il
Inish-a material handled some
hing as better varnish and LACQUER
S handled. but infinitely better.
nore enduring, more substantial
nd with an apparent supply that
10 demand can exceed.
Because of its nature, it is called
lcquer, something of a misnOmer
rom the standpoint of the ancient
INSTANCE. 1t gave a rich, perma-
ent finish, but it was stain finish
nd commerce demanded a shining
nish.
And now, in the onward march of
cience, Studebaker, the bic auto-
loblle concern in South Bend Ind,
cooperation with the Glidden
arnish Company of Cleveland, has
oHAOF0u d SululuS coat IN the new |
lcqueroid finish. 1t has a lustre.
sheen that endures, so it is called
Thus, within a generation, Just as
lie bison disappeared from the
rairie along with the Conestoga
agon, so has the original varnfsb
I'D LACQUER disappeared from the
otor industry, and at a time when
lch a development was needed to
we the whole industrys hone for
lely finished products.
Lowing herds of beef and dairy
tile supplanted the bison: motor
rs supplanted the Conestoga
agon, when necessity became the
other of invention. So, likewise
cqueroid finish, known by half a
zen trade names, comes to SIM
ant the finish of the ancients.
len necessity again moves inven-
IN to action.
The romance of a thousand wears
finishes has accumulated within
generation, yet how many knew
it? 'A-i0"