Topical Guide 141
Mark Dorset
Style: Flooring
Veronica led me to the playroom in the basement. … The floor was covered with red and white squares of linoleum tile.
Little Follies, “The Girl with the White Fur Muff”
First invented by Frederick Walton in 1860, linoleum is oxidized linseed oil mixed with ground cork dust, gums, and pigments. It was one of the most fashionable and widely used floor coverings from the 1870s through the 1960s. It was used everywhere from battleships to bathrooms.
The Armstrong Cork Company started manufacturing linoleum in 1908, and produced an amazing variety of patterns. By 1918, Armstrong advertised 380 available designs. These included mosaics, tiles, parquetries, granites, marble, and “carpet” patterns.
Elizabeth Broman, “Linoleum Lives On” Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
From the 1940 Armstrong Pattern Book:
[more to come on Tuesday, November 30, 2021]
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