Paint Our Partner
PAINT as our partner in all the affairs of life may be a new thought, but it is an old established fact nevertheless. In reality paint is so interwoven with every turn of the wheel, that it is forever at our side, like our Siamese Twin.
Suppose we were to wake up some morning to find that paint in every form had been eliminated from the world, from our lives! What consternation, surprise, indignation, and havoc would reign everywhere! Whether for better or worse, for good or evil, it is part of the very warp and woof of our every-day existence, and what a pal and benefactor it really is. Think of our morning train, our motors, our boats, our houses, as paintless! What a queer jumble life would be. But here stands our partner—paint—ready to jump into any breach, and make[2] life full of comfort and happiness and cheer, from the building of a new house, where the painting of every wall, every bit of trim, has to be carefully planned and decided upon, to the many small things about the house that can be transformed by the “Magic Touch” of paint.
The dear old home that has stood in rain, and wind, and snow, for years, and begins to show its many battles, seems to implore us to brighten up its faithful face. And so we do. We paint it a soft old ivory white with fresh green shutters, and it seems to expand with joy and happiness, and smiles back at us a radiant smile of thanks; and as we regard it with warm affection, we suddenly realize anew how much we love it and owe to it, and a feeling of most tender warmth fills us, and fills our day, and Life takes on a fresh beginning. We return at night with a new glow of well-being in our hearts. It passes on to our friends, to whom our radiant newly dressed house also gives joy. It permeates the very air, and indirectly works its way into unknown channels for good; for nothing we ever do can remain unto us alone. Every act, however[3] small, has its immediate reaction, like the circles made by a pebble, spreading ever wider, far beyond our vision. The whole community is cheered because of our freshly painted house.
John Wesley Masury (1820-1895) was a successful paint manufacturer who also invented and patented a number of paint-industry innovations, including a water-cooled method of grinding pigments, metal paint containers and the lip-closure on paint cans, still referred to as the dripless can, that made the marketing of ready-mixed paints feasible. The letters patent granted to John W. Masury, July 12th, 1859, for an improvement in paint cans. The claim of the patent:
The construction of a metallic can, for hermetically sealing paints and other substances, having attached thereto a rim or ring of thin brass or other soft metal, in such a manner that the top or cover may be removed by severing the said rim or ring of brass or other soft metal with a penknife or other sharp instrument, in the manner and for the purposes ...
The result? An enormous growth of the paint industry then began in the 1860s, stimulated by the above invention of modern the paint can. The first factory-made paints in cans consisted of more finely ground pigments in an oil base; after purchase, additional oil was added to the contents of the can to make up the paint. Such paints saved the time of handgrinding pigments. After 1875, factory-made paints were available at a reasonable cost and, as a result, greater numbers of people painted and decorated more of their buildings, and more frequently. The new commercial market created by ready-mixed paint became the cornerstone of the modern paint industry. The company became "John W. Masury & Son" in the 1870's. During the 20th Century the company added Automotive paints to the product line. In 1947, C. M. Athey Paint Company ("C.M. Athey") acquired the property from John Masury and Sons. The Masury Paint Co, was purchased by The Valspar Paint Corp. in April of 1979.