Not sure if anyone has ever stumbled across this.. but I found it interesting and educational..
http://oldhousecolors.com/
That's a good find! The lead article there today "The Great Divide" was particularly interesting, talking about the color shifts that occurred around 1900, and -why-.
One thing to remember is that these shifts aren't instantaneous. In 1920, for example, you'd see a variety of stiles from the latest trend back to probably 1880/1890 and earlier. But remember paints (except for white lead :-) didn't last as long as they do now, so houses would be painted more often, and those that weren't refreshed would probably look pretty beat-up and weathered.
dave
Dave.. Not to mention faded... I can't imagine that the paints back then stood up to UV the way paints do now.
If this works.. this will show the house colors as web (html) colors and for the computer savvy the hex codes to produce them.
click on the attached file
Interesting stuff -- thanks! Dallas
On the very subject of house paints, a colleague has written this book: House Paints 1900-1960: History and Use.
I use this book all the time, but then again I analyze paint as part of my job. It still may be interesting for paint idiots savant!
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.getty.edu%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2F978-1-60606-067-4.jpg&hash=d0862813a74407872fcbd1bc7b387ebb2697e2ce)
Here's a link to an old paint brochure that I scanned a while ago.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9483972/Eagle%20Lead%20Paint.pdf (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9483972/Eagle%20Lead%20Paint.pdf)
The front and back covers contained paint chips for interior and exterior color combinations. The rest of the book just plain makes you appreciate latex paint.
Bill
thanks Bill. Hadn't seen that one before.
Interesting how few exterior colors there were available back then.
8)