1904–1911 The Business Starts
18
Distemper revolution
The wider use of distempers (the name given to the first wallpaints that were available in the 1870s) started in 1908. By that year a revolution for the tradesman was beginning to take shape with the introduction of ready-mixed distemper to replace the whiting, size and colour, which the craftsman had been in the habit of buying separately and mixing himself. Like all revolutions there was some doubt about whether it would succeed and it was with some hesitation that Brewers established an agency for Hall’s Distemper with an order for 16 x 7lb bags in assorted colours. Very soon Hall’s Distemper became a household word and a large part of the bread and butter of the decorators supplier’s business with nearly every decorator in the town wanting to buy it locally. It was even promoted by advertising in a similar way to that shown (right), by using models in fields along the route of the railways. The new wallpaper manufacturing combine WPM feared that Hall’s Distemper would gradually take the place of wallpaper so they tried to manufacture a distemper of their own to be called Walpamur. Their first efforts were unsuccessful as their new product smelt horribly. Two chemists discovered the medium which would prevent this happening. Whether they were working for WPM or not it seems they were in a position to demand £8,000 each for their newly invented formula. WPM refused to pay and so the pair set up a manufacturing unit of their own, which became Leyland Paints, now part of Kalon.
Below: Halls Distemper advertisement, 1920s. Right: Early invoice dated 1911.
Some suppliers at that time were: Lock, Lancaster & Johnson, for white lead Sissons and Bergers, for varnishes and enamels Blundell Spence, for dry colours and colours in oil Chadwick & Chapcott, for brushes Griffins, for grass brushes Mylands, for varnish stains