Polka-dot paint
Polka dot paint is a paint of "polka dot color", i.e., a paint which paints an object with a polka dot pattern.
The paint is traditionally the subject of a fool's errand prank played upon apprentices in the decoration or construction trade, who are sent to fetch a bucket of polka-dot paint.[1][2][3] A polka-dot paint effect has been produced in stage magic, and in the 1950s, a polychromatic paint was invented which created a dotted effect when dry.
Magic tricks
[edit]In the United States, several magicians invented a trick in which they demonstrated painting with polka-dot paint. Paul Stadelman also performed a version of the trick where he additionally offered to paint some stripes for the audience, producing a mix of the two and saying that he "didn't get all the polka dots out of the brush".[4]
The trick became the subject of litigation when Stadelman sued Harry Albacker for copying the trick in the 1950s.[5][6] Albacker's defense was that the magic act was "old as the hills", and hence in public domain.[citation needed] Stadelman, in his turn was challenged by other magicians who claimed that he stole the idea from the "Barber's pole paint" trick.[citation needed]
The idea of the trick is simple: the object is pre-painted in the desired pattern with oil-based paint and then covered with white watercolor or whitewash. During the trick, the top watercolor is removed with a wet brush. Stadelman said that after he performed this trick at paint dealers' conventions, he would often get letters from people who wanted to market this paint.[4]
Another version of the trick involves colorless chemicals on the object which become colored after a reaction with another chemical on the brush.
Real paint
[edit]In 1950, a product called "Plextone" by Maas & Walsdtein Co. was advertised, a finishing which is a single application produced "a network of interlaced but separate colors — a 'Polka Dot' paint".[7] In 1952, a John C. Zola patented (US 3811904 [8]) polychromatic paint, technically described as "a multicolor paint from lacquer-based colorants suspended in water". The inventor was inspired by French painter Georges Seurat, who created his impressionist effects using small dots of paint.[9] Sapolin Paints, Inc. of New York City sold "polka-dot paint" in a spray can, which sprayed droplets of paint; the farther the can was from the surface, the smaller were the dots.[10]
In popular culture
[edit]- In The Vanishing Private cartoon (1942), private Donald Duck tries to camouflage a cannon by painting it with red, green and yellow stripes, and black polka dots, from a single bucket.[11]
- Polka-dot nail polish and marker pens incorporate glitter or non-glitter colored particles to do the trick.[12]
- One can create polka-dot brushes for various computer graphics software, such as Photoshop, GIMP, etc.[13]
References
[edit]- ↑ The Painter and Decorator, Volume 73, 1959, p. 4
- ↑ Peter J. H. Petter-Bowyer, "Winds of Destruction: The Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot", p. 72
- ↑ Richard Gordon Charman, The Learning Curve: My Story, 2011,
ISBN 0987060007, p. 78
- Quote: "Like all tradesmen, in all companies, the new apprentices were sent by them to the local hardware store <...> to get 'a left-handed hammer', 'a right-handed scredwriver', 'a box of r/h threaded holes', 'a tin of blue and yellow striped paint', 'a tin of black and white polka dot paint' <...> "
- 1 2 "Magician Finds Public Ready For New Paint", The Bulletin, March 3, 1950, p. 9
- ↑ "Another Claims Spotted Pigment Invention As Local Magician Says In's 2 Other Tricks", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 1, 1949, page 3.
- ↑ "General News: Magic", by Bill Sachs, The Billboard, January 14, 1950 p. 47
- ↑ Product Finishing, vol 15, 1950, p. 110 (google snippet)
- ↑ "Novel coating compositions and their preparation - US 3811904 A".
- Quote: "multi-color coating compositions of two or more phases consisting of at least one dispersed phase consisting of discrete globules or droplets of film-former and organic solvent, which dispersed phase is dispersed in a liquid organic dispersing medium. At least some of the dispersed globules are different in color from the dispersin'g medium"
- ↑ "Dotting the Eyes", The Rotarian, July 1975, p. 50
- ↑ "On the Market for Do-It-Yourselfers", Popular Mechanics, March 1958, p. 207
- ↑ "Walt Goes to War: Part Two", Jim Korkis, January 25, 2017, Mouse Planet
- ↑ "Maybelline Color Show “Polka Dots” Glitter Nail Polish Swatches & Review"
- ↑ "Polka dot brushes for Photoshop, PSP, GIMP, Painter ..."