November 25, 1916 



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Standardizing Oak Finishes 



Speud a day with me in the laboratory ex])erimenting with stain 

 materials and see the possibilities that oak offers against those of 

 all the other woods. 

 One thus occupied 

 becomes an enthusi- 

 ast on this particu- 

 lar wood. Chemistry 

 plays a great part in 

 our life, and in this 

 country chemists are 

 the least recognized 

 in comparison with 

 other countries, but 

 they are coming to 

 their own, and one 

 thing the war has 

 done in the way of 

 benefits to this coun- 

 try is the recognition 

 of the value of chem- 

 istry to all sorts 

 o f manufacturers. 

 Think of the many 

 different finishes that 

 have become house- 

 hold names. Here is 

 a partial list, Ant- 

 werp, Belgium, bog, 

 early English, of 

 which there are sev- 

 eral, such as royal 

 early English, Wind- 

 Bor early English. 

 and standard early 

 English, Flemish, 

 weathered oak, ba- 

 ronial, cathedral 

 (new and old), Dutch 

 brown, English oak, 

 fumed oak, golden 

 oak (in its various 

 shades), tobacco 

 brown, forest green, 

 malachite green, sil- 



ver oak, grey oak, kaiser grey, Stratford oak, sixteenth century, 

 oriental, Flanders, driftwood, gun metal, Jacobean, and Kenilworth. 



I think it is safe 

 to say that all of 

 the other cabinet 

 woods will not give 

 us such a distinc- 

 tive variety as shown 

 in this list. A va- 

 riation in any of 

 their finishes would 

 not be as individual 

 as are those listed, 

 which are possible on 

 oak. It is a pleas- 

 ure to apply chem- 

 istry to oak. It re- 

 sponds in no indefi- 

 nite terms. By a 

 drop of ink on a 

 piece of oak you pro- 

 duce a color, and 

 note with what dif- 

 ficulty it is removed. 

 Everyone knows that 

 it is the iron in the 

 ink which is changed 

 by the tannin in the 

 oak that produces 

 the color. The tan- 

 nin in the wood 

 makes this change of 

 color as far as the 

 moisture of the ink 

 had penetrated. 



If manufacturers 

 of furniture, interior 

 finishes, picture 

 mouldings, and office 

 furniture and uten- 

 sils were thoroughly 

 cognizant of the pos- 

 sibilities afforded 

 them by oak, an en- 



STAIKWAY .VXD SUliltOUNUINGS IN OAK 



LIVING KOOM WITH OAK PANELS 



DINING ROOM IN ANTWERP OAK 



-30— 



