When Tin Ceilings Were High-Tech
In the late 1970s, Barbara Schiller and her husband bought a decaying brownstone in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, then in its early stages of gentrification. The house was structurally sound, but the ceilings were a mess. Water damage had ruined the ones in the master bedroom and dining room, while the parlor's had an "ominous crack," and the plaster rosebuds trimming the edge "were dropping like hailstones."
When their architect suggested using decorative metal panels instead of replastering, the couple balked at first. "Tin ceilings" would certainly be cheaper, but they sounded like a poor substitute for the real thing. Once he showed them the ones in his own restored Victorian home, however, they were convinced. The couple was so pleased with the eventual result that Schiller wrote an article about the experience for This Old House Journal. "Their intricate designs," she wrote, "give an authentic feeling of the old days that cannot be matched at the price by any other material."
Now de rigueur in the type of hipster bar The New York Times calls "ersatz speakeasy," tin ceilings have always challenged the meaning of authenticity. In their heyday from the 1890s through the 1920s, they were at once modern and old-fashioned, genuine and fake.
Calling them "tin" is as much a slur as a description, suggesting a cheap imitation (see: tinhorn, tin-pot, Tin Lizzie). The panels were in fact steel, a material whose cost had dropped dramatically in the late 19th century. The same technological innovations that supplied railroads, automobiles, and steel-framed skyscrapers gave rise to decorative metal ceilings.
To create the patterns, sheets were pressed between a bottom die of hard iron and a top die of softer zinc. Once installed, the ceilings were painted to resemble plaster, stucco, or, occasionally, wood. (Letting the metal shine through is a latter-day style.)
"Critics objected not only to sheet metal's imitation of other materials, but also to the very nature of its mass-produced, mechanical-looking qualities," observed the late design historian Pamela H. Simpson in her 1999 book Cheap, Quick, and Easy: Imitative Architectural Materials, 1870–1930. For instance, the Australian architect Hardy Wilson condemned their "mechanical" surface and declared that the ceilings "would not have been appreciated at any period earlier than the commercial-Victorian."
But appreciated they were. People installed tin ceilings in schools and hospitals, churches and lodge halls, restaurants and hotels. The metal panels promised to resist fire, to improve hygiene, and to prevent collapsing plaster. They offered beauty at an affordable price—and the very qualities that drew criticism infused them with meaning. "Metal ceilings were not a 'hollow sham'; they were better than the material they replaced," wrote Simpson in a 1995 article. "To choose a ceiling of steel was to choose the best that modern industry and technology could supply. To choose a metal ceiling was also to participate in the spirit of the age of enterprise that had produced them."
Hit first by the Great Depression and then by the wartime diversion of steel, tin ceilings fell out of style after World War II, when commercial buildings embraced high modernism. Decoration was out; truth to material was in. Tin ceilings were too fussy. Many buildings needed the practicality of easily removable acoustic panels.
By the 1970s, the "commercial-Victorian" was history, and restoring old buildings was the latest thing. Nostalgia buffs embraced tin ceilings, especially for homes and restaurants. So did cutting-edge designers with a penchant for mashups and industrial materials. The ceilings, observed Suzanne Slesin in a 1976 New York article on the revival, "look sort of Renaissance-meets-the-industrial-revolution." Their impurity made them appealing, offering a balance of decoration and modernity, history and tech. Today we might call that combination steam-punk. Except that tin ceilings really existed.
Nowadays, you can also get them in plastic—a cheaper, lighter alternative. Purists may recoil, but even they've grown tolerant of other people's choices. "The plastic faux panels make me shudder," writes homeowner Jessica Lemmon in an Old House Forum post soliciting advice about her 1850 kitchen's crumbling plaster ceiling, "but that's just me."
Objecting to a newer technology's imitation of an old technology's imitation of a yet older technology's imitation of carving is too ridiculous to sustain. The authenticity that tin ceiling enthusiasts enjoy comes not from the metal itself but from the look it achieves and the associations it evokes. Given enough time, plastic ceiling tiles themselves may seem like old-fashioned goodness.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "When Tin Ceilings Were High-Tech."
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Too local
Regime libertarians are breaking new ground.
If your ceiling tiles aren’t made of gold, amber or other such material, your orphans aren’t working hard enough.
There are some fascinating pictures when you google for images of “tin ceilings”. Not sure if I’d want to live with a metal ceiling, mostly because I wonder what it would do to the acoustics. and I like a white ceiling to spread the light. But they are pretty.
They make them in white plastic.
I love tin ceilings. I noticed they’ve been making a little bit of a come back which I think is cool.
I fucking hate when they try to make one material look like something it ain’t. Laminate countertops and vinyl floor tiles that try to look like stone. Vinyl upholstery mascaraing as metal. And that most horrible of sins, anything that isn’t wood drawing attention to the fact that it isn’t wood by failing to look like wood.
I like tin ceilings with their intricate designs. I usually think they look better unpainted, but don’t object if they are. Plastic looks like plastic. If you want to put plastic on your ceiling that’s fine. Just don’t try to make it look like metal. Because it doesn’t.
Damnit! We need an “edit” feature badly. That third sentence should read:
“Vinyl upholstery mascaraing as leather”
Lol. We know what you mean:)
It does read like that;)
I like natural, I also like the rustic copper look.
Laminate flooring has to be the dumbest thing “OMG it looks like wood” without any of the benefits of wood whatsoever. Great?
I was at home depot the other day. The solid oak plank flooring was half the cost of the ‘engineered’ flooring.
These people breed.
That’s because the finishing labor isn’t factored in to the material cost of 3/4″ solid flooring.
Some have real wood on top.
I’m not a fan, but laminate flooring does have some advantages. It is a shitload more stable with moisture. Glues down to concrete better. Doesn’t need finishing. But of course it looks like shit.
laminate is not known for being good with moisture
How do you feel about saline implants?
Love them.
Nice salty flavor.
Never felt any.
How about vinyl that tries to look like linoleum?
No vinyl has looked like linoleum in decades. Just saying. You can still get it, but it’s very niche. Your choices today are printed vinyl or inlaid vinyl.
If I was just a little bit dumber I’d say ms Postrel broke the tin ceiling with this one.
Next week on “This Old Magazine”
– V. Postrel gets serious about glibness in interior design. Don’t miss it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WedNV8TR_0
Tin Ceiling is Tin Roof.
I’m catting on.
Do you know that we can be looking for the 8 ball pool hack here when we know that we get the free coins of 8 ball pool.
Furniture Moving Company
Furniture is one of the things that we can do a lot of effort and time in order to carry out transportation from one place to another, to any place in the Kingdom or anywhere outside the Kingdom. The transport works from services that seem to us easy and simple but ultimately Of the services that lead to exposure to problems is very difficult to be solved from the breakage, scratching, damage and loss, the company tops excellence of the most important and best companies that achieve the highest level of transport services for furniture
???? ???? ?????? ???
Furniture Moving Company
Furniture is one of the things that we can do a lot of effort and time in order to carry out transportation from one place to another, to any place in the Kingdom or anywhere outside the Kingdom. The transport works from services that seem to us easy and simple but ultimately Of the services that lead to exposure to problems is very difficult to be solved from the breakage, scratching, damage and loss, the company tops excellence of the most important and best companies that achieve the highest level of transport services for furniture
???? ?????? ???????? ????
Furniture Moving Company
Furniture is one of the things that we can do a lot of effort and time in order to carry out transportation from one place to another, to any place in the Kingdom or anywhere outside the Kingdom. The transport works from services that seem to us easy and simple but ultimately Of the services that lead to exposure to problems is very difficult to be solved from the breakage, scratching, damage and loss, the company tops excellence of the most important and best companies that achieve the highest level of transport services for furniture
???? ???? ?????? ????
Furniture Moving Company
Furniture is one of the things that we can do a lot of effort and time in order to carry out transportation from one place to another, to any place in the Kingdom or anywhere outside the Kingdom. The transport works from services that seem to us easy and simple but ultimately Of the services that lead to exposure to problems is very difficult to be solved from the breakage, scratching, damage and loss, the company tops excellence of the most important and best companies that achieve the highest level of transport services for furniture
????? ???? ?????? ???????? ????
That citizens always need their homes to Cleaning the house and solving problems of the types of sewerage or insect spraying and there is no time for all to solve these problems
But not everyone has the experience and knowledge to solve and master this problem
The citizens need specialized workers in this field and experience of these works resort to a factor in this area at a high price and a great time but also does not solve the problem because unfortunately leaves and create gaps to drain client funds
???? ?????? ????? ??????
???? ?????? ????? ???????
Because it is one of the most pieces of furniture that beautiful visitors see you and your home, both relatives or guests of the most important furniture technician IKEA in Riyadh to be a way to dismantle and installation of these pieces of furniture is very accurate, and originally have any defects make them appear improperly decor Home???? ????? ?????? ???????
The best pesticides because we know that the traditional methods have been ineffective in the eradication of insects and control strongly We use the best modern devices in the fight and eliminate them in a final and effective and ensure not to return again using the most powerful pesticides known worldwide Call
???? ?????? ????? ??????
The best pesticides because we know that the traditional methods have been ineffective in the eradication of insects and control strongly We use the best modern devices in the fight and eliminate them in a final and effective and ensure not to return again using the most powerful pesticides known worldwide Call
???? ?? ?????? ??????
House cleaning company Babha
How difficult it is for every mother or especially a working woman because there is not enough time to clean her house and the inability to reconcile the work and wasting time cleaning the house, so she must use the experts and those who provide them services at the best prices among the cleaning companies who rely on the best materials Cleaning and the latest equipment to perform their tasks, which is the house of the cleaning house
???? ????? ??? ?????
???? ????? ????? ?????
House cleaning company Babha
How difficult it is for every mother or especially a working woman because there is not enough time to clean her house and the inability to reconcile the work and wasting time cleaning the house, so she must use the experts and those who provide them services at the best prices among the cleaning companies who rely on the best materials Cleaning and the latest equipment to perform their tasks, which is the house of the cleaning house