Not what it seems, those sneaky 'Mericans.

[NazNomad]

You've probably all heard, I picked up an old pump organ made in 1889 in Michegan.

The insides were totally worm-eaten but I salvaged some nice wood from the casing.

Anyhow, I had a closer look at a very nicely carved piece that the organ stops went through...

Seems it's just a boring softwood moulding with a heavily embossed cardboard-type covering.

Just thought it was interesting, sneaky and unusual.


Anyone seen this process before?

 

[AndyT]

Interesting, but not surprising. I picked up a book a while ago from a second hand shop called "Victorian Furniture, Technology and Design" by Clive Edwards.
It describes a whole slew of commercially developed processes aimed at making cheap, mass-produced furniture look expensive. There were machines to carve wood, or to scorch away the surface in imitation of carving. There were various formulas for mouldable blends of wood dust, glue and colouring. There were methods of printing fancy grain patterns onto cheap plain wood. And according to the author, this tendency was found far more in the USA than in GB, because they had a big shortage of skilled labour. Over here, craftsman could be made to work for very little; in the USA they needed to invent machines instead.

I can't identify the specific process used on your organ, but it looks a bit like Lincrusta, which is still around as a hard-wearing wall covering, and is a sort of textured lino made from wood flour and linseed oil.

 

[NazNomad]

Interesting that the first production of Lincrusta in the United States was in 1883 in Stamford, Connecticut.

650 miles and 6 years before my organ was built, so it seem likely that you're spot on.


Here's one brand of organ decorated with panels of Lincrusta... Made by another American company, Mason & Hamlin based in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1854.

 

[Geoff_S]

Anyone seen this process before?

Only on walls. We had some in our last house, an old Edwardian semi. It was in a bit of a state, so I thought it would be a good idea to scrape it off and replace it with
new Lincrusta.

Well .......... it turned out that the only way to remove it was to hack it off, along with the plaster. Having then re-plastered the wall I checked out what was involved in re-applying
new Lincrusta.

Warning ..... do not underestimate the skills required in applying this stuff! :shock: I chickened out and stuck up Anaglypta instead.

There is a Lincrusta website, it makes for interesting reading.