2/19/13

Glidden White Lead Paint - Them were the dayshhhh.

Hey, nice painting, Nineteen Thirty-Six! I'll bet you have some lead in the paint, as well as the house it was painted in. hey, you don't look so good. How's your brain feel? Maybe you should sit down.

Glidden wants you to know about the wonders of white lead. It's why their paint sticks to everything... wood, concrete, your central nervous system... It could be argued that in '36, we didn't really know how poisonous lead was. It could also be pointed out that the Greek botanist Nicander observed "colic" and "paralysis" in people poisoned by lead as early as the second century B.C. But don't blame Glidden. If there's money in it, any company will make you just as sick as the law allows.

While lead paint can't be legally made in America any more, there is still loads of the stuff in production around the world, in countries that we may politely describe as "provincial". America's test scores are bound to get (comparatively) better somehow, right?

Don't think that modern paints are somehow worse than good old heavy paint. They're probably as good as, if not better than, lead paints of yore, what with our knowing and doing of chemistry and stuff... until someone finds out that knowing and understanding things is somehow poisonous. Then we can all happily eat lead sandwiches and become happy.

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