My farmer friend here in central USA told me that the reason the paint stores carry only red paint is because that's what the farmers want; but, when you ask farmers why did they paint their barns red, they say it's because that's all that the paint stores sell.
In Sweden the iron oxide was a byproduct from the Falun copper mine from medieval times already. There was loads of it and could be had almost for free, so everyone painted there houses and barns red, as it was also a great way to protect the wood. Then it became tradition. And I am sure Swedes settling in the US and Canada must have brought this tradition with them. As it was cheap and practical it then spread.
From what I remember it at a time coincidence orange bricks being fashionable for upper class people homes. But cheaper. In the Falun area of Sweden it is quite common even on homes, even to this day. An epitome of idyllic country life.
In winter when everything is white, grey or blue, red is least depressing most contrasting color. The rest of the year red is also an attractive contrast to green....So cheerful, cheap and goes good with green for the win.
in Sweden the traditional colour is called Falu Rödfärg (literally "Falu Red Colour") and is made from copper mined from the Falu copper mines about an hour northwest of Stockholm. It's a registered trademark, and only paint using copper from that specific mine can legally be called Falu Rödfärg. It's a finite resource, and it's estimated that the supply will be depleted by around 2090. It's easy to find in Sweden, but very little of the paint is exported. It was this paint that Swedish immigrants were inspired by and made their own versions of when painting their houses in the US.
I've lived in Falun and took the tourist tour down the mine. The mine has not been active since 1992 tho, so not surprised if it'd be a finite resource.
I help my dad mix the stuff to paint our barn the fist time Red , the next time we painted it with bought red paint , and working late at night you could always see our barn 😊
Original red color (Faluröd) comes from the (1700 century) coppermines in the town of Falun in Sweden, in wich they used the ironoxide (rust), a biproduct from coppermining wich also contained some coppersulfate that actually kills mold and preserves the wood blended and cooked togerher with linseed oil. Its still a very common color on houses in Sweden today.
Interesting. It’s such an obvious question, but so obvious we don’t think to ask why red. I never asked why red, but I love the way they look. I guess I assumed that the reason was aesthetics.
In the Quiet Man, when the vicar's wife says "only an American would have thought of emerald green!" The vicar responded "red is more durable." I always thought that was the reason.
I think there is an important aspect, which has not been mentioned here. In Europe, the most famous paint for wood is the Swedish Falun Red. It is produced from the waste of a copper (!) mine, which consisted mainly of iron oxides, but still contains significant amounts of copper salts, which are one of the best wood preservatives to avoid fungal decay. On the other hand, iron oxides are perfect for avoiding UV degradation of wood. Since the iron oxide waste was cheap, Falun Red became very popular. I assume that the first users were not aware of the the chemical and physical properties of this paint, it simply was the best paint to protect wood.
My aunts, when teenagers, would paint the house with buttermilk during the Great Depression. This was to impress the boys. The only oroblem was that chickens would peck off the buttermilk. My father and his brother would chuckle at their sisters.
Animal blood and milk were sometimes added to the mix along side rust and linseed oil. Some was added for filler, to alter the color, absorption, to thin it out or make it apply easier.
From Rockcastle County, Kentucky, here. We’ve got mostly black barns, and they were for hanging tobacco. I asked about that, thinking there must be some great significance. I also got the “cheapest paint” answer. LOL
There were 10 000 tobacco kilns in my part of Ontario Canada and the majority of them were either red or green. I think it went from being to cheapest to tradition. We salvaged a few for my brother's nursery as he's cheap and lumbers expensive.
Red pigment appears to have a long history of being the cheapest. The Romans primarily used red tunics for the legionaries, because those were the cheapest.
This was so interesting! I had no idea of the red vs. white barns. Growing up, we had a red barn. Without realizing it, I always referred to it as the RED barn! Interesting!
I grew up on a farm with red buildings and barns. I didn’t appreciate it as much until later in life when I worked on a dairy farm with white buildings and barns, and little wind protection. Every winter blizzard that came along made daily chores quite a challenge.
Something related to what was imported, was the word husband. In the olden days where the farmer was called husbonden (head of the farm, or man of the farm), or Husbonn', this became husband.
You asked us to leave suggestions for future videos. along the lines of Barns, can you think about doing one on the history of covered bridges? I think I know the original reason my have been snow in the winter, but why are they so Iconic today? Thank you for reading this, I'm enjoying your videos
Today, red (given equal quality of paint and/or materials) will fade faster than other colors closer to UV light in the visible light spectrum like blue. Red is the farthest away from UV light right next to IR light. Violet would be the best right next UV light. Just check out an old car with a red interior vs a blue interior exposed to sunlight over many years.
Interesting story. I remember growing up my grandparents had a farm and the barn was painted red. As a kid I never thought to ask why all of the barns were painted red. I guess I just thought that was the way it was supposed to be 😂
I have always loved barns in every shape and design They bring warmth and comfort when I see one. I could easily live in one. I'm a country person and love the outdoors, animals of all kinds. If I had a barn it would be green. That's cool, too.
Red barns must be an American thing, I grew up in New Zealand, had family who had farms and also visited many others and cannot remember ever seeing a red barn, the vast majority were unpainted corrugated iron or unpainted wooden walled barns. Why waste money on paint when the walls of the barn will last 50 years unpainted?
My Grandfather was an Engineer (the kind that drove trains) and the red color was all about visibility and depth perception to be able to control the train in both directions, the Engineer could see it better while backing up.
On the American frontier without ready access to stores the finish was often milk paint, also made from avaiable material (milk from cows, ash from fires acting as lime, blood from animals, etc).
Lumberjacks also wear red from a practical and frugal reason. Red stands out in a green forest and is a super cheap dye so you can be easier to spot when people are cutting.
In lieu of metal fasteners some of the ancient red Wisconsin wooden diary barns were fastened together using wooden dowels. The roofing in the livestock shedding was sometimes constructed of sod. The sheep on the roof would keep the turf nice and short. The Little House On The Prairie.
we don't have this in Northern England. Old barns are stone and new barns are metal, usually green or beige colour. They have old w ood barns in the South which were preserved by scorching, making them black. In Teesdale all the bildings are white, because the farmers are still tenants, and the estate requires tbem to limewash. So red is by no means an obvious choice!
I've seen Falu Röd mentioned in the other comments. It is a traditional red paint thats made from iron oxides from the mining industry. Ofcourse people have used iron oxides that are naturally found in the dirt and ground for millenia but this was to my knowledge one of the earliest industrial scale productions where the raw material was essentially free.
Our neighbors have a horse farm next door. Barns both painted red. They like it, we like it. Previous owners had the barns painted chocolate brown. Even the horses didn't like the color!
Part of me thinks that maybe the first guy who built a barn just liked the color "red" and a bunch of other people liked it too. The more people who made red barns,the quicker people began accepting that as a tradition
Horses see dichromatic color. Red appears gray to them and is difficult to distinguish from other grays. The colors they respond to best are blue, green, and yellow. Blue stands out more against the surrounding environment, while yellow and green blend in with trees and bushes. Blue is arguably the best color to paint a barn.
Iron oxide based coloring was already used 40,000 years ago, like in tgs caves of Lascaux, France. Long before that it was already used to color all kind of things and likely even skin.
in Sweden the traditional colour is called Falu Rödfärg (Falu red colour) and is made from copper mined from the Falu copper mines. It's a registered trademark, and only paint using copper from that specific mine can legally be called Falu Rödfärg. It's a finite resource, and it's estimated that the supply will be depleted by around 2090.
I grew up in rural KS snd now live in rural MN and linseed oil and rust was/is always the story I have heard. On a different note, I have seen and worked on and in a LOT of old barns in the last 40+ years and have seen way more white ones than red ones.
Wife owns the family ranch near Moore Montana and their massive barn is red about 90 years old and the upstairs in one massive room for hay and local dances
When I lived on the farm we always painted our barn all white dad always used Dutch boy it was the cheapest at the time. I go by the old farm now and aim embarrassed the owners just let it go there's no paint at all the paint has peeled off all the building's my father turning over in his grave all the work he made to maintain the buildings was in vain.
I don't know what fantasy land countryside you're driving through, because I've literally never seen a barn that's painted red. In fact, I don't think I've seen a barn that's painted at all. They are almost exclusively bare wood.
So you've got two options. Option A: 'a symbol of rural life standing out against the natural landscape while embodying the resilience and resourcefullness of the farming community', Option B: 'The red thing in a bucket, that everybody uses.' Which one do you pick?
No wonder there used to be a restaurant chain in Ohio called - and shaped like a - Red Barn 😊. And maybe the old one room schools used to be in barns too, because my nursery school was called The Little Red Schoolhouse and had a red barn logo. ❤
Let's all take a moment to give thanks that it wasn't "unfortunate yellow" This is the name I gave that highlighter yellow color some people choose for their home. I imagine someone going to buy paint for their home, and told "unfortunately all we have is this color.." Hence, unfortunate yellow
Red was cheap also had lead in it back in the day. Lead paint lasted for decades. Farmers are frugal, paint the buildings with the cheapest, longest lasting paint. It’s tradition now, but it had a purpose then.
It was because red was the cheapest color for that type of paint... Automotive paint red is the most expensive.. to do with its type of paint. Or it used to be
My farmer friend here in central USA told me that the reason the paint stores carry only red paint is because that's what the farmers want; but, when you ask farmers why did they paint their barns red, they say it's because that's all that the paint stores sell.
In Sweden the iron oxide was a byproduct from the Falun copper mine from medieval times already. There was loads of it and could be had almost for free, so everyone painted there houses and barns red, as it was also a great way to protect the wood. Then it became tradition. And I am sure Swedes settling in the US and Canada must have brought this tradition with them. As it was cheap and practical it then spread.
Falu red.
From what I remember it at a time coincidence orange bricks being fashionable for upper class people homes. But cheaper. In the Falun area of Sweden it is quite common even on homes, even to this day. An epitome of idyllic country life.
In winter when everything is white, grey or blue, red is least depressing most contrasting color. The rest of the year red is also an attractive contrast to green....So cheerful, cheap and goes good with green for the win.
in Sweden the traditional colour is called Falu Rödfärg (literally "Falu Red Colour") and is made from copper mined from the Falu copper mines about an hour northwest of Stockholm. It's a registered trademark, and only paint using copper from that specific mine can legally be called Falu Rödfärg. It's a finite resource, and it's estimated that the supply will be depleted by around 2090. It's easy to find in Sweden, but very little of the paint is exported. It was this paint that Swedish immigrants were inspired by and made their own versions of when painting their houses in the US.
It isn’t the copper that is used but the sludge thats left after the copper is mined, and its iron not copper that make the paint.
I've lived in Falun and took the tourist tour down the mine. The mine has not been active since 1992 tho, so not surprised if it'd be a finite resource.
I help my dad mix the stuff to paint our barn the fist time Red , the next time we painted it with bought red paint , and working late at night you could always see our barn 😊
Original red color (Faluröd) comes from the (1700 century) coppermines in the town of Falun in Sweden, in wich they used the ironoxide (rust), a biproduct from coppermining wich also contained some coppersulfate that actually kills mold and preserves the wood blended and cooked togerher with linseed oil. Its still a very common color on houses in Sweden today.
It was cheapest color of paint.
Yep.
That's pretty much what my grandpa told me when I asked him
Oh my gosh thank you
We have to reteach thriftiness
Same reason the queens / Kings’Guards tunics are red. It was cheap.
Thank you for such an interesting answer to a question that has been on the mind of many. It's not just a story it's HISTORY!
New knowledge is always appreciated. Thanks!
Our barn was built in 1910 and my dad said it was painted red because it was the cheapest pain to buy.
Not any longer true !Buy a gallon of Bolero red and find out! ^7 Camaro color!
Interesting. It’s such an obvious question, but so obvious we don’t think to ask why red. I never asked why red, but I love the way they look. I guess I assumed that the reason was aesthetics.
*paint
In the Quiet Man, when the vicar's wife says "only an American would have thought of emerald green!" The vicar responded "red is more durable." I always thought that was the reason.
I think there is an important aspect, which has not been mentioned here. In Europe, the most famous paint for wood is the Swedish Falun Red. It is produced from the waste of a copper (!) mine, which consisted mainly of iron oxides, but still contains significant amounts of copper salts, which are one of the best wood preservatives to avoid fungal decay. On the other hand, iron oxides are perfect for avoiding UV degradation of wood. Since the iron oxide waste was cheap, Falun Red became very popular. I assume that the first users were not aware of the the chemical and physical properties of this paint, it simply was the best paint to protect wood.
My aunts, when teenagers, would paint the house with buttermilk during the Great Depression. This was to impress the boys. The only oroblem was that chickens would peck off the buttermilk. My father and his brother would chuckle at their sisters.
And you tell that to kids these days and for some strange reason they don't believe that you painted houses with buttermilk at all! Go figure!
Animal blood and milk were sometimes added to the mix along side rust and linseed oil. Some was added for filler, to alter the color, absorption, to thin it out or make it apply easier.
“Ox blood red”
Casein in milk paint is probably more durable than linseed oil. Milk paint was widely used before stores sold commercial paint products
Horses don't see red colors the way we do. They see it as a gray-yellow color.
From Rockcastle County, Kentucky, here. We’ve got mostly black barns, and they were for hanging tobacco. I asked about that, thinking there must be some great significance. I also got the “cheapest paint” answer. LOL
Used to have a black barn because we painted with used motor oil. Free
black barns in the south of England are mostly scorched rather than painted
There were 10 000 tobacco kilns in my part of Ontario Canada and the majority of them were either red or green. I think it went from being to cheapest to tradition. We salvaged a few for my brother's nursery as he's cheap and lumbers expensive.
I'm from Nelson County, Kentucky and I made basically the same comment xD
Red pigment appears to have a long history of being the cheapest. The Romans primarily used red tunics for the legionaries, because those were the cheapest.
That is why the praetorian were often blue
Red tunics for the Roman legions like the red uniforms of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Purpose? So blood won't show.
That is why the British military uniforms are red, it was the lowest cost dye.
Same reason the British army wore red until the Boer wars. Of course, it's also an intimidating color.
red is the most expensive color in automotive paints
Thank you!! Now I know why Barns are red.
This was so interesting! I had no idea of the red vs. white barns. Growing up, we had a red barn. Without realizing it, I always referred to it as the RED barn! Interesting!
I grew up on a farm with red buildings and barns. I didn’t appreciate it as much until later in life when I worked on a dairy farm with white buildings and barns, and little wind protection. Every winter blizzard that came along made daily chores quite a challenge.
In Norway all barns are painted red. In Sweden obviously too. Maybe Scandinavian immigrants introduced the red barns to the states.
Something related to what was imported, was the word husband. In the olden days where the farmer was called husbonden (head of the farm, or man of the farm), or Husbonn', this became husband.
You asked us to leave suggestions for future videos. along the lines of Barns, can you think about doing one on the history of covered bridges? I think I know the original reason my have been snow in the winter, but why are they so Iconic today? Thank you for reading this, I'm enjoying your videos
Red also is warmer in winter, so that may have been another reason.
The southern barns were white-washed to reflect solar head.
Our barns were red painted with brick dust sold in 10# bags and mixed with used motor oil. It never dried but it did provide protection
Today, red (given equal quality of paint and/or materials) will fade faster than other colors closer to UV light in the visible light spectrum like blue. Red is the farthest away from UV light right next to IR light. Violet would be the best right next UV light. Just check out an old car with a red interior vs a blue interior exposed to sunlight over many years.
Just like a white house it was linseed oil mixed with lime to protect the wood, same idea in it
Interesting story. I remember growing up my grandparents had a farm and the barn was painted red. As a kid I never thought to ask why all of the barns were painted red. I guess I just thought that was the way it was supposed to be 😂
I have always loved barns in every shape and design They bring warmth and comfort when I see one. I could easily live in one. I'm a country person and love the outdoors, animals of all kinds. If I had a barn it would be green. That's cool, too.
I always love the red color on barn ❤❤❤👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼😃😃😃👍🏼
Red barns must be an American thing, I grew up in New Zealand, had family who had farms and also visited many others and cannot remember ever seeing a red barn, the vast majority were unpainted corrugated iron or unpainted wooden walled barns. Why waste money on paint when the walls of the barn will last 50 years unpainted?
Good information about barns. Now I wonder why train cabooses were red.
My Grandfather was an Engineer (the kind that drove trains) and the red color was all about visibility and depth perception to be able to control the train in both directions, the Engineer could see it better while backing up.
Roads used to follow cow paths. Who came up with the more practical grid pattern?
On the American frontier without ready access to stores the finish was often milk paint, also made from avaiable material (milk from cows, ash from fires acting as lime, blood from animals, etc).
Lumberjacks also wear red from a practical and frugal reason.
Red stands out in a green forest and is a super cheap dye so you can be easier to spot when people are cutting.
I love to have a picture of a red barn in the snow on my wall So beautiful ❤🙏
Thanks for hearing the suggestion.
In lieu of metal fasteners some of the ancient red Wisconsin wooden diary barns were fastened together using wooden dowels. The roofing in the livestock shedding was sometimes constructed of sod. The sheep on the roof would keep the turf nice and short. The Little House On The Prairie.
we don't have this in Northern England. Old barns are stone and new barns are metal, usually green or beige colour. They have old w ood barns in the South which were preserved by scorching, making them black. In Teesdale all the bildings are white, because the farmers are still tenants, and the estate requires tbem to limewash.
So red is by no means an obvious choice!
I've seen Falu Röd mentioned in the other comments. It is a traditional red paint thats made from iron oxides from the mining industry.
Ofcourse people have used iron oxides that are naturally found in the dirt and ground for millenia but this was to my knowledge one of the earliest industrial scale productions where the raw material was essentially free.
Our neighbors have a horse farm next door. Barns both painted red. They like it, we like it. Previous owners had the barns painted chocolate brown. Even the horses didn't like the color!
Grandpas huge dairy barn was white. Dads small dairy barn was red.
Part of me thinks that maybe the first guy who built a barn just liked the color "red" and a bunch of other people liked it too. The more people who made red barns,the quicker people began accepting that as a tradition
Where I live, there are tons of barns, not a one of them red. Next county over, tons more barns, all of them red.
Horses see dichromatic color. Red appears gray to them and is difficult to distinguish from other grays. The colors they respond to best are blue, green, and yellow. Blue stands out more against the surrounding environment, while yellow and green blend in with trees and bushes. Blue is arguably the best color to paint a barn.
I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a beach ball. (Just say'n.)
Iron oxide based coloring was already used 40,000 years ago, like in tgs caves of Lascaux, France. Long before that it was already used to color all kind of things and likely even skin.
Thanks . Living in a farming state i had always thought the red was just for visibility. I notice in Ohio the Amish farms are mostly white.
I asked that question in Sweden, it turned out it was first cost then tradition then regulation
in Sweden the traditional colour is called Falu Rödfärg (Falu red colour) and is made from copper mined from the Falu copper mines. It's a registered trademark, and only paint using copper from that specific mine can legally be called Falu Rödfärg. It's a finite resource, and it's estimated that the supply will be depleted by around 2090.
In Red Lodge Montana, there is round red barn made out of brick. A great restaurant.
When I was a kid the red barn was a hamburger place in California 😊
Even butterbean yellow is a good color. A green roof accents that yellow color.
Did I once hear they mixed animal blood with the linseed oil to get the red(ish) color, or am I mis-remembering?
Reminds me of the movie Warlock.🙂
In the movie, Dude, Where's My Car?,
"Is it red?"
"No."
"Well then it's not a barn!"
I grew up in rural KS snd now live in rural MN and linseed oil and rust was/is always the story I have heard.
On a different note, I have seen and worked on and in a LOT of old barns in the last 40+ years and have seen way more white ones than red ones.
Henry Ford, "You Can Have Any Color You Want, As Long As Its Black..."
Reason, It Was The FASTEST DRYING COLOR...🤣
Wife owns the family ranch near Moore Montana and their massive barn is red about 90 years old and the upstairs in one massive room for hay and local dances
Nice!
SUPER INTERSTING - I aIways wondered !!!
Why or how did farmers have rust in abundance? After making it so prominent I would have thought that info necessary!
Donald weaver is right I asked an old farmer this exact question and she said “because red paint was cheap
Thank you…that was interesting.
When I lived on the farm we always painted our barn all white dad always used Dutch boy it was the cheapest at the time. I go by the old farm now and aim embarrassed the owners just let it go there's no paint at all the paint has peeled off all the building's my father turning over in his grave all the work he made to maintain the buildings was in vain.
“Dude, it’s a barn”
“Is it red?”
“No”
“THEN ITS NOT A BARN!”
😂
I think barns on Prince Edward Island are often gray with red doors.
At least that’s what I remember from visits years ago.
Because they were painted with red barn paint.
that's your best???? sad...so sad...
Has anyone ever asked the animals what color they would like to see the barn painted in, agricultural red, easier to see from a distance
Where did they get the iron oxide? Was it iron ore?
There used to be a fast food restaurant called, " The Red Barn".
I don't know what fantasy land countryside you're driving through, because I've literally never seen a barn that's painted red.
In fact, I don't think I've seen a barn that's painted at all. They are almost exclusively bare wood.
That's cool!
So you've got two options. Option A: 'a symbol of rural life standing out against the natural landscape while embodying the resilience and resourcefullness of the farming community', Option B: 'The red thing in a bucket, that everybody uses.' Which one do you pick?
barns are red because people paint them with red paint...... saved us 8 minutes.
Interesting. For painting cars, red is the most expensive color.
Have not been to Scandinavia but I thought that timber burnt black on the outside was a traditional and widespread method there.
Not at all. Most houses in the country side are red, so is mine
Interesting. Red color was often the color of royalty. Very expensive as a fabric dye. Madder root and snails were not common everywhere
Purple was the color of royalty
Nothing covers old dry wood like red, my house is barn red and as old as me. But looks younger.
Are a lot of animals color blind? 🤢 I enjoyed your presentation 👍
a life around farmers says it ain't that complicated
You'd be red too, if someone pulled on your hose! Oh, wait, that's a fire truck.
Double boiled linseed oil we have barns and shakes over 100 years old
Been to sweden on vacation once and seen all the red and yellow farm buildings there. Wondering why they chose these colors
No wonder there used to be a restaurant chain in Ohio called - and shaped like a - Red Barn 😊. And maybe the old one room schools used to be in barns too, because my nursery school was called The Little Red Schoolhouse and had a red barn logo. ❤
Thank you
Let's all take a moment to give thanks that it wasn't "unfortunate yellow"
This is the name I gave that highlighter yellow color some people choose for their home.
I imagine someone going to buy paint for their home, and told "unfortunately all we have is this color.."
Hence, unfortunate yellow
Here In Finland all old rural buildings are red.
Few exceptions of course.
Painted Red for winter weather
My family's barns are green and now I'm questioning the universe.
These days blue roofs would be a good idea
Being from Northern California barns are white if painted at all. Redwood does not require paint
Red was cheap also had lead in it back in the day. Lead paint lasted for decades. Farmers are frugal, paint the buildings with the cheapest, longest lasting paint.
It’s tradition now, but it had a purpose then.
How the hell would you know where to turn if the barn wasn't red
I'm calling horseshit on the the color of the barn making it identifiable for horses and cows. Neither of them can see red. Look it up.😊
Interesting...I only knew about red paint being cheapest of all paints. Interesting that they made their own paint using rust.
I know of a barn that is painted pink.
YES, I am serious it's in Minnesota
That's cool to know..
Duh... Because Barn Red looks better on a building than Ford Blue or Chevrolet Red and nobody would be able to find a John Deere Green barn. 🤷♂️
Why are dusters yellow?
It was because red was the cheapest color for that type of paint... Automotive paint red is the most expensive.. to do with its type of paint. Or it used to be
It was called oxblood red, I always assumed that the name came from the paints ingredients.
Quite possible.
@@dennisenright9347 I rather think the word ”oxblood red” describes the red hue in contrast to more vivid red color
Doubtful can you imagine the smell
The shits I watch when I can’t sleep.
Sad but true.
Some cow liked it and it caught on.
Red meat, beef... or white dairy milk.
I've always thought that barns were brown.