If there ever was a "Barn Red"...this was it.

Below is a quote about why barns are red....

"

• Wealthy farmers added blood from a recent slaughter to the oil mixture. As the paint dried, it turned from a bright red to a darker, burnt red.
• Farmers added ferrous oxide, otherwise known as rust, to the oil mixture. Rust was plentiful on farms and is a poison to many fungi, including mold and moss, which were known to grown on barns. These fungi would trap moisture in the wood, increasing decay.

Regardless of how the farmer tinted his paint, having a red barn became a fashionable thing. They were a sharp contrast to the traditional white farmhouse.

As European settlers crossed over to America, they brought with them the tradition of red barns. In the mid to late 1800s, as paints began to be produced with chemical pigments, red paint was the most inexpensive to buy. Red was the color of favor until whitewash became cheaper, at which point white barns began to spring up."

As we travel across this country and we notice things that have become "commonplace" to us...there is usually a reason for the strange color, the ad painted on a barn or a myriad of other oddities. These reasons usually stem from a practical need as the land was settled.

Have a great Sunday!

Dan