In the 1910s, Canton Steel Company advertised its steel ceilings as an effective treatment in the living room of a modern home as well as in an up-to-date kitchen. They were also sold as the modern choice for ceilings. “Decorative plaster ceilings were expensive because a master craftsperson would need to be employed to do the work-a homeowner could get a similar effect with pressed-metal ceilings at a fraction of the price.” When metal ceilings were painted white, they looked like expensive, ornate plaster. “One reason for their popularity was cost,” explains Bill Perk, Jr., president of the contemporary tin ceiling manufacturer M-Boss, Inc.

By the late 1800s, there were about two dozen factories pounding out tin-coated steel ceilings and sidewall. Rope was used as a molding to cover the joints, and the corners were hidden by wooden rosettes. Historian Ken Postlethwaite explains that although there is some controversy over where the first pressed metal ceilings popped up in this country, it is believed that their use began in 1885 with the experimental installation of tin-plate squares used to patch a ceiling in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo: Lee Ann Russell) Tin Ceiling Origins Sheets of steel are still hand-cut with shears at W.F. We’ll look at old and new technologies used to re-create this historical ornament. Dramatic, deep-paneled steel ceilings could be found in high-society townhouses, while simpler patterns were found in more modest homes.

Frank Baum created a character out of tin in his 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Up until World War I, when manufacturing was diverted to war efforts, the same process was used to make sheet metal for roofing ornament and skylight casings-even children’s author L. Early steel manufacturing companies cited the practicality of this material over wood and plaster, touting it as “perfect protection against fire, water, dust, vermin, and rodents” as well as advertising the metal as not “cracking, peeling, or shrinking.” (Photo: Michael Jackson archives)Ī popular choice in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for both residential and commercial buildings, pressed tin-coated steel ceilings made an elegant, economical addition to many rooms. Decorative metal ceilings were first used in formal parlors and living rooms as an economical alternative to decorative plaster.

Pressed tin ceiling