We have begun pulling up the several layers of parquet, vinyl, asbestos, and linoleum that add up to two inches on top of the original plank subfloors. Under all that mess is sticky tar paper, likely put down to help that first layer of linoleum stick better. In the process, in a spot where a wall might have stood decades ago, we found a piece of flooring that incredibly seemed to have been handpainted.
A post on the amazing Brownstoner forum quickly revealed the origin — it’s a piece of “congoleum,” a kind of poor man’s area rug. It’s simply tar paper (sourced from Congo) with a smooth paper side onto which a design was block printed. The uneven nature of our print makes us think it was hand-blocked, which they did before 1913 when the process was mechanized.
Brian H January 6th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Where is Paige?
Brian H January 6th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
We need more cooking suggestion articles.
Dresden January 6th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
crazy
Jimmy Legs January 6th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
so it’s the 1913 version of contact paper? is that the only bit you found? you should frame it!
FormerRidgewoodite January 6th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
In my old building, under the layers of floors, there was an old linoleum or something (also on top of tarpaper) and the design looked like an oriental rug. So “poor man’s carpeting” is a good name.
Jeremy Sapienza January 6th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Yeah it was actually laid out like an oriental rug, but you could mop it! Very claaassy-like.
mopar January 6th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Cool!
mopar January 6th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I mop all the oriental carpets in my pad.