Barn Colors
'Why are barns red?' you ask yourself as you drive through the countryside and notice all of the old barns are red. This is a question that has been asked many times in the last couple of centuries. Actually it depends on where you are driving as to what color you will predominantly see barns painted.
The barns in Kentucky and other tobacco states are painted black, brown, or some other dark color to help heat the barn where tobacco is curing. In the mid Atlantic states, white dairy barns stand out supposedly to denote cleanliness and sanitation.
It is in New England and the upper Midwest that red barns are everywhere to be seen.
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OK, So Why Are Barns Red In These Areas?
Well, it seems that the tradition actually began in Europe before settlers came to America. There farmers painted their barns with a linseed-oil mixture, often consisting of additions such as milk and lime. This combination produced a long-lasting paint that dried and hardened quickly.
They added ferric oxide, which we know as rust, to the mixture to protect the wood against fungus, termites, weather, rot, and moss. It was the addition of ferric oxide that created the color barn red. Actually, barn red is not a bright fire engine red but a burnt orangish red color.
As the Europeans crossed the Pond to America, so did the practice of painting their barns red. So that's the common theory of why many barns are red.
Are There Other 'Why Are Barns Red' Myths?
There are many myths about barn paint colors. One popular one theorizes that frugal farmers chose red because of its price. However, the addition of iron oxide (the red color) would have made the basic mixture of milk, oil, and lime more expensive, not less.
Another interesting theory was that 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.
Here's a myth about white barns. This theory portrays a dairy cow as a myopic animal only able to discern the difference between light and dark. Therefore, according to lore, farmers painted their dairy barns white so that the cows could find their way back to it from the pasture at milking time.
This practice continued in America until Sears & Roebuck offered affordable factory-mixed paints. Now we have all colors of barns, including yellow and green. I don't recall anyone seeing a polka dot barn yet! Fortunately, though, farmers still paint many barns red, and this color superimposes a degree of beauty on the landscape that offers a unique display of one of our most important industries.
