I was watching “Hometime” (PBS DIY show), and they were putting in a pressed-tin ceiling, so naturally I started thinking about pressed-tin ceilings. I’ve pretty much only ever seen them in bars. Someone put some up in the foyer of my house (built in the 20s), but on the walls, clearly as a decorative thing. Were they just decorative – like a cheaper version of the fancy plasterwork of the time – or did they serve some practical purpose as well, like, uh, fireproofness?
WAG - like trim work it covers up imperfection. It is also long lasting and easy to install. Try finishing plaster walls.
Also, it was trendy at the time, beyond it’s utility value. Same as all the old cast-iron storefronts in lower Manhattan, the sort of thing that happens when people are playing around with whatever technology has developed. At the time they looked phony to people who could afford actual stonework outside and plaster within, but age has conferred status.
I’ve heard (ok, at the bar) it is/was for when candles and gas and oil were used for lighting.
Okay, this all makes sense – but why do you usually see them in bars, specifically? Sometimes old restaurants, also – but they’re more apt to be the neighborhood tavern type places. Is it just that they’ve been remodeled out of other types of buildings? And if so, why leave them in bars?
Maybe 'cause it’s cheaper and easier to leave them in than to tear them out and refinish the wall/ceiling.
Or maybe because some people (including me) simply like the way they look. My brother-in-law lives in a very swanky house in a posh part of town, and he and his wife hung four tin-ceiling panals on their wall, simply as decoration, that way one would hang art. They’re in a four-square pattern, they’re a lovely rich rusty-brown color (but they are not rusty, just that color) and they look spectacular on their white walls over their chestnut brown leather sofa. They’re not at all functional, they’re not even fullly attached, just hanging. They brought them with them when they moved, and they look just as great at their new place.
If this is in fact the case, perhaps the bars are just looking for a “antique” or old-time look (which bars and taverns commonly do).
My family’s house in the north Bronx, built in the early 1900s, has pressed-tin ceilings in all the main rooms. I think they were fairly common in older houses, but they may often have been removed on renovation, or sometimes concealed under new drop ceilings (as they have been in a couple of our rooms). In our house, the paint has a tendency to chip off (they have been painted white for as long as I remember), and the tin has corroded in a few places exposed to moisture. These ceilings can be a bit of a nuisance to maintain, which could explain why homeowners might have removed them.
Pressed tin ceiling became popular around the Civil War. They were originally used as an inexpensive alternative for fancy plaster work, and were often used in homes and businesses to repair ceilings damaged by fire or water. Very simple to install - basically you need a tin snips, hammer and nails. They are not really tin, but tin plated steel (just like a “tin can”), usually sold in 2 feet by 4 feet panels, and the edges are as sharp as a razor blade. When they were first introduced, they were almost always painted white or whatever color the ceiling was to be, but gradually some people wanted to save a few bucks and didn’t bother to paint them. If you are buying them now, you should either paint them with an oil paint or some kind of clear rust proof coating.
You would see them a lot in older buildings, especially commercial buildings, since, if properly painted, they would last more or less forever.