Cheap, quick, & easy

by Pamela H. Simpson

In this study, Pamela H. Simpson examines the architectural materials that proliferated between 1870 and 1930. As Simpson shows in fascinating detail, rockface concrete blocks, pressed metal imitations of stone, linoleum "marble" and "parquet," and embossed wall coverings made available to the masses a host of ornamental effects that only the wealthy could previously have afforded. But, she notes, wherever these new materials appeared, a heated debate over the appropriateness of imitation followed. Were these materials merely tasteless shams? Or were they economical, durable alternatives that democratically extended the possibilities of ornamentation? Far from being in "bad taste," she concludes, these new ornamental forms reflected modernism, democracy, and progress - some of the most deeply held values of the period.