I have been told by several farmers and have read in several articles that the barns were painted red because that was the cheapest/longest lasting paint.
***the barns were painted red because that was the cheapest/longest lasting paint.***
There was some kind of milk based paint that lasted and lasted. Even today it will not come off if paint remover is applied to it.
My wife have a nice old oak table. It is painted black because her crazy great-aunt painted the beautiful oak with milk based red maybe 75 years ago.