A Flooring Mystery Update
Yesterday I did a post about the non-original flooring of the Cross House.
When new, the house had plain pine flooring on its first and second levels, as wall-to-wall carpet was installed. At some point, very simple oak flooring was laid down, and this remains today.
Was the oak installed ruing the 1929 apartment conversion, when the pine flooring would have been torn up to install many new bathrooms and kitchens? This would make sense.
Or was the flooring from the 1950 motel conversions when even more bathrooms were installed? This, too, would make sense.
A few years ago, when I redid the library flooring, the oak (highly damaged) was removed and this was found:
This soooooooo looked like a 1940s font. So, I thought the oak floors, on at least the first level, were from the 1950 motel conversion.
However…the oak removed this week on the second floor by The Other Justin has the same sticker.
Ahh.
So, this meant, it seemed, that all the flooring was from the 1950 motel conversion.
This though did not quite sit right with me. For, during the 1929 conversion, when the 1894 pine flooring would have been torn up to install many bathrooms and kitchens, surely they did not retain the 1894 wall-to-wall carpeting? Or did they install new wall-to-wall?
Argh! This was all quite vexing.
Then, Jim had to throw a wrench into all this vexation by sending me this image from a 1927 catalog:
And my brain exploded.
That 1927 label IS the label on all my oak.
The label was used by Bruce through, at least, the 1920s through to the 1940s.
So…ummm…well…here’s my conjecture:
- No matter that the font screams 1940s to me, it is not. So, I am a font idiot. Sigh. Damn you, Jim!
- The oak flooring is likely from the 1929 conversion. And this, you know, would make a lot of sense. With so much of the 1894 pine flooring torn up a new wood floor would have been the sensible thing to do.
- Perhaps, perhaps, during the 1950 conversion, when the 1929 flooring would have been torn up, new Bruce flooring was used as infill.
I am happy with my conjecture.
Time for some wine…
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Morning Ross,
Hopefully the wine helped calm your fevered brain!
I love these investigatory posts, as it’s so interesting to uncover the various layers of the home. I just started following another restoration blog on You Tube, who posted on Victorian era wall to wall carpeting which gave an idea of the different grades available in the 1880s and 90s. You might find it interesting….
The 2nd Empire Strikes Back – Episode 105. (tried to embed a link but it wouldn’t work)
Wishing you a great weekend ahead.
Colin
But what if they opened the ceilings and did the work from below , then repaired the plaster .
Yes, Kelly, that is an option. But it is easier to repair a floor than a plaster ceiling.
By 1942, the Bruce logo was not a stamp, but a rectangular sticker. How do I know? It just so happens I’ve torn up a Bruce white oak floor in my 1942 rental. My family had six such houses at one point (all former WWII shipyard worker housing in Bremerton, WA) and the floors are all the same. I took a picture of the logo, email and I’ll send it your way. My vote is 1929!