THE HISTORY OF VENETIAN WOOD BLINDS

Wood Blinds – The natural choice for beauty and warmth.

James Strickland started Strickland's Window Coverings as a wooden Venetian blind manufacturer in 1942. Although 60 years in wood blinds is a long time, it doesn’t compare to he history of the Venetian Blind. Let us share with you some information we have compiled.

The early history of the Venetian blind is speculative. The early Venetians, who were great traders, are thought to have brought the idea of the blind from Persia to Venice. The Venetian slaves, one freed, are then thought to have brought the blind to France for personal comfort and as a means of livelihood

One of the earliest records in America was the fitting of Venetian blinds at St. Peter’s Church in Philadelphia in 1761. The first pioneer of the Venetian blind in the US was John Webster, an upholsterer from London. Following is the first known print advertisement for wooden blinds to appear in the “New World” having been placed in the “Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser” on August 20, 1767 by said John Webster.

“…the newest invented Venetian Sun Blinds for windows, on the best principles, stain’d to any color, moves to any position, so as to give different light, screens from the scorching rays of the sun, draws a cool air in hot weather, draws up as a curtain, and prevents being overlooked, and is the greatest preserver of furniture of anything of the kind ever invented…”

Venetian blinds then appeared in the 1787 painting by J. L. Gerome Ferris, entitled “The Visit of Paul Jones to the Constitutional Convention”. Other illustrations show Venetian blinds at Independence Hall in Philadelphia at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The first large modern building in the US to adopt Venetian blinds was Rockefeller Centers RCA Building (better known as the Radio City Building) in New York City at the turn of the 20th century.

The Venetian blind is thought to have grown in popularity for its technical improvements over cloth shading systems. The following three advantages were often sited: 1) greater durability, 2) easier operation, and 3) more economical.

The use of blinds with minimal draperies or no draperies at all is not difficult to understand. In Williamsburg, drapery fabric (as well as many other commodities) came from England and carried a stout tax. The expense of draperies added to this tax, plus a very real resentment on the part of Colonists regarding England and her taxes made wooden blinds very logical alternative for window covering.

In all probability, wooden blinds would have been produced locally, possibly as a sideline to the furniture industry using the scrap. This may also explain the prolific use of Walnut blinds during that period.

The bold, distinguished lines of Georgian Architecture are ideally suited to the wooden blind, and it became common in east as a functional as well as decorative window treatment throughout the Georgian Period (1714 – 1811).

The Federal Period (1790 – 1830) saw a slight modification in design towards a lightness and delicacy relative to the preceding Georgian style. However, the essential design of window remained very similar and thus window decorations.

The use of walnut or natural finish blinds was very popular in Colonial times, however; by contrast the Federal Period found white or stone color blinds to be more elegant and fashionable. Blinds were typically painted the color of the window casement. The most common exception to this practice was the use of dark green.

In the 1850’s with the approach of the Victorian Era (1837 – 1901), architecture became much more ornate. Decorative ornamentation was the order of the day. Operable louver bi-fold shutters began to see their earliest popular usage on the interior of the building, but shutters were often limited to the study or the library during the early Victorian Period.

Through the end of the 19th Century and the turn of the 20th Century, wooden blinds remained very popular as a window decoration in America. It was not until the 1940’s that blinds realized the first of two major changes, namely the introduction of the metal slat. The second of the two major changes occurred in 1970 with the introduction of the “mini-blind”. We are, however, now seeing resurgence and a new popularity in the Wooden Venetian Blind.

Credits: Information compiled from www.mae.ncsu.edu and DeVenco – A Historical Perspective of Wooden Blinds & Shutters.