In praise of the inventor of Linoleum

Frederick Edward Walton, born sometime before 1834, was the inventor of linoleum, that versatile floor covering now, probably, better known as a printing medium. Like many inventions, Walton discovered linoleum by accident. While attempting to develop a quick drying paint for use in the manufacture of oilcloth (another utilitarian product undergoing a retro design renaissance) Walton noticed that the skin that formed on an open tin of paint had a consistency akin to rubber. This was oxidized linseed oil, and by 1860 Walton had patented a process that enabled him to expose linseed oil to air on a commercial scale. The search for a durable floor covering had been going on for a few years, and there were many early products, such as Kamptulicon, a rubber and cork based covering. Walton substituted the rubber with his oxidized linseed oil, mixed it with cork and resin, mounted it on hessian, and linoleum was born. Linoleum (from linum, linen thread, and oleum, oil) made it's first appearance in 1863, and was patented in 1864. The Linoleum Manufacturing Company was started, a printing factory in Staines converted, and a showroom opened at 67 Newgate Street, London. The "warm, soft and durable" linoleum was advertised at railway stations, and sales started to grow, spreading from domestic interiors to offices and hospitals. In 1872 Walton set up the American Linoleum Company (originally named the Joseph Wild Co.) on the western shore of Staten Island in a town that was dubbed Linoleumville. When the company moved to Philadelphia the citizens of Linoleumville, rather miserably, renamed it Travis. Walton's patent for linoleum ran out in 1877, and despite his attempts to retain exclusive use of the name, in 1878 the High Court ruled that 'linoleum' was the name of a material, not the name of a product of one company. This resulted in rival companies, such as Nairns of Kirkcaldy selling their own linoleums. In fact Kirkcaldy (the town where Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations) became the world centre of linoleum production, with six manufacturers in the town. In 1930 the Linoleum Manufacturing Company amalgamated with Barry, Ostlere and Shepherd to become Barry and Staines Linoleum Company (later Barry Staines), and at it's height, they employed around 350 people in Staines, making it the towns largest employer, churning out 3,200 sq. yards of 'Staines Lino' each week by 1956. The site of the factory is now a shopping centre, after the company relocated to Scotland in the early 1970s, with the only evidence of the factory's existence a statue of two men carrying a roll of linoleum (see illustration). Walton went on to register 88 patents, most of which involved oxidized linseed oil. One of them was a method of embossing fabrics for wall and ceiling coverings, and was marketed as Lincrusta-Walton. Incidentally, Anaglypta , which was invented by a Walton employee, Thomas Palmer, had been rejected by Walton as he saw it as a direct competitor to Lincrusta, so Palmer set up on his own. After retiring to Nice in the 1920s he wrote The Infancy and Development of Linoleum Floorcloth (1925), painted watercolours and read poetry. He was killed in a car accident on 16 May 1928, aged 94, and was buried in La Caucada Cemetery.