“Linoleum”, by Jane Powell

Powell, Jane. Linoleum. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 2003. Print.

I’ve long been a fan of linoleum – not vinyl, you understand, but the original stuff made from a mixture of sawdust and linseed oil, heated and pressed onto burlap.  It was a mainstay of hospitals and schools for decades in the early part of the 20th century, thanks to its natural antibacterial properties.  It’s enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days, and I can even buy cool new products like linoleum applied to tongue-and-groove high-density fibreboard.

Jane Powell is the only person I’ve ever heard of who is more enthusiastic about linoleum than I am, so I thought this book was great!

The New York store Second Hand Rose supplied some of the samples shown in the book, but their website doesn’t seem to have anything other than wallpaper for sale.