A Beautiful Shade of Rust

I adore metal!   I especially love old animal feeders and hand made galvanized boxes.  I adore metal top tables too!  I started thinking about when the galvanization process was invented and how it was accomplished.  I found out that galvanization is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, in order to prevent rusting.  The term "galvanization" was derived in the 19th century from the name of the Italian scientist, Luigi Galvani.  However, the earliest example of galvanizing of iron was found on a piece of Indian armor in the Royal Armories Museum that dates from the 17th century!

The zinc coating prevents corrosion of the protected metal by forming a physical barrier.  Although galvanizing will inhibit attack of the underlying steel, rusting will be inevitable, especially if exposed to the natural acidity of rain.  So, thank goodness, galvanization is not 100% fool proof, or we would not be able to have that "perfect shade of rust!!!"  Honestly, I have trouble saying "no" to any piece of metal that has been rusted!

The definition of the word, "rust" as quoted from dictionary.com is as follows:

rust (ruhst)
(noun) Also called iron rust, the red or orange coating that forms on the surface of iron when exposed to air and moisture, consisting chiefly of ferric hydroxide and ferric oxide formed by oxidation.

And...my definition of rust:
The beautiful color of old metal when the environment finally breaks down the outside coating to form a beautiful, warm patina.

And here are some beautiful galvanized pieces we have in the store with varying shades of rust!

 1905 galvanized metal washing machine.

 Galvanized metal egg shelf with pull-out trays.

 Metal  stools.

 VERY rusty No Trespassing sign.

Metal bait buckets.

Metal animal feeders!

Rusty scoops!

Galvanized metal chicken house.

You may like a lot of rust or a little rust, but whatever shade of rust you love, we'll have it at Down Home!

xo, Peggy