The Exhibitor (1954)

This award winning mural by Doris Hall is an example of the striking results that can be gotten with porcelain enamel when used as a decorating tool. It can be used in many places. Combining Strength And Beauty Theatres Should Investigate Decorating With Porcelain Enamel IT is essential that your theatre present a handsome, attractive appearance if you are to retain the goodwill of your patrons and give them the all-important feeling of “being out” for the evening. However, with maintenance costs con¬ tinually rising, the task of keeping the¬ atres at a high point of attractiveness is becoming more and more of a problem. For this reason, an increasingly large number of theatre operators are turning to new types of materials which will combine the features of durability, econ¬ omy, beauty and low maintenance cost. Such a material is porcelain enamel. Until very recently, most people thought of porcelain enamel in terms of bath¬ tubs and gas stations. However, modern architectural progress and intensive re¬ search have transformed porcelain enamel into a variety of uses never before con¬ templated, many of which can be profit¬ ably put into practice in your theatre. Delicate And Strong Porcelain is both delicate and strong — delicate enough to hold and capture forever every color in the spectrum — strong enough to stand up against the harshest treatment. Manufactured by several leading companies, it is now recognized as a prime building material, adaptable to almost every type of con¬ struction. Here are some of the uses to which it has been put: porcelain span¬ drels; coping; wall, roofing, and acoustical panels; murals; cement block facings; fire places; window stools and sills — even church steeples. Priced competitively with other build¬ ing materials, porcelain enamel is avail¬ able in an unlimited selection of colors. It can be used in your theatre, for By Archer Trench Porcelain Enamel Products Corp. example, to redecorate your lobby even to the point of including strikingly de¬ signed murals “painted” by the manu¬ facturer’s ceramic artist. Actually, the glass colors used for the murals are smelted and fused to the steel core, thus guaranteeing an extremely durable finish. Even the railings in your lobby can be constructed of muralized porcelain enamel. Instead of the usual brass railings, many theatre operators have added a festive cheerful note to their lobbies with gaily decorated procelain enamel railings. Un¬ like brass which tarnishes easily, porce¬ lain enamel will retain the brightness of its colors permanently. It needs no polish¬ ing agent, either. A damp cloth rubbed along its surface is all that is necessary to keep it clean and new looking, no matter how many hands brush up against it. Wall Covering One of the most important advances in the use of porcelain enamel as a wall covering is a product called Veos, which has been developed by the Porcelain Enamel Products Corporation of Rehoboth, Mass. Ordinarily when interior walls are to be renovated, elaborate and costly wall preparations are required. It is often necessary to replaster old walls or install special wood furring strips. When clay tile products are used, the old walls must be torn out, exposing the wood studding, and metal lathes installed to hold the required wet cement bed. New Technique Veos presents an entirely new and ingenious technique. Borrowing the stand¬ ard modular idea of ceramic clay tile, Veos is manufactured in a complete range of rectangular shapes. Each unit is a small flange metal pan, with a ceramic porcelain finish. These shapes are manufactured in two standard modules, four and one-half inches and eight and one-fourth inches. The secret of the installation is a pat¬ ented, grooved backing board, which is nailed up over the existing wall. The grooves of this packing board are in a rectangular grid pattern and are deep enough to accept the flanges of the Veos shape. These grooves provide quick pre¬ cise installation, with alignment auto¬ matically controlled by the grid pattern. The Veos shapes are held in place with a specially compounded adhesive, and the intersections are filled with a white grout¬ ing cement. This unique Veos installation method has particular significance for the theatre owner. Since the backing board provides a one-half inch of standard thermal and acoustical insulation, it improves the acoustical properties of the theatre and contributes a year-round saving, by re¬ ducing the load on the heating and air conditioning equipment. The savings to the theatre owner in costly wall prepara¬ tions are obvious. Veos offers the theatre manager a choice of two sizes and a wide variety of colors, as well as custom-decorated effects. The four and one-half inch mod¬ ule is the traditional size and is particu¬ larly well suited in cases where a regular tile effect is desired. The new large eight and one-fourth inch size has been de¬ veloped at the request of architects and theatre managers who desire a more modern, bolder appearance. PT-8 PHYSICAL THEATRE DEPARTMENT of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR January 5, 1955