Valspar

19th century beginnings

In 1806, Samuel Tuck established a paint dealership in Boston, Massachusetts called "Paint and Color". Over the next 50 years, the dealership changed owners and names several times and was eventually acquired by Augustine Stimson. In 1832, Lawson Valentine incorporated Valentine & Company as a varnish manufacturer in Boston. The two businesses eventually merged under the name Stimson & Valentine.

In 1855, Otis Merriam joined as a principal owner, and in 1860, Henry Valentine, Lawson's brother, joined the company. By 1866, both Stimson and Merriam had retired from the group and the company name was changed back to Valentine & Company. Lawson hired Charles Homer, brother of American artist Winslow Homer, as a chemist for the company. Homer was one of only a few chemists in the U.S. at that time, and was the first such specialist recruited into the American varnish industry.

In 1870, Valentine & Company relocated to New York City and acquired the Minnesota Linseed Oil Paint Company. Around this time, the company began to develop varnishes for use on vehicles that could compete with English-made varnishes. Henry Valentine succeeded his brother as president in 1882, taking over a company with operations in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and on the west coast of the U.S. Later, their operations expanded to Pennsylvania and Paris.

The Valspar name

Valspar was the first ever clear varnish; it was developed by L. Valentine Pulsifer, Lawson Valentine's grandson. Pulsifer had joined the company in 1903 after earning a degree in chemistry from Harvard University. After three years of experimentation, he created the clear varnish, which went into production by 1905. The Valspar varnish was the company's main product for more than 30 years. The advertising tagline, "The varnish that won't turn white" made Valspar a household name. Famous users of Valspar included Robert Peary in his 1909 expedition, the U.S. military during World War I, and Charles Lindbergh during his 1927 solo intercontinental flight.