DuPont Paint Information

DuPont began producing nitrocellulose-based pyroxylin lacquers after acquiring the International Smokeless Powder and Solvents Company in 1905. The purchase of the Arlington Company ten years later (in 1915) deepened the company's involvement. Although they were quick drying and widely used on brass fixtures, conventional lacquers were too brittle for more demanding uses. By the 1920s, however, the automotive industry had become a huge potential market. Although mass production had vastly increased output, because conventional paints took up to two weeks to dry, finishing remained a bottleneck. In 1920 chemists working with film at DuPont's Redpath Laboratory in Parlin, New Jersey, produced a thick pyroxylin lacquer which was quick drying but durable and that could be colored. DuPont marketed it under the name Viscolac in 1921. Assisted by General Motors (GM) engineers, DuPont refined the product further and renamed it Duco. The success of Duco led to further experimentation with finishes and late in the 1920s, DuPont developed Dulux, an even more effective alkyd finish. Duco retained a niche market, however, and DuPont continued to produce it at Parlin until the late 1960s.

Two products account for a high proportion of these finish sales to General Motors: "Duco," and "Dulux". However, Duco and Dulux did not come into commercial use until 1924 and 1931, respectively, and DuPont's position as a principal manufacturer of finishes was attained much earlier.

The invention and development of Duco in the early 1920's represented a significant technological advance. The gradual adoption of Duco by some of the General Motors' car divisions, viewed in conjunction with its proved superiority as an auto finish, illustrates the independent buying of each division and demonstrates that Duco made its way on its own merits. From the beginning, General Motors continued to look for competitive materials. Finally, the success of Duco has never been confined to the General Motors' car divisions. In 1924 and 1925, nearly all car manufacturers abandoned varnish for Duco. General Motors has continued to test paints on thousands of cars annually. DuPont has retained its position as primary lacquer supplier to several General Motors' divisions because these divisions have felt that Duco best fits their needs.

The second largest item which General Motors buys from DuPont is Dulux, a synthetic enamel finish used on refrigerators and other appliances. Since its development, Dulux has been used exclusively by all the major manufacturers of refrigerators and other appliances - General Electric, Westinghouse, Crosley, and many others - except Frigidaire, which continues to finish parts of its refrigerators with porcelain.

Expressed in percentages, DuPont supplied 67% of General Motors' requirements for finishes in 1946 and 68% in 1947. In fabrics DuPont supplied 52.3% of requirements in 1946, and 38.5% in 1947. Because General Motors accounts for almost one-half of the automobile industry's annual sales, its requirements for automotive finishes and fabrics must represent approximately one-half of the relevant market for these materials.

The DuPont Company's commanding position as a General Motors supplier was not achieved until shortly after its purchase of a sizable block of General Motors stock in 1917. At that time its production for the automobile industry and its sales to General Motors were relatively insignificant. Before the first block of General Motors stock was acquired, DuPont was seeking markets for the artificial leather, celluloid, rubber-coated goods, and paints and varnishes in demand by automobile companies. More than just a profitable investment was contemplated. A major consideration was that an expanding General Motors would provide a substantial market needed by the burgeoning DuPont organization. Immediately after the acquisition, DuPont's influence growing out of it was brought to bear within General Motors to achieve primary for DuPont as General Motors' supplier of automotive fabrics and finishes. J. A. Haskell, DuPont's former sales manager and vice-president, became the General Motors vice-president in charge of the operations committee. Haskell frankly and openly set about gaining the maximum share of the General Motors market for DuPont.

The record does not show that the fabrics and finishes used in the manufacture of automobiles have peculiar characteristics differentiating them from the finishes and fabrics used in other industries. What evidence there is in the record affirmatively indicates the contrary. Duco was first marketed not to General Motors, but to the auto refinishing trade and to manufacturers of furniture, brush handles and pencils. In 1927, 44% of DuPont's sales of colored Duco, and 51.5% of its total sales, were to purchasers other than auto manufacturers. A substantial portion of DuPont's sales of Duco have continued to be for non automotive uses. Dulux has never been used in the manufacture of automobiles. It replaced Duco and other lacquers as a finish on refrigerators, washers, dryers, and other appliances, and continues to have wide use on metallic objects requiring a durable finish.

In 1947, when DuPont's sales of Duco and Dulux to General Motors totaled about $15,400,000, the total national market for paints and finishes was $1,248,000,000, of which about $552,000,000 was for varnishes, lacquers, enamels, japans, thinners and dopes, the kinds of finishes sold primarily to industrial users. There is no evidence in this record establishing that these industrial finishes are not competitive with Duco and Dulux. There is considerable evidence that many of them are. It is probable that DuPont's total sales of finishes to General Motors in 1947 constituted less than 3.5% of all sales of industrial finishes.

The largest single finish item which DuPont sells to General Motors is a low-viscosity nitrocellulose lacquer, discovered and patented by DuPont and for which its trademark is 'Duco'.

The invention and development of 'Duco' represented a truly significant advance in the art of paint making and in the production of automobiles; without 'Duco' mass production of automobiles would not have been possible.

(Read more about the federal antitrust suit against DuPont, for its 23 percent interest in General Motors)

A recent message about express car lettering being Dulux gold tweaked me about what I consider another piece of 'misinformation' spread by the model railroad press, in that they lead one to believe that "Dulux" was inseparable from "gold".  A couple ads in the 1946 and 1953 Car Builder's Cyclopedia from the "Better things for better living....through Chemistry" people at E.I.duPont de Nemours & Co., Inc., tell some of the history of this paint.  In brief, here it is:

In 1925, the "Duco" finish was born in a duPont lab.  It was a nitrocellulose pyroxylin lacquer-type material intended for passenger cars and was for spray painting only.  They had high and low gloss versions for exterior use, and a matte finish for interior use.  Drying time was about 30 minutes.

In 1930, the "Dulux" finish was announced.  It was an alkyd synthetic resin enamel, which featured "clear topcoats are not necessary".  It was intended for use on freight cars as well as passenger and diesels, and could be either sprayed or brushed.  "Dulux" was higher gloss than "Duco" (but not as high as present day epoxies) on exteriors, and there was also a matte finish version of "Dulux" for interiors.  Drying time was overnight at room temperature. Both "Duco" and "Dulux" were available in the 1930's to '50's. (I don't know when they were removed from the market.)

So, "Dulux" was most likely used for gold lettering because it could be brushed, and it had a higher gloss.  Whether all gold painting was done with "Dulux" is debatable.  However, I'd guess that gold probably came in "Duco" as well as "Dulux".  And certainly "Dulux" gold was not the only "Dulux" color, since it was intended for painting all kinds of cars, and "Dulux" red was specifically promoted for cabooses.  Lastly, it is clear that "Dulux" gold could not have been used on anything prior to 1930.

Duco, a durable, quick-drying finish invented by DuPont, helped make the 1920s revolution in consumer goods mass production possible, becoming the standard finish on automobiles, hardware, appliances and toys. General Motors introduced Duco finish on its Oakland models in 1923 and it more than fulfilled expectations, reducing finish time from two weeks to two days and drastically cutting rejection rates.

DuPont began producing nitrocellulose-based pyroxylin lacquers after acquiring the International Smokeless Powder and Solvents Company in 1905. The purchase of the Arlington Company ten years later [in 1915] deepened the company's involvement. Although they were quick drying and widely used on brass fixtures, conventional lacquers were too brittle for more demanding uses. By the 1920s, however, the automotive industry had become a huge potential market. Although mass production [of automobiles] had vastly increased output, because conventional paints took up to two weeks to dry, finishing remained a bottleneck. In 1920 chemists working with film at DuPont's Redpath Laboratory in Parlin, New Jersey, produced a thick pyroxylin lacquer which was quick drying but durable and that could be colored. DuPont marketed it under the name Viscolac® in 1921. Assisted by General Motors engineers, DuPont refined the product further and renamed it Duco. The success of Duco led to further experimentation with finishes and late in the 1920s, DuPont developed Dulux, an even more effective alkyd finish. Duco retained a niche market, however, and DuPont continued to produce it at Parlin until the late 1960s.

DuPont has been using Dulux enamel in automotive coatings since 1926. Dulux actually owes its existence to a flaw in its more famous cousin, Duco, first brought color to automobiles when General Motors used it in 1923. It was thick and quick drying, which pleased car makers, but frustrating for consumers who couldn't apply it like the oil-based paints they were used to.

So DuPont researchers tried mixing synthetic alkyd resins with oil and found that the resulting enamel's drying time was slower than Duco but faster than that of traditional oil paint. Dulux alkyd resin, named in 1926, also had a pleasing high-gloss look. First actively marketed in 1929, by the early 1930s it won over consumers under the label Dulux "Brush" Duco.

Dulux high-gloss enamels were also used widely in the 1930s on refrigerators and washing machines, outdoor signs, gasoline service stations and pumps, and railroad cars. Once tried as an undercoating for Duco auto paint, Dulux also found a niche as a low-cost alternative to Duco auto finishes. In 1954 some automobile manufacturers chose an improved Dulux alkyd enamel over Duco, and over DuPont's new water-based Lucite® acrylic lacquer. However, Lucite® soon pulled ahead in household sales, and after DuPont developed a new acrylic polymer in 1957, Lucite® also outshone Dulux in the appliance and industrial markets. DuPont sold its consumer paint business in 1983.