Why Are Barns Red? ~ Why Are Barns White?

Red Barns:

The traditional red barns stand for two reasons. One being that farmers are cheap and the other, well, also that farmers are cheap. Dairy farmers would mix iron oxide with their milk to coat their barns cheaper than paint and secondly, before your paint was mixed right at the store, red was the cheapest color you could buy.

White Barns:

White barns on the other hand, are a product of their unique place and time here in Wisconsin.  In the days leading up to the Cold War Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin would  lead his anti-communist campaign with the slogan “If it’s red it’s dead” and convinced Wisconsin farmers to paint their barns white.

When you own a piece of art from Flags Over Wisconsin, you get with it the story behind each of the reclaimed structures making up the piece. Some find this feeling of attachment to be the best part. Each piece is founded on an ecological principle of upcycling Wisconsin’s proud heritage and landscape into functional art for future generations, preserving the history of these buildings while bringing awareness to the need for us all to think before we consume.  Every piece starts with a question; how can I transform material slated for refuse into beauty, value and a new life in our community?

60 tons of material saved to date.

Being a volunteer Fire Fighter for over ten years, I also know a few things about fire trucks….Do you know why fire trucks are red?

A:

A fire truck is red because a fire truck has four people and eight wheels and four & eight is twelve.

There are twelve inches in a foot, but a foot is also a ruler.

Queen Elizabeth is a ruler, but Queen Elizabeth is also a ship.

Ships sail on the sea and seas have fish and fish have fins and the Fins fought the Russians and the Russians are called the Reds and fire trucks are always rushin around…that’s why fire trucks are red.