What are Tin Ceilings?
In the mid-19th century, tin ceilings were innovative, middle class America’s response to the decorative plaster ceilings of wealthy Europeans. Easy to mass produce, light, detailed, and superior to plaster in many ways, these panels of embossed metal covered countless ceilings of houses, hotels, and businesses. In the late 1900s, interest in tin ceilings was piqued with the popularity of renovation architecture, resulting in modern reproductions of pressed tin. Decorative plaster ceilings were beautiful but not very practical. They were time intensive to mold, heavy to ship, and difficult to apply to the wet expanse of an unfinished ceiling. The advent of 2′ x 2′ (60 x 60 cm) tin panels, impressed with a relief design, meant easier installation, finer detail, and less expense. Aluminum, stainless steel, or copper sheets of metal absorb sound, retard fire, resist moisture and mildew, and last longer than plaster or drywall. They can be nailed into wood in easy to handle squares. The pa
