Look Up! The Story Behind the Zelleken Kitchen’s Tin Ceiling
W. F. Norman Sheet Metal Mfg. Company
The W. F. Norman Company began manufacturing hand pressed metal ceiling tiles in the late 1890s. Established in Nevada, Missouri, the company was founded by William Franklin Norman and John Berghauser whose partnership would create one of America’s most enduring decorative metal manufacturers.
During the 1890s, Norman worked as a traveling salesman for the Wheeling Corrugating Company in West Virginia. The company manufactured steel products for roofing and siding. Norman left Wheeling and headed west for greener pastures.
In 1898, he settled in Nevada, Missouri. Partnering with local tinsmith resident John H. Berghauser, they established the W. F. Norman Sheet Metal Manufacturing Company. During that year, the Norman Company began manufacturing decorative metal ceilings, commonly referred to as “tin ceilings.”
By 1907, the company’s sales market had expanded to include Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas. The Norman Company manufactured a handful of products along with ceiling tiles. They were pioneers in manufacturing metal ceilings, becoming the first to sell pressed metal ceilings west of the Mississippi.
How They Are Made
Metal ceilings were created from sheets of pressed metal and were available in a variety of materials including steel, tin or copper. Each ceiling panel was formed using a massive 3,500-pound cast iron drop hammer fitted with a specifically molded cast. These casts featured a wide range of decorative patterns and designs, which were impressed into the metal as the hammer fell under the force of gravity. Every panel was stamped individually, one at a time, making the process labor-intensive that required highly skilled tinsmiths. The operation was managed by a single worker using a rope-controlled system of belts and pulleys to raise and release the hammer for each impression.
In time, the Norman Company utilized zinc metal for their ceiling panels. This was welcomed by the Tri-State mining companies providing another use for the region’s zinc ore.
A New Era
By the 1920s, changing architectural tastes and consumer preference led to a decline in the popularity of tin ceilings. Fortunately, the presses and equipment remained and set aside for the time being.
The Norman factory was put on the market for sale in 1978. A new chapter began when Robert Quitno purchased the plant. He initially purchased the business to make wood-burning stoves.
As the new owner, Quitno discovered that the factory still contained the presses, equipment, and original patterns to manufacture tin ceilings. Around this time, a restaurant in Kansas City needed additional replacement ceiling panels that would match their existing tin ceiling. They contacted Quitno. He informed them that his factory still contained all the equipment and panel patterns to make new ceiling tiles. Thus, the second era of tin ceiling production commenced.
According to Quitno, they told him bluntly that he had the next best thing to a license to print money. And they were right. Quitno had the ability to print panels and make good money from it.
Resurgence
With America’s Bicentennial in 1976, and the growing public interest in historic preservation, the time was right for the return of tin ceilings. The Norman company was perfectly positioned since their only competition was a plant located in New York. Today the W. F. Norman Company is the premier tin ceiling manufacturer in the United States.
The museum’s interior designer Susan Barrett selected a copper ceiling light fixture for the Zelleken kitchen. Enhancing the ensemble, we incorporated a beautiful copper stamped ceiling from the W. F. Norman Company. We selected a colonial wreath pattern, ceiling design No. 6000.
Guests traveling north to Kansas City are encouraged to stop at the Nevada factory and experience a nostalgic journey to the past. There, skilled craftsmen continue to create tin ceiling panels using traditional methods, hand stamping each panel individually in a process that has remained virtually unchanged for more than a century.