- Related Articles
- The Gold Standard in Steam
- Banking on Common Sense
- BETWEEN THE BOOKENDS
Plenty of Good Seats:
Willmar Tiede Collection Showcases Industrial Artistry
By Leslie McDaniel
Photos by G. Wayne Walker Jr.
Willmar Tiede's collection of 700 cast iron seats are like snowflakes in a blizzard: no two are alike. And Willmar wouldn't have it any other way.
"I like the variety," he said. "I like the way the look changes from one to another."
Originally, he said, most cast iron seats came in three colors: red, green or ivory. His collection, though, brings to mind a colossal paintbox of strong, simple hues: royal blue sits next to orange; turquoise by olive; mustard yellow by gray. Lettering in accent colors fairly pops off the seats.
"I'm not an artist," Willmar said, "but I love to paint 'em."
Most of the seats in his collection are painted, and those are the ones that get all the attention.
"I like to watch people's eyes as they look at them," he said. "They'll move down a row of colored seats, and when they come to an old rusty one, their eyes just slip right by it. People are deceived by paint, or at least that's what the used car salesmen tell me."
Willmar's paint of choice is oil-based.
"Good old floor enamel... that's a very hardy paint," he said. Spray paints are too thin; other paints run.