Polka-dot paint

Polka dot paint is a paint of "polka dot color", i.e., a paint which paints an object with a polka dot pattern.

Red on yellow polka dots

The paint is traditionally the subject of a fool's errand prank played upon apprentices in the decoration or construction trade, who are sent to fetch a bucket of polka-dot paint.^[1][2][3] A polka-dot paint effect has been produced in stage magic, and in the 1950s, a polychromatic paint was invented which created a dotted effect when dry.

Magic tricks

In the United States, several magicians invented a trick in which they demonstrated painting with polka-dot paint. Paul Stadelman also performed a version of the trick where he additionally offered to paint some stripes for the audience, producing a mix of the two and saying that he "didn't get all the polka dots out of the brush".^[4]

The trick became the subject of litigation when Stadelman sued Harry Albacker for copying the trick in the 1950s.^[5][6] Albacker's defense was that the magic act was "old as the hills", and hence in public domain.^{[citation needed]} Stadelman, in his turn was challenged by other magicians who claimed that he stole the idea from the "Barber's pole paint" trick.^{[citation needed]}

The idea of the trick is simple: the object is pre-painted in the desired pattern with oil-based paint and then covered with white watercolor or whitewash. During the trick, the top watercolor is removed with a wet brush. Stadelman said that after he performed this trick at paint dealers' conventions, he would often get letters from people who wanted to market this paint.^[4]

Another version of the trick involves colorless chemicals on the object which become colored after a reaction with another chemical on the brush.

Real paint

In 1950, a product called "Plextone" by Maas & Walsdtein Co. was advertised, a finishing which is a single application produced "a network of interlaced but separate colors — a 'Polka Dot' paint".^[7] In 1952, a John C. Zola patented (US 3811904 ^[8]) polychromatic paint, technically described as "a multicolor paint from lacquer-based colorants suspended in water". The inventor was inspired by French painter Georges Seurat, who created his impressionist effects using small dots of paint.^[9] Sapolin Paints, Inc. of New York City sold "polka-dot paint" in a spray can, which sprayed droplets of paint; the farther the can was from the surface, the smaller were the dots. ^[10]

In popular culture

• In The Vanishing Private cartoon (1942), private Donald Duck tries to camouflage a cannon by painting it with red, green and yellow stripes, and black polka dots, from a single bucket.^[11]
• Polka-dot nail polish and marker pens incorporate glitter or non-glitter colored particles to do the trick.^[12]
• One can create polka-dot brushes for various computer graphics software, such as Photoshop, GIMP, etc.^[13]