Syroco

Before and  After Project

Syroco has been around for a long time...and I love it.  Well, maybe I don't love it in it's natural state...but...well, wait a minute, I want to tell you all about Syroco first.  The Syracuse Ornamental Company, known as Syroco, was an American manufacturing company based in Syracuse, New York. They were best known for their molded wood-pulp products that resembled hand-carving.  Founded in 
Syracuse, New York in 1890 by immigrant Adolph Holstein, the Syracuse Ornamental Company (Syroco) specialized in decorative wood carving, especially for the local residential market. Products included fireplace mantelpieces and other types of interior decoration popular in late Victorian homes.

To meet increasing market demand and sales opportunities Holstein developed a material looked and felt like wood but that which could be shaped, allowing multiple pieces to be produced through a molding process. The new product, which combined wood pulp brought from the Adirondacks with flour as a binder and other materials to give it strength, was extruded and then cut to fit compression molds, which had were made from original carvings in real wood.

The process favored shallow molds with little undercutting, and this served well for the creation of a wide variety of "carved" relief work to be applied to different sorts of flat surfaces such as walls, furniture and caskets. Production of this new molded product, known as SyrocoWood, was the mainstay of the company's production through the 1940s. The finished material could be smoothed and varnished to look like wood, or it could be painted. Sales catalogues from the early 1900s through the 1920s offer hundreds of varieties of moldings, capitals, brackets, volutes, and reliefs of vases, garlands, cartouches, scrollwork, and other details in a variety of styles.

Syroco operated from a large factory complex on 581 South Clinton Street in Syracuse acquired from Smith Corona Typewriter Company. The company remained in the hands of the Holstein family for three generations, with some of Adolph's children and grandchildren taking over management and sales positions. At its peak, about 400 workers were employed at the plant.

By the 1930s the company had also developed an extensive line of gift and novelty items made of "SyrocoWood" and also "Woodite," a combination of wood flour and polymer. In the 1960s the company began to use injection molding for some of its products, but did not entirely abandon its old processes.



Syroco added more lines of injection molded plastics when a new plant was opened in nearby Baldwinsville in 1963 which was entirely geared to plastics production, especially PVCs and polystyrene. The company began to use plastic in new "modern" designs and new forms for clocks, mirrors, tables and a range of household items. In 1968-1969 the company launched its "Lady Syroco" home products. Beginning in 1986 Syroco produced a popular line of lawn furniture.  In 1965 the company was bought by Rexall Drug and Chemical Company (which soon changed its name to Dart Industries). Dart owned Tupperware, from which Syroco gained more knowledge of injection molding. Syroco was purchased by the Syratech Corporation of Boston in 1986 which expanded its patio furniture production. In 1995 Syratech sold Syroco to Marley PLC of Sevenoaks, England, and in 2004 Syroco was purchased by Vassallo Industries of Puerto Rico which closed the plant in 2007. In April 2010 Tessy Plastics purchased the 270,000 square foot Syroco plant to be used for storage and distribution. 

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Now...on to my Before & After Project

Here is a set of Wall Decorations made of Syroco that I bought at an estate sale.

I love the urn shaped holder on the shelf...and I love the scroll work and all of the pretty flowers.  Each one measures approximately 23 1/4"" in length and about 5 1/2-6" wide...so they are nice sized.

I bought them with an idea in mind.  

These decorations were painted black...any kind of paint will do, but I had a can of black spray paint at hand.  Two coats later and some drying time...they were nearing completion.

The real change came with the addition of Rub 'n Buff, something that I've used for years.  You rub it on with your fingers (gloved) and it instantly changes how your piece looks.  What is Rub 'n Buff?

Amaco Rub 'n Buff Metallic Finishes are perfect for decorating or antiquing wood, plaster, pottery, metal, leather or gessoed surfaces.  Rub on and buff to a beautiful luster.  For hard-to-reach areas, thin with turpentine and apply with a brush.  Colors can be blended.  Each tube contains 1/2 oz (15 ml), enough to cover up to 20 square feet.  It is available in a number of different colors and I got mine at dickblick.com

I used only 3 different colors - Ruby, Emerald and Warm Gold - to create this new look!  The Wall Decorations now hang in my newly decorated Great Room.  I just love them, what do you think?

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