That guy in the picture looks like Laurel or Hardy (whichever one the little guy was - Believe that would be Laurel
That's cool. When I was going to Tech School for auto body, my great uncle came to visit. He was a mechanic and blacksmith in that 1909 to 1920 time period and he told me about how he brush painted cars with a similar system before WWI. He used a Shellac type paint which was brushed on. He would let it dry, sand the brush strokes smoothe, apply several coats, sanding between, and then polish with a compound and finish by rubbing with corn starch. Actually, early Fords, as well as other cars, were painted this way at the factory. (no) overspray
My Grandfather used to brush paint cars for a local Olds dealer's body shop way back when..... I used to hear that story every time I painted a car in his garage.
Actually Henry Ford, after about 1917, used a gravity flow system of painting T's; a garden-hose type sprayer just oozed the paint onto the top of the sheet metal and it "flowed" down the metal and dripped down into catch pans below the moving line. T's are notorious for missed spots and long drip lines down the sides. For the times it was cheap and rugged- I have tried to remove original T paint and it is a bear- gotta grind it down by hand, even airplane stripper is useless.
Looks like the address for that paint company is a parking lot, these days: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?encType=1&where1=2499+4th+Ave%2c+Rock+Island%2c+IL+61201&cp=41.508846~-90.564972&qpvt=2499+4th+ave+rock+island+il&FORM=MIRE
Well there goes the idea about glossy paint being the only way. Velvet coat, the dull non shinny new way to finish your speedster. There's nothing new, it's all been done before, and 100 years ago!!
The Jalopy Journal
