Can you summarize the architecture of Baltimore in thirty minutes? Apparently you can in the viewing on Wednesday in the Reading Room in which a film on Baltimore’s most traditional housing was put on display. If you walk down an urban street in Baltimore, you’re eyes will take notice to the homogenous houses that line every block. This is thanks to Formstone, a classic substance found a numerous houses in Baltimore. Formstone has become famous for providing the character Baltimore city houses are known for.
Formstone is a material applied above the surface area of houses. Such substance helps houses combat decomposition and only uses one single layer, unlike paint that usually needs three layers to prevent pealing. Formstone was introduced in the 1950’s. It’s sleek look and appeal to the common man who rather not paint his house from time to time to keep up appearance allowed the company to strike rich. Soon enough, many Baltimore neighborhoods such as Fels Point and Hampden succumbed to the new style of housing apparel. Described as “the polyester of brick,” Formstone became a fad. Such material was used as car doors and restaurants. “When don’t have paint, you use Formstone” says one Baltimorean, who covered his car with the stuff. It soon became a known tradition of the city, up there with the Orioles and Baltimore crabs.
While some praised the rock for its character and look, others bashed it, saying it had no texture, was not natural, and considerable not appealing to the human eye. One geologist was as bold to say “he had nothing positive to say about Formstone.” The citizens must have caught the drift because soon after, people were soon disgusted by the site of Formstone. Business decreased tremendously as the stone was removed from several houses. Debate soon rose of whether the stone’s tradition was cause for keeping it alive in the city of Baltimore. Although the treasured stone was once at its peak, it is not seen as much as it was in earlier times. You can still find the valuable stone in some neighborhoods. But as for the name of Formstone, it will never be as famous today as it was years before.
After viewing the documentary, I found that the soon hated Formstone was a huge part of Baltimore history. There was a time when you could not walk down a street and see a house without Formstone applied in every nook and cranny. Although today it will never be as proclaimed as the Baltimore Orioles or the crabs of Baltimore, it will forever be treasured as a piece of American history. This brings recollection to Barbara Hamby’s “Ode to American English.” Hamby speaks of the very things that make America what it is today. From the valley girls to the very cartoons introduced to the American culture, every piece of pie and walk of life is apart of the American way. Formstone may not have always been the most popular thing on America’s list, but it was on the list, making part of our world as it was to the world of Baltimoreans.
