Post #430506 by woofmutt on Sat, Jan 24, 2009 10:58 PM

Would the strict preservationists of Tiki Central prefer that all the site's surfaces which are covered in lead based paint be left as is and remain, as Troy McClure put it, "delicious but deadly"? Would their boxers get bunched if we were to restore these surfaces with safer options?

I fully understand that Tiki Central for some is about tradition and one of those traditions is our famous green background. The green background was originally painted in 1962 by Hanford Lemoore using Plumbum's Olde 82 Painte because, as he told NPR in 1983 for a never aired interview, "I wanted the gawdam thing to gawdam last!"

Plumbum's Olde 82 was a famously tough brand of paint made with 90% lead. The paint had to be heated to a molten state before being applied and most large indoor projects using Plumbum's generally resulted in a few deaths from fumes or spilled pots of molten paint.

In 1974 Plumbum's Olde 82 was banned by an international treaty which was signed with much fanfare and releasing of balloons at the World's Fair in Spokane Washington, Expo 74.

Technically any building, object, or artwork painted with Plumbum's Olde 82 Painte qualifies as an EPA Superfund Site and is eligible for tens of thousands of pounds of dirt to be piled on top of it. Or they'll send you a few sheets of sandpaper and a couple bandannas to tie around your face.

Tiki Central could be stripped of lead based paint or left as it is since most of us are at least half way to the grave already. Either way the important part is that we have a long drawn out wordy debate about it first.