Learned something new about wood floors. The floors seen today, were not the norm until the middle 1900’s. By then, steam power allowed mass production of wood boards of similar lengths and widths. Interlocking tongue and groove molding was also added to lock wood flooring together. Hardwood floors created a cleaner home too, as area rugs could be beaten outdoors. Alternating strips of different types of wood in the same floor, like maple and walnut, was not unusual, but made for rich, interesting floors, as can been seen in these images. Today’s wood flooring installations are easier, the finishes protecting them longer lasting, but those early wood floors are every bit as lovely today as back then, which says so much about a hardwood floor’s value.
