Cover of The Dutch Boy’s Hobby: A Paint Book for Girls and Boys, National Lead Company, 1926
Courtesy The Winterthur Library
For over 50 years, the National Lead Company used the image of a happy, healthy, and fictional Dutch Boy to market lead paints as safe and wholesome. Dutch Boy ads targeted children with friendly coloring paint books. Here, the Dutch Boy is having fun riding a toy “lead” horse and is ready to be helpful with chores by carrying a paint brush.
