Friday Favorite Flea Finds: December 5, 2025
A simple can of paint from the Ford Paint and Varnish Company tells a surprising story about President Gerald R. Ford’s family history and his father’s enduring influence.
Of all that is on display at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan––memorabilia from a childhood spent in the early twentieth-century Midwest to glittering diplomatic gifts to a life-sized Oval Office––is an artifact that is likely in many homes across the United States and possibly the world: a can of paint.
Yes, amongst the relics of the former president's childhood, to beyond his presidential term (1974–1977), is a simple can of white gloss latex paint standing 5 inches high and 4 ¼ inches wide. But this orange-and-white can isn't just some leftover junk from the White House. It is a memento of a very important person in Gerald R. Ford's life.
When Gerald was born in 1913, he was named after his biological father, Leslie Lynch King. The moniker didn't last very long, as King was an abusive man, and after a series of scary incidents, Ford's mother, Dorothy, divorced her husband only sixteen days after their child's birth. After roughly two years, Dorothy married a paint and varnish salesman named Gerald Rudolff Ford, who would serve as the future president's father figure. Leslie soon became a junior of Gerald. His name was changed early in childhood, and he legally became Gerald Rudolf Ford in 1935. The only difference between his name and that of his father's was an editing of the middle name to an Anglicized version.
That can of paint in Ford's presidential museum was originally a product from his father's business, the Ford Paint and Varnish Company, which was established shortly before the start of the Great Depression in 1929. Despite the momentous economic downturn, the company survived and thrived until 1970 and was run by Ford senior and Ford junior’s half-brothers, Thomas and Richard. A scrapbook documenting the business's years is currently housed at the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor.
Although this paint can is of exceptional historical and financial worth, old paint cans can vary in significance and value. There are many cans of paint in museum archives kept for their connection to an artist, a company, or for use in a well-known artwork.
It is a similar scenario for auctions and antiques. A paint can with a well-known connection to another entity, like a brand name or unique color, can cost well into the hundreds or more––see this 1930s empty Dutch Boy white lead paint bucket for $124. Others with less recognition are still collectors' items, like this Boydell Bros. chrome-yellow paint can for $35, but at a much lower price for the shopper.
But before you open up that old paint can in your attic, be aware that as it sat in storage over those years, it could have become toxic and produce hazardous chemicals, especially if made with latex. If what you find has not turned into a congealed, lumpy, rotten-smelling vessel, it was likely stored at room temperature and away from the cold and heat.
For more information about the paint can at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum, visit americanhistory.si.edu.
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