There was a big craze in the '20's for atmospheric-painted (I think that was
the term) ceilings in movie theaters (maybe legit thaters, too) in lobbies
and the theater itself.
As I heard the story, the 19th century blue porch ceilings were intended to
keep wasps away. Anybody got anything more definitive on the porch ceiling
paint and theories behind? We found blue on the ceiling of an 1895 house I
worked on in Phoenix, but I found my porch ceiling (c. 1887) in Joisey
varnished.
Ralph