Past to Present

A number of local and regional paint clubs came into existence in the 1800s. The first and oldest club established was the Paint and Oil Club of New England. Organized Feb. 23, 1884, the club is still thriving today as the New England Coatings Association.

The St. Louis Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association held its first meeting Dec. 18, 1886. Other clubs organized included the Chicago Club - Feb. 25, 1887; the New York Club - Feb. 26, 1887; the Pittsburgh Paint and Drug Club - May 24, 1887; the Philadelphia Club - Oct. 1, 1887; and the Cincinnati Club - 1888.

Because paint was distributed mainly through drug stores, many paint manufacturers were already members of the National Wholesale Drug Association.

The first meeting to organize an association of paint and varnish manufacturers was held Sept. 11, 1888 at the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga, N.Y. Delegates at the meeting agreed on an organizational plan and decided on the name National Paint, Oil and Varnish Association of the United States.

In the decades following the organization of the National Paint, Oil and Varnish Association, manufacturers in the paint industry formed separate organizations and still retained membership in the national association.

These separate organizations included the Paint Grinders Association of the U.S., which was organized in 1899. Subsequently, the name of that association was changed to the Paint Manufacturers Association of the U.S. in 1907.

The National Varnish Manufacturers Association was established Nov. 3, 1903, and on Oct. 11, 1926, the American Paint and Varnish Manufacturers Association was organized as a combination of the National Varnish Manufacturers and the Paint Manufacturers Associations.

Unification of the National Paint, Oil and Varnish Association and the American Paint and Varnish Manufacturers Association came on Nov. 1, 1933, at the annual meeting of the industry held in Chicago. At that time, the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association was founded. New conditions demonstrated the interdependence of the various factors of the industry in cooperating with the government through a single powerful organization of its own, with maximum prestige and benefit for both individual members and industry.

At their 84th annual meeting Nov. 9, 1971, the members of the National Paint, Varnish and Lacquer Association voted to change the association’s name to the National Paint and Coatings Association (NPCA). It was believed that this new name would broaden the scope of the organization to include all coatings and better represent the association’s dominant role in the industry’s progress.