Staff (building material)
Staff is a kind of artificial stone used for covering and ornamenting temporary buildings. It is defined as " composition of plaster and fibrous material used for a temporary finish and in ornamental work, as on exposition buildings.".[1]
It is chiefly made of plaster of Paris (powdered gypsum), with a little cement, glycerin, and dextrin, mixed with water until it is about as thick as molasses. When staff is cast in molds, it can form any shape. To strengthen it, coarse cloth or bagging, or fibers of hemp or jute, are put into the molds before casting. It becomes hard enough in about a half-hour to be removed and fastened on the building in construction. Staff may easily be bent, sawed, bored, or nailed. Its natural color is murky white, but it may be made to resemble any kind of stone.
Staff was invented in France in about 1876 and was used in the construction and ornamentation of the buildings of the Paris Expositions of 1878 and of 1889. It was also largely used in the construction of the buildings of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893[2][3], at the Omaha and Buffalo Expositions in 1898 and 1901, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, and at later expositions, and on temporary buildings of other kinds.
See also
- Dewey Arch
- Building material
- Glazed architectural terra-cotta a material also made into many decorative forms, more permanent than Staff
- List of building materials
References
- ^ "STAFF Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ^ Scott (2024-01-22). ""Making the best show for the least money"". Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
- ^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1893). The book of the fair; an historical and descriptive presentation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. Smithsonian Libraries. Chicago, San Francisco, The Bancroft Co.