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It has been almost twenty years since a volume on carriage and wagon painting made its appearance in this country, during which time the enterprising carriage painter has been wide awake. He has found many new processes and a multitude of new materials of which the workman of twenty years ago knew nothing; he has raised vehicle painting from a simple mechanical process, which was intended to preserve the surface from decay, to a fine art of the highest order, and fashionable people now take as much pride in having beautiful and stylish equipages as they do in wearing clothing that is up to date, or in securing jewels that are sufficiently brilliant to dazzle all beholders.No one realized more fully than the writer that an up-to-date work on the difficult but noble calling of the carriage and wagon painter was badly needed, so he began to cast about for someone who was fully qualified for the task of writing such a book. He knew that the author of such a work should be a man of extended trade practice and one who could divest himself of high-flown scientific terms and make his language so plain that any workman who cared to do so could easily comprehend the instruction given. A careful survey of the field led to the selection of Mr. M. C. Hillick, whose work for the magazines during the past ten or twelve years has done so much to assist carriage and wagon painters to elevate their calling to its present high standard. Mr. Hillick has long held a high place among the best-known carriage painters in this country, is thoroughly posted on all the various branches of the business, and has the happy faculty of being able to impart his knowledge to others in such a plain, practical way that they cannot fail to understand him.
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