In the 21st century, window blinds are — along with curtains — the most common type of window covering. In fact, you’ll scarcely find anyone in Australia who isn’t familiar with variety of window blinds.
And that being said, the varieties are many, including Venetian blinds, vertical blinds, roller blinds and many more. In this article, we’ll briefly look at the history of this ubiquitous window covering, from its humble beginnings in ancient civilisations to its modern and technologically advanced incarnations.
A window blind is a type of window covering.[1] There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard material, including wood, plastic or metal which are held together by cords that run through the blind slats. Window blinds can be adjusted by rotating them from an open position to a closed position with either a manual or remote control which allows the slats to overlap and block out most of the light. There are also several types of window coverings, called shades, that use a single piece of soft material instead of slats.
The term window blinds can also be used to describe window coverings generically—in this context window blinds include almost every type of window covering, i.e. shutters, roller blinds, cellular shades (also called honeycomb shades), wood blinds, roman blinds and of course, standard vertical and horizontal blinds. In the United Kingdom, awnings are sometimes called blinds or shades.
Venetian
A Venetian blind (or venetian blind) has horizontal slats, one above another. Venetian blinds are basic slatted blinds made of metal or plastic; wooden slats are sometimes used but in the US these are now usually referred to as wood blinds or bamboo blinds. They are suspended by strips of cloth called tapes, or by cords, by which all slats in unison can be rotated through nearly 180 degrees. The slats can be rotated such that they overlap with one side facing inward and then in the opposite direction such that they overlap with the other side facing inward. Between those extremes, various degrees of separation may be effected between the slats by varying the rotation. There are also lift cords passing through slots in each slat. When these cords are pulled, the bottom of the blind moves upward, causing the lowest slats to press the underside of the next highest slat as the blind is raised. A modern variation of the lift cords combines them with the rotational cords in slots on the two edges of each slat. This avoids the slots otherwise required to allow a slat to rotate despite a lift cord passing through it, thus decreasing the amount of light passing through a closed blind. Slat width can be between 16 and 120 mm, with 25 mm being a common width.
Related patents were taken out in England by Gowin Knight in 1760[3] and Edward Beran on 11 December 1769,[4] but Venetian blinds were known to the French long before then. In 1761, St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia had such blinds.[5]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Venetian blinds were widely adopted in office buildings to regulate light and air. A large modern complex in the US that adopted Venetian blinds was Rockefeller Center’s RCA Building (better known as the Radio City building) in New York City, completed in the 1930s. One of the largest orders for Venetian blinds ever placed was to the Burlington Venetian Blind Co., of Burlington, Vermont, which supplied blinds for the windows of the Empire State Building in New York City.[6]
Vertical
Unlike horizontal blinds, vertical blinds are less likely to collect dust because they stand vertically. Since they draw to the side rather than lifting and lowering, they operate better on doors and windows that also slide from side to side. Generally they require less muscle strength, and are faster to operate.
Vertical blinds are available in flat plastic (PVC), fabric, embossed PVC, faux wood materials, metal, wood and also S-curved slats.[7]
Stationary vertical blinds are hung in the doorways of some homes and businesses which generally leave the door open. Movement of the blind may signal a change in air flow, or someone entering the doorway. More commonly however, these vertical blinds are made of thick plastic. In the cold rooms of food businesses, this slows the heat leakage into the cold room. In warmer climates, vertical blinds discourage flies and some other insects from entering the building. In certain areas of the UK window blinds are used to disguise the fact that offices have PC's in them and are used as a burglary deterrent.
Roman
Roman shades are a type of window blind used to block out the sun. They are often referred to as Romans or Roman blinds in the UK. When opened, the Romans stack up evenly; when covering the full window height, they are smooth without overlapping.
Roman blinds can be purchased with a blackout lining on the back to fully block out sunlight.
Unlike other blinds such as roller, vertical, and Venetian blinds, Romans offer no option to protect against high temperatures or moisture, making them unsuitable for bathrooms.
Blinds in ancient times
The earliest records of blinds being used by human beings date back centuries to the nomadic tribes of African and Asian deserts. These primitive people used basic sheets to cover the windows of their dwellings in order to block out the harsh desert sun.
As time moved on, many ancient civilisations used blinds to fulfil the most basic of human needs — to provide shelter and cooling from the sun, and also to provide privacy. The ancient Egyptians, for example, used reeds from the mighty Nile River to shield themselves from the sun while also enabling fresh breezes to make their way into the building. The ancient Chinese preferred to make their blinds from bamboo and, interestingly enough, bamboo is still commonly used to make window blinds even today.
Blinds in the middle ages and beyond
It was the Persians who first brought blinds to Europe. Merchants on trading ships introduced the eastern art to the Italian city of Venice, and the Venetian influence soon saw window blinds spreading rapidly throughout Europe. These still-fairly-basic blinds were raised and lowered with a string connected to a series of slats. This style of window blind is still commonly used today (in fact, it’s perhaps the most common type of window blind of all), and takes the name “Venetian blinds” after the city where the style was popularised.
Eventually, window blinds made their way to some of the largest cities in the world, including Paris, France and, by the late 18th century, London, England. As the industrial revolution was taking place around this time, window blinds began to be produced en masse, and pretty soon they became common in households all across western Europe.
Modern blinds
Throughout the 20th century, we began to see many developments in roller blinds, with a range of varieties and materials appearing. While the Venetian style of blinds remained popular, an increasing trend was for vertical blinds to be installed which were drawn horizontally via a long string. Additionally, Roman blinds became popular as well — they worked similarly to Venetian blinds in the sense that they were operated by a long cord, but instead of having multiple slats, Roman blinds were made of one piece of a foldable piece of fabric.
In the 21st century, exciting things are happening in the world of blinds, and traditional styles such as Venetian and vertical are fast becoming replaced by roller blinds, many of which have automated features allowing them to be adjusted using a remote control. In some cases, it’s even possible for the window blinds to be connected wirelessly to a computer, allowing us to control blinds electronically through our laptops! This trend mirrors the move towards automation right across the household, with features such as an outdoor awning, lighting systems and more all being controlled through automated technology.