Undark Paint
Luminous Lives, Remarkable Legacy:
The Radium Girls' Fight for Workplace Rights and Employer Responsibilities
In 1908, Dr. Sabin Sochocky invented Undark paint, a luminescent concoction of radium-226 and zinc sulfide.
"Sabin Von Sochocky dying of radium poison." (Newspapers 1928)
"Sabin Arnold von Sochocky invented the first radium-based luminescent paint but eventually died of aplastic anemia resulting from his exposure to the radioactive material." (FactRepublic)
"Undark." (Special Nuclear Material 2012)
It was utilized in house numbers, pistol sights, and compasses. Its luminous properties were publicly advertised.
Advertisment for radium and Undark paint. (National Museum of Nuclear Science & History 2017)
"Undark" Advertisement. (Blum 2016)
Describes luminescent paint as a "supplement to electric light." (Blum 2016)
"The time will doubtless come when you will have in your own house a room lighted entirely by radium. The light thrown off by radium paint on walls and ceiling would in color and tone be like soft moonlight."
~ Dr. Sabin Arnold Von Sochocky
(Estrada 2015)
"Undark Luminous House Number" Advertisement. (Plattsburgh Daily Press 1922)
Undark uses. (Sterling’s Marine Catalog 1922)