Maria, Shellac is a cheaper form of varnish but not as hard wearing. It starts life in India as a beetle living in a tree. they are called Lacca-Lacca beetles and are shaken out of the trees and dried. It takes 30,000 of them to make a quarter pound of Shellac. They are then sent to Germany where turpentine and other chemicals are added retaining the reddish colour then shipped to the UK as ready to use In your father's day he would have used it on doors at home and it could be grained using a comb! Churches used it a lot as it was a lot cheaper than Varnish. Hope this helps !