Re: 1920's lumber shortages- for the know-it-all

["Mark Leuck" <m..leuck@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Careful there, Robert will now explain how he's done thousands of those
particular houses and how easy they are for a DIY'er

"Stanley Barthfarkle" <sbarth@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ic3Gf.27986$F_3.25866@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> <Excerpted from Article>-
> http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/10424.shtml
>
>
>
> Skilled labor and lumber needed to build homes were in short supply in
> post-World War I years. But Sears, Roebuck and Company was ready and
waiting
> with kits, available by catalog and containing everything needed to build
a
> house.
>
> The housing shortage in 1918 was so severe that analysts estimated that 1
to
> 2 million homes were needed immediately. Soldiers returning from WWI, as
> well as a steady stream of immigrants through Ellis Island fueled the
demand
> for modestly priced houses. Sears had been courting business from this
wave
> of foreigners for more than a decade. Its 1905 general merchandise catalog
> offered: "Write your order in any language. We have translators to read
and
> write in all languages."
>
> The company's Modern Homes were hot sellers in the 1920s. Pre-cut lumber
in
> the house kits made skilled carpentry unnecessary and solved the problem
of
> lumber shortages. The Sears Modern Homes catalogs of the early 1920s were
> the largest the company published. They offered 90 different house
designs,
> as well as plans for garages, outhouses and chicken coops.
>
> The Sears catalog homes truly were "Modern Homes," with centralized
heating
> systems, electric lights and indoor plumbing. The salutary effects of
living
> in a modern home were extolled throughout the pages on the 1920s catalogs.
>
>