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

["Stanley Barthfarkle" <sbarth@xxxxxxxxx>]

<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.