The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Joselow, Evie T.                                 

Title:               Research papers on mail-order houses

Dates:             circa 1990-1998

Call No.:         Col. 954         

Acc. No.:        15x107

Quantity:        17 boxes

Location:        7 J 2-4

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Evie T. Joselow received her Ph.D. in art history from the City University of New York in 1998, after having received her B.A. from Vassar College.  She writes, teaches and lectures on art appraisal and the history of art, and she is also an art consultant.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Research notes, articles, and photographs accumulated while Evie Joselow was researching her doctoral dissertation, “The Ideal Catalogue House: Mail-order Architecture and Consumer Culture, 1914-1930.”  Included are copies of catalogs and newspaper and magazine articles about mail-order houses and the companies which produced them.  There are also a number of photos, some of catalog pages and some of mail-order houses.  As well, there are copies of papers by and lectures given by Joselow.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The papers came in a rough order, and that rough order has been maintained: general files; companies; more general files; papers, theses, dissertations; photos and slides.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Gift of Evie T. Joselow.

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

            Architecture, Domestic – United States – 20th century.

            Mail-order business.

            Industrial housing.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 7 J 2-4

 

Box 1: general files

 

Folder 1:          Architecture: articles about

 

Folder 2:          Atlas Portland Cement: “Building a Bungalow”

 

Folder 3:          “The Average Man’s Home”: Hodgson Book Co., Chicago

 

Folder 4:          Bay City, Michigan

 

Folder 5:          Better Homes and Gardens: mail-order houses: endorsement of product (1933)

 

Folder 6:          Building Age & Builder’s Journal: “Beautiful Homes of Moderate Cost” (1922)

 

Folder 7:          Building station: construction levels, 1919-1923;

                        Building costs, 1914-1924;

                        Labor shortage, 1910-1920;

                        Rent situation, 1914-1924

 

Folder 8:          California influence

 

Folder 9:          Dover Historical Society (Dover, Mass.): references

 

Folder 10:        Fred Ley & Co.: “Building for wage earners, 1920,” “A builder’s statement and plans for workers housing”

 

Folder 11:        Hagley Museum: materials from library

 

Folder 12:        House Beautiful: war and peace house

 

Folder 13:        Housing developments

 

Folder 14:        Influence of magazines: spatial programs

 

Folder 15:        Jackson, Allen W.: “What style shall we choose for the new home” (House & Garden, Jan. 1914)

 

Folders 16-17: Joselow, Evie T.: talks, lectures, papers

[see also Box 11]        

 

Folder 18:        Ladies Home Journal: articles

 

Folder 19:        “Lost cost cottage construction in America” (Harvard Social Museum)

 

Folder 20:        Mail-order houses background: Arts and Crafts style

 

Folder 21:        Mail-order houses background: 1920s plan services

 

Folder 22:        Mail-order businesses: articles

 

Folder 23:        Mail-order houses in Jacksonville, Florida

 

Folder 24:        Mail-order houses: mid-Atlantic

 

Folder 25:        Old House Journal: articles

 

Folder 26:        O’Neal, William B.: “Building by the Book”: Palladian studies in America 1 (1984)

 

Folder 27:        Pattern book homes: Smeins, Linda: “National rhetoric, public discourse and spatialization…”: 19th century contexts (1992)

 

Folder 28:        Plans: The Blue Book of Model California Bungalows

 

Folder 29:        Plans: Bungalow Craft

 

Folder 30:        Plans: E.W. Stillwell & Co.

 

Folder 31:        Plans: “Home Sweet Home: There is no place like home,” circa 191?

 

 

Box 2: general files; Companies: Aladdin

 

Folder 1:          Plans: Hopkin’s Homes: plan book from Hopkins & Davis, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1905)

 

Folder 2:          Plans: Keith’s Plan Book: Bungalows, Cottages, Two-Story Homes, circa 1920      

 

Folder 3:          Plans: NATCO (National Fire Proofing Co., Pittsburgh)

 

Folder 4:          Plans: Radford Architectural Co.

 

Folder 5:          Plans: Standard Homes Co.

 

Folder 6:          Plans: Wilson, Henry L.: A Bungalow Book, 1908 (Berkeley, Calif.)

 

Folder 7:          Portland Cement Association: Plans for Concrete Houses, 1925

 

Folder 8:          Popularization of housing in popular magazines

 

Folder 9:          Prefabrication

 

Folder 10:        Profit-making plan and architectural design firms

 

Folder 11:        “Real Homes Worth Copying,” Woman’s Home Companion (Feb. 1916)

 

Folder 12:        Reep, Samuel H.: “The Unit House,” additions to the small house

 

Folder 13:        Robinson, Thomas D.: “A discussion of the ABCs of architecture,” House Beautiful (Oct. 1919)

 

Folder 14:        Stevenson, Kate: contacts and notes

 

Folder 15:        Stuyvesant, Jared: “Stone, brick, plaster, wood – which?” (Country Life in America, Oct. 1907)

 

Folder 16:        Taylor, James S.: “Trends in Home Design,” 1929: recommendations for interior specs

 

Folder 17:        The Wishbook: mail-order in Minnesota

 

Folder 18:        Wolfson Foundation: Mt. Vernon (Sears) at world expos

 

Folder 19:        Aladdin: advertisements

 

Folder 20:        Aladdin: articles about

 

Folders 21-23: Aladdin: catalogs

 

Folder 24:        Aladdin: magazines and publications

 

 

Box 3: Companies: Aladdin-Harris Brothers Company

 

Folder 1:          Aladdin: miscellaneous materials

 

Folder 2:          Aladdin: orders and customers

 

Folder 3:          Aladdin: Otto Sovereign biography

 

Folder 4:          Bennett-Better-Built Homes: catalogs and other materials

                        [Ray H. Bennett Lumber Co.]

 

Folders 5-6:     E.F. Hodgson Co.

 

Folder 7:          Gordon-Van Tine Homes: catalogs and other materials

 

Folder 8:          Harris Brothers Company (Chicago)

                                    [continues in next box]

 

 

Box 4: Companies: Harris Brothers Company-North American Construction Co.

 

Folder 1:          Harris Brothers Company (Chicago)

                                    [continued from previous box]

 

Folders 2-3:     Lewis Manufacturing Co.

 

Folder 4:          McClure

 

Folder 5:          Montgomery-Ward: Wardway Homes

 

Folder 6:          National Builders, Inc., Saginaw, Michigan: “Ready to erect” houses for wartime

 

Folder 7:          North American Construction Co.: “Aladdin Houses: Built in a Day,” catalog no. 25, spring 1913

 

Folder 8:          North American Construction Co.: “Aladdin Houses: Built in a Day,” 3d edition of catalog no. 25, 1914

 

Folder 9:          North American Construction Co.: “Aladdin Homecraft Market Place,” copyright 1915

 

Folder 10:        North American Construction Co.: “Aladdin Houses: Built in a Day,” catalog no. 28, 1916

 

Folder 11:        North American Construction Co.: various Aladdin catalogs

 

 

Box 5: Companies: Sears-Sterling Homes; general files

 

Folder 1:          Sears and Montgomery-Ward: rivalry and proposed merger

 

Folder 2:          Sears: asdvertisements

 

Folder 3:          Sears: articles

 

Folder 4:          Sears: catalogs

 

Folder 5:          Sears: notes

 

Folder 6:          Sears: reports published by Sears

 

Folder 7:          Sterling Homes (International Mill & Timber Co.)

 

Folder 8:          Architectural styles

 

Folder 9:          Architectural revival styles

 

Folder 10:        Bungalows

                                    [continues in next box]

 

 

Box 6: general files

 

Folder 1:          Bungalows

                                    [continued from previous box]

 

Folders 2-3:     Home ownership

 

Folders 4-5:     Industrial housing

 

Folder 6:          Industrial housing: Aladdin

 

Folder 7:          Industrial housing: DuPont

 

 

Box 7: general files

 

Folder 1:          Industrial housing: Arlington, Virginia

 

Folder 2:          Industrial housing: Carlinville, Illinois

 

Folder 3:          Industrial housing: Cheverly, Maryland

 

Folder 4:          Industrial housing: Chevy Chase, Maryland

 

Folders 5-6:     Industrial housing: Hopewell, Virginia

 

Folder 7:          Industrial housing: Morgantown, West Virginia

 

Folder 8:          Industrial housing: Penns Grove, New Jersey

 

Folder 9:          Industrial housing: Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina

 

Folder 10:        Industrial housing: Washington, D.C.

 

 

Box 8: general files

 

Folder 1:          Aladdin City

 

Folders 2-3:     other mail-order towns: various articles         

 

Folder 4:          Pre-fabrication: various articles

 

Folder 5:          1932 President’s Home Conference: various articles

 

 

Box 9: general files

 

Folders 1-2:     Women in the home (home economics): various articles                   

 

Folder 3:          The Kitchen: various articles  

 

Folder 4:          Appliances: various articles    

 

Folder 5:          Additions: attics, porches, verandahs

 

Folders 6-8:     “Mrs. Consumer”: various articles

                                    [continues in next box]

 

 

Box 10: general files

 

Folder 1:          “Mrs. Consumer”: various articles

                                    [continued from previous box]

 

Folder 2:          American homes: articles

 

Folder 3:          Contemporary writing on mail-order and pattern book architecture: articles

 

Folder 4:          Standardization of housing, 1920s: various articles

 

Folder 5:          Plan book houses: popular publications

 

Folder 6:          Plan book houses: magazines

 

Folders 7-8:     Plan books: professional publications

 

 

Box 11: papers, theses, dissertations

 

Folder 1:          Chandler, Roger Allen: dissertation (copy, partial): “United States Domestic Architectural Marketing: History and Methods, 1909-1987”

 

Folder 2:          Davis, Michael: paper: “The Origins of Manufactured Housing in Michigan”

 

Folder 3:          Erbbes, Scott Steven: thesis (copy): “The Redi-Cut Dream: The Mail-Order House Catalogs of the Aladdin Company, 1906-1920”

 

Folder 4:          Evans, Cheryl DeCosta: thesis (copy): “American Ready-Made Housing in the Early Twentieth Century”

 

Folder 5:          Gourney, Isabelle: dissertation (copy, partial): “France Discovers America, 1917-1939” (French writers on American architecture)

 

Folder 6:          Rips, Rae Elizabeth: dissertation (copy): “An Introductory Study of the Mail Order Business in American History, 1872-1914”

 

Folder 7:          Wineberg, Susan: paper: “Ann Arbor’s Catalogue Houses”

 

Folder 8:          Wolicki[?], Dale: manuscripts (brochure about mail-order homes of Bay City, Michigan, and papers about several of the companies which provided them)

 

Folder 9:          Joselow: dissertation details: corrections, permissions

 

Folder 10:        Joselow: paper: “Mail Order Architecture: The Right Kind of Home for the 1920s and 30s” (fall 1992)

 

Folder 11:        Joselow: talk: “Prefabricated Homes in America,” given at New York School of Interior Design, 2007`

 

 

Box 12: photographic materials

 

Folders 1-2:     Joselow: illustrations  

 

Folder 3:          Joselow: photos on CDs

 

Folder 4:          Joselow: dissertation: negatives and contact sheets

 

Folders 5-6:     Aladdin catalog homes: photographs and slides

 

Folder 7:          Bennett Homes: photographs and slides

 

 

Box 13: photographic materials

 

Folder 1:          photographs:

Ray H. Bennett Lumber Co.;

Herbert C. Chivers;

T.W. Harvey Lumber Co.:

DuPont Chemical Co.

 

Folder 2:          E.F. Hodgson Co.: photographs and slides

 

Folder 3:          Gordon Van-Tine Co.: photographs and slides

 

Folder 4:          Harris Brothers Co.: photographs and slides

 

Folder 5:          Lewis-Built Homes and Lewis/Liberty: photographs and slides

 

Folder 6:          Montgomery Ward: slides

 

Folders 7-8:     Sears catalog houses: photographs and slides

 

Folder 9:          Sterling and Sterling/International: photographs and slides

 

Folder 10:        slides:

Architectural training and practice;

                        Building materials;

                        Built-ins;

                        Sales ideas

 

Folder 11:        catalogs unknown: photographs

 

Folder 12:        houses: unidentified: photographs

 

Folder 13:        Industrial housing: slides

 

Folder 14:        magazine covers: photographs and slides

 

 

Box 14: photographic materials

 

Folder 1:          miscellaneous slides

 

Folder 2:          Plan book housing: slides

 

Folder 3:          “Today’s Housewife” (Aladdin): slides

 

Folder 4:          negatives of catalogs

 

11 small folders of photographic prints

 

 

 

Box 15: slides

 

The slides are in sections, with these headings:

            California: Simi Valley

            Florida: Aladdin City

            Florida: mail-order houses

            Illinois: Carlinville

            Maryland: Bladensburg

            Maryland: Cheverly

            Maryland: Chevy Chase

            Maryland: Oella

            Massachusetts: Cape Cod

            Massachusetts: Dover

            Michigan: Bay City

           

 

Box 16: slides

 

The slides are in sections, with these headings:

            New Jersey: Cranford

            New Jersey: DuPont, Penns Grove

            New York: Ardsley

            New York: Catskills

            New York: Massapequa Park

            New York: Ossining

            North Carolina: Roanoke Rapids

            Ohio: Maple Heights (Mimi Wise)

            Pennsylvania: Hellertown, 1940s

            Virginia: Arlington

            Virginia: Hopewell, Aladdin (continues in next box)

 

Box 17: slides

 

The slides are in sections, with these headings:

            Virginia: Hopewell, Aladdin villages

            Virginia: Hopewell, America’s greatest opportunity

            Virginia: Hopewell, archival photos

            Virginia: Hopewell, Crescent Hills (Sears)

            Virginia: Hopewell, Lexington – interiors

            Virginia: Hopewell, Mansion Hills

            Wilmington (state not specified)

            Canada: Aladdin

            England: Austin Village, Birmingham

            Aladdin industrial housing, 1919

            Aladdin low cost industrial housing

            Architects SHSB

            Herbert Chivers/Hopkins & Davis

            Hodgson playhouse at Nemours

            Home Owners Institute

            Standard Homes

            Togan Stiles/Bossert Mershon & Morley

            Kitchen/household

            Miscellaneous m-o houses

            Mrs. Sims: “Verona”