Today we're comparing the new Amazon prefabricated houses in the headlines with the original Sears mail-order houses. What's the same and different when it comes to size and pricing. And why comparing these two is an impossible task.
My patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kendragaylord
My podcast: https://someonelivedhere.com/
0:00 Intro
0:58 Sears Catalog
2:45 Amazon house
5:54 Building codes
7:56 Are reviews right?
8:48 Price comparison
9:58 Sears house owners
11:34 What took Sears houses down?
14:08 Impossible comparison
15:52 Conclusion
Previous title: The Amazon house has a really old competitor
Sources:
Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company by H. Ward Jandl and Katherine Cole Stevenson
The Amazon house I used for reference:
https://www.amazon.com/Zolyndo-Portable-Prefabricated-Expandable-Warehouse/dp/B0CKNM8BYL/ref=sr_1_1
Sears Catalogs:
1922 Sears Catalog
https://archive.org/details/SearsRoebuckAndCoCatalog1922_201812/page/n7/mode/2up
1936 Modern Homes Sears Catalog
https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ModernHomessears1936.small_.pdf
Sears Modern Homes 1927
https://archive.org/details/SearsModernHomes1927Pg00/Sears%20Modern%20Homes%201927%20pg00.jpg
1926 Honor-bill modern homes
https://archive.org/details/SearsRoebuckandCoHonorbiltmodernhomes0001/page/n3/mode/2up
Honor bilt modern homes - Carlinville, IL:
https://archive.org/details/HonorBiltModernHomes/page/n7/mode/2up
1908 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalogue
Sears House Seeker on The Fairy house:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2015/09/fairy-tales-more-sears-houses-in-st.html
Sears Sunlight in Cincinatti, Ohio:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2016/02/hunting-down-mortgage-sears-sunlight-in.html
Sears Elsmore in Kirkwood, Missouri:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2019/10/sears-elsmore-house-that-thrift-built.html
Sears Elmwood in Normal, Illinois:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2017/07/sears-elmwood-in-normal-illinois.html
How lumber was labeled:
http://www.sears-homes.com/2018/05/does-stamped-lumber-mean-house-is-sears.html
Numbers of found Sears Houses:
https://kithousehunters.blogspot.com/2023/02/where-are-sears-houses-february-2023.html
Elsmore through the years:
https://archive.org/details/SearsModernHomes1915
https://archive.org/details/SearsRoebuckAndCoCatalog1922_201812/page/n972/mode/1up
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2019/10/sears-elsmore-house-that-thrift-built.html
Amazon house customers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKVJfbeQOns&ab_channel=UnspeakableStudios
https://www.tiktok.com/@hittaa_jeff/video/7329646340638608683
Amazon business practice articles:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/tech/cpsc-sues-amazon/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/01/amazon-employees-leak-info-that-marketplace-sellers-buy-on-telegram.html
https://www.wired.com/story/fake-amazon-reviews-underground-market/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2020/10/20/can-you-trust-that-amazon-review-42-may-be-fake-independent-monitor-says/
On redlining:
Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
Underwriting Manual 1936:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018409246&seq=198
Random:
My fake connections game: https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-NtI4d8otVkUcs2x_Jk6
US history of building codes: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2023/07/19/a-history-of-u-s-building-codes
Memories of the Chicago Fire of 1871 by Julia Lemos https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/chm_museum/id/1661/
Carlinville Sears Homes:
https://www.carlinville.com/sears-homes