Catalog kit houses ("Sears Homes") - online resources

Ready cut houses - where all the lumber was pre cut, then sent by train with everything needed to build a house. The first was Aladdin in 1906, then Sears, and today 'Sears House' has become the common term for all kit homes. Several good virtual talks have been taped, links below. Also links to catalogs (then used to pick a house, now to match an existing home) and information on some major companies, such as where their papers are archived. Images of similar styled homes with floor plan, for each company...


CATALOGS ON LINE
House designs with floor plans, but also distinct fittings, door knobs, etc.

Sears Catalogs at Sears House Seekers (Sears & other companies) HERE
Sears Archives, homes 1908-1940 HERE
Aladdin Homes 1906-1987. catalogs: 1908-1954 The Clarke HERE; 1914-1963. UPenn HERE
Gordon Van Tine Co. 1916-1931 Sears House Seekers HERE
Wardway Homes. Montgomery Ward’s. Internet Archives. 1917 HERE; 1924 HERE; 1930 HERE
Building Technology Heritage Library, by Association for Preservation on Internet Technology HERE


MAJOR COMPANIES SELLING CATALOG HOMES

Aladdin Readi-Cut Houses, Aladdin Company - the first one!

Headquarters: Bay City MI
Years active: 1906-1987
Records archived: Clarke Historical Library, Central Mich U. "home of the Aladdin Company archives, with over 350 cubic feet of company records including plans and blueprints, product catalogs, individual sale receipts..."
Catalogs online: 1908-1954 The Clarke HERE; 1914-1963. UPenn HERE
Taped talks: Aladdin Kit Home Company. Bay City MI. Wendy and Andrew Mutch. Clarke Historical Library, Central Mich U.  1hr25min. Mar 2021 HERE; Mail Order Homes: Catalog and Kit Homes of Michigan. Andrew and Wendy Mutch. "Michigan was home to the Aladdin Company, the first and longest-lived manufacturer of kit houses" and two other companies Lewis and Sterling. Kalamazoo Public Library. Nov 2015 HERE

Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Years active: 1908-1942
Records archived: sales records destroyed; Sears website 'Archives homes' 1908-1940 HERE
Catalogs online: Sears House Seekers (Sears & other companies) HERE
Taped talks: Sears Kit Homes. Andrew and Wendy Mutch. Berkley Library Author Talks. 90min Dec 2014 HERE

Gordon Van Tine Co.

Headquarters: Davenport IO
Years active: 1910/2-1946
Records archived: Davenport Library. Special Collections.
Catalogs online: 1916-1931 Sears House Seekers HERE
Taped talks: Gordon Van Tine Co. Davenport Iowa 1910-1946. Katie Reinhardt. Davenport Library. Special Collections. sound varies, 35min. 2022. HERE

Montgomery Ward’s Wardway Homes.

Headquarters: Chicago IL
Years active: ?1915-1935
Records archived: ?
Catalogs online: 1915-1935 Sears House Seekers HERE
Taped talks: none yet


TAPED VIRTUAL TALKS

Aladdin Kit Home Company. Bay City MI. Wendy and Andrew Mutch. Clarke Historical Library, Central Mich U.  1hr25min. Mar 2021 HERE

Aladdin, Lewis, Sterling. Mail Order Homes: Catalog and Kit Homes of Michigan. Andrew and Wendy Mutch. "Michigan was home to the Aladdin Company, the first and longest-lived manufacturer of kit houses" and two other companies Lewis and Sterling. Kalamazoo Public Library. 60min Nov 2015 HERE

Michigan's Mail Order Homes. Melodie Nichols. Troy Michigan. HERE

Gordon Van Tine Co. Davenport Iowa 1910-1946. Katie Reinhardt. Davenport Library. Special Collections. sound varies, 35min. 2022. HERE

Sears Kit Homes. Andrew and Wendy Mutch. Berkley Library Author Talks. 90min Dec 2014 HERE

Bungalow in a Box: Kit Houses of the Early Twentieth Century New England. Devin Colman, State Architectural Historian at the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation... a case study of Burlington, Vt. Historic New England. Nv 2021 40min HERE wonderful explanation of many architectural features, verification clues, VT is keeping an inventory.

Mar 27 2023 Mon 7-8:30 Sears Houses of Arlington. Dakota and Kathryn Holt Springston. Smithsonian Associates. $30 HERE. No tape?

One Week.  silent film.  Buster Keaton. 1920. "A newly wedded couple attempts to build a house with a prefabricated kit, unaware that a rival sabotaged the kit's component numbering." 25 min. HERE

More info in past blog posts:

When a Sears House is not a Sears house. 2 EC homes, one by Gordon Van Tine Co. and the other not a kit home, with suggestions how to tell a kit house. HERE

MDLANDrec.net - Find your house history or family lands from home. Sears search for mortage, deed. HERE


©2023 Patricia Bixler Reber
Forgotten history of Ellicott City & Howard County MD