Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

1998

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Art History

Advisor

Rosemarie Haag Bletter

Committee Members

Sally Webster

Rose-Carol Washton Long

Daniel D. Reiff

Subject Categories

Art and Design | History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology

Keywords

American Studies, Architecture, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology

Abstract

This dissertation explores the mail-order house and its relation to aspects of consumer culture, establishing a context for understanding its popular appeal and its notable presence in the competitive housing market between 1918 and 1930. Fueled by a demand for housing, and widely promoted during a period of economic prosperity which ushered in an interest in consumerism associated with home ownership, the mail-order house, assembled from pre-cut lumber and sold by mail-order suppliers, represented an affordable and appealing means for consumers to acquire the aesthetic and material elements associated with the ideal house and home.

The dissertation articulates the popular appeal and critical reception of mail-order houses in order to gain greater understanding for their presence in the housing market of the 1920s. By reviewing contemporary government publications, articles and commentaries printed in the professional and popular press, as well as the contents of the trade catalogues, this dissertation places mail-order houses in an appropriate social and historical context. In doing so, it is thus revealed that they appealed not only to middle class home buyers, but were favored by industrial corporations for workers housing, and were simultaneously embraced by real estate entrepreneurs for an upper class clientele in emerging suburban developments. The geographic placement of mail-order houses strongly indicates that these houses had a great impact on the appearance of cities and towns in the United States, as well as elsewhere.

By investigating both large national manufacturers as well as small regional companies that frequently advertised, and produced mail-order houses to a diverse consumer population, this dissertation presents a background for understanding the broad scope of the mail-order house business. The dissertation reviews trade materials to explore the methods by which mail-order houses were designed, marketed, and targeted to appeal to a broad range of consumer interests. Comparing manufacturers' points of view with popular attitudes, tastes, and trends of consumer culture, it concludes that the variety of architectural styles, goods and services offered by the various competitors afforded consumers the opportunity to acquire through catalogues their own mail-order versions of the "ideal" house and home.

Comments

Digital reproduction from the UMI microform.

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