Sears, Roebuck Home Builder's Catalog: The Complete Illustrated 1910 Edition

by Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Book Overview

All across America during the great building boom of the early 20th century, one of the most popular sources for home-building materials, fixtures, and trimmings was the Sears, Roebuck catalog for home builders. This fascinating volume, reprinted from a rare surviving edition of that remarkably comprehensive publication, offers a peerless view of how thousands of Americans approached the practicalities and aesthetics of homebuilding in 1910. A huge...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486263207
• ISBN13: 9780486263205
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.4" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

1910 Sears Roebuck Home Builders Catalog

Excellent resource for those researching or restoring Sears kit homes. I highly recommend it. It has been very helpful to me.

Prompt service

When ordering I always get good service, response is quick and get my product on time. Thank you.

A demonstration that while houses may have changed a lot, the fundamental pieces have not

When I was young, my elderly relatives were effusive in their descriptions of the value of the Sears catalog. Nearly every thing that you could possibly need was available through the Sears catalog and even if it was too rich for your blood, millions of people amused themselves by looking through it. And when it was no longer interesting, it served as bathroom reading material and toilet paper. This book is a reproduction of the 1910 Builder's edition and looking through it is a nostalgic step back in time. I worked construction for my first six years out of high school and recognize nearly everything in the catalog. Furthermore, having spent a great deal of time in older homes, I remember seeing and working with many of the doors, windows, fixtures, moldings, plumbing equipment and hardware. The book is one of those that you can spend hours glancing through, just looking at what you could purchase for your home shortly after the turn of the century. It also demonstrates that very little has really changed in the building of homes. They may be getting bigger and the styles may have changed, but the fundamental pieces remain largely the same.

Good reference material

A lot of help while choosing fixtures to remodel our Craftsman bathroom. I'm sure it'll come in handy for more projects in our house before we're through. A lot of fun to skim for no particular reason too. I just wish it were a little longer.

Even my teenagers loved this book...

This is a catalogue full of fixtures - plumbing, electrical andmechanical items from the 1910's. I think it is a tremendous resource for anyone trying to do a faithful restoration of an early 20th century home. Doors, windows, newel posts, fireplace mantels, toilets, sinks, light fixtures, bathtubs, electrical switches, anything that was needed to build an old house is listed in this book. It is interesting - and the prices are of course incredible, but it's mainly photos and descriptions. And the photos of these old items are useful in learning how to *date* plumbing and electrical fixtures, which can be useful in determining the age of a house. And it can also help in figuring out if a "period" bath or kitchen is TRULY a period bath and kitchen. Lastly, it's also a useful resource for authenticating Sears kit homes. Just keep in mind that JUST BECAUSE your house has Sears hardware DOES NOT PROVE it's a Sears Home! Rose Thornton author, The Houses That Sears Built