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This is a picture of the Sears catalog page that also provides the floor plan of the Sears Magnolia model
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Material Culture has made a significant impact on society and how we live our lives today. Throughout history, people have presented countless dilemmas for their needs and in response have overcome how to solve them. Each category of material culture is somehow interlinked and contributed to the culture of that time. I never realized how much of an impact something simple, like a home, could have on society until I researched mail-order houses. Mail order houses and housing, in general, were part of a cause and effect that linked incomes of the people and devoting endless time to an object together.
Buying a house became very popular throughout the 20th century, especially in the United States. However, the increase in home ownership would not have been possible if the average American's income had not increased throughout the years. According to the Chicago Tribune, the middle-class income in 1900 was around $490 per year. This number increased to $3,319 over a 50-year span of time. More families were able to afford homes, and home ownership even became part of the “American Dream” for immigrants. The increase in incomes also led to credit. Credit allowed people to buy objects at the moment and deal with the consequences later. Many families would use this in tandem with their increasing incomes in order to afford a house and furnishing. According to America's History 9th Edition textbook, "The Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration made affording a house, especially for younger families, more attainable." William J. Levitt applied mass-production techniques and therefore the number of houses built increased. This increase and the productivity of building houses created what we know today as suburbs. Suburbs were "homogeneous communities" where neighbors lived closer than they had in the past, creating more room for growth in the cities. The real boom in homeownership occurred post World War Two. The historical census of housing tables notes the percent of the United States that owned a home post World War Two was around 60%. Many southern states, including Alabama, had a major boom post-war and now are above the national trend. The return of soldiers to hometowns could have contributed to the boom. Homeownership became associated with the middle-class lifestyle throughout the 1900s. While I was researching I came upon an article that talked about material culture and how it was connected to immigrants. I found this article from Jstor very interesting as I found that having a home became part of the "American Dream." The article talked about a man named Michael Pette who was an immigrant from Italy and moved to New York. It talks about how buying a Grand Piano was a way he assimilated into the middle-class culture. A grand piano was seen as a "symbol of the American home and domesticity."The Article also talked about the importance of what is put into the parlor or a home during that time and how the objects in that room would portray a person's "values, beliefs, and social standing." This article made clear to me that what is put into ones home would show people who they were, and therefore buying pieces that one was proud of was important.
Housing became more affordable and accessible. One of the ways people could afford a house was by buying a Mail Order home. These homes became popular during 1908 through 1940, according to Kelly Kazek. Mail Oder houses were simple to build and affordable to buy. One could find a house simply by looking in a catalog. Sears was one of the most popular catalogs that people in the 1900s referred to when they were interested in buying a house. Sears archives say that buying a mailorder home would save people up to 40% on construction costs. The price for building a house was little to none, as many people could build it themselves. The article by Kelly Kazek explains how the homes would be sold as kits that included all the necessary materials. They were composed of floors, walls, windows, trim, and hardware. Sears sold between 70 thousand and 75 thousand homes through their catalogs. They offered a variety of home ranging from simple three-room homes to full on mansions like the one pictured. Overall there were 447 different styles to chose from. According to the sears archives, people could even design their own homes or modify homes that were offered. They note that people were able to "build their own dream house." It is amazing to think that at one-time house buying and constructing was so simple.
I learned many things about homeownership that I had not known before this research. It was eye-opening to see how the idea of homeownership has affected society and how people lived. Homes are now accessible to many people no matter their budgets and lifestyles.
