Today we're comparing the new Amazon prefabricated houses in the headlines with the original Sears mailorder 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:   / 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/ZolyndoPortab...

Sears Catalogs:
1922 Sears Catalog
https://archive.org/details/SearsRoeb...
1936 Modern Homes Sears Catalog
https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/fil...

Sears Modern Homes 1927
https://archive.org/details/SearsMode...

1926 Honorbill modern homes
https://archive.org/details/SearsRoeb...

Honor bilt modern homes Carlinville, IL:
https://archive.org/details/HonorBilt...

1908 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalogue

Sears House Seeker on The Fairy house:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2015...

Sears Sunlight in Cincinatti, Ohio:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2016...

Sears Elsmore in Kirkwood, Missouri:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2019...

Sears Elmwood in Normal, Illinois:
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2017...

How lumber was labeled:
http://www.searshomes.com/2018/05/do...

Numbers of found Sears Houses:
https://kithousehunters.blogspot.com/...

Elsmore through the years:
https://archive.org/details/SearsMode...
https://archive.org/details/SearsRoeb...
https://www.searshouseseeker.com/2019...

Amazon house customers:
   • I Bought a House on Amazon  EXTENDED  

https://www.tiktok.com/@hittaa_jeff/v...

Amazon business practice articles:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/tech/c...

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/01/amazo...

https://www.wired.com/story/fakeamaz...

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2020/1...

On redlining:
Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

Underwriting Manual 1936:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...

Random:
My fake connections game: https://connections.swellgarfo.com/ga...

US history of building codes: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2023...

Memories of the Chicago Fire of 1871 by Julia Lemos https://collections.carli.illinois.ed...

Carlinville Sears Homes:
https://www.carlinville.com/searshomes