History of Sears Kit Homes with info on how to find and identify these old kit homes. Alson includes photos, graphics, diagrams and oral histories from workers at the Sears Mill and people who built their own Sears Home. Also history on Richard W. Sears and Alvah Roebuck; history on Sears and Roebuck, Co.

From 1908 to 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold nearly seventy-five thousand homes through its mail-order Modern Homes program. Families across the nation set about assembling the kits, using the thick instruction manual to puzzle out how twelve thousand pieces of house might fit together. The resulting dwellings were as durable as they were enchanting, swiftly becoming icons of the American landscape. Follow leading expert Rosemary Thornton through a lavishly illustrated history of the homes many Illinoisans dont know they are living in. Recognize your own front porch on a page in the Neo-Tudor section of the style gallery and tell your plumber hes helping to preserve a Barrington.

It was the American Dream by Mail Order --Smithsonian Americans have ordered from Sears, Roebuck just about everything they have needed for their homes for 100 years--but from 1908 to 1940, some 100,000 people also purchased their houses from this mail-order wizard. Sears ready-to-assemble houses were ordered by mail and shipped by rail wherever a boxcar or two could pull in to unload the meticulously precut lumber and all the materials needed to build an exceptionally sturdy and well-designed house. From Philadelphia, Pa., to Coldwater, Kans., and Cowley, Wyo., Sears put its guarantee on quality bungalows, colonials and Cape Cods, all with the latest modern conveniences--such as indoor plumbing. Houses by Mail tells the story of these precut houses and provides for the first time an incomparable guide to identifying Sears houses across the country. Arranged for easy identification in 15 sections by roof type, the book features nearly 450 house models with more than 800 illustrations, including drawings of the houses and floor plans. Because the Sears houses were built to last, thousands remain today to be discovered and restored. Houses by Mail shows how to return them to their original charm while it documents a highly successful business enterprise that embodied the spirit and domestic design of its time. "After decades of obscurity, Sears houses have become chic." --Wall Street Journal "These were . spacious, solidly built homes." --Parade "Don't be surprised if your own cozy bungalow turns up [in the book]."--Philadelphia Inquirer "A nostalgic and informative look at the tastes of Americans in the years before World War II."--Publishers Weekly "The bible to researchers of Sears' ready-cut homes."--Saturday Evening Post

The rapid westward expansion of the United States in the early twentieth century set the stage for a new industry: mail-order homes. Sold by such companies as Sears, Roebuck & Co., Aladdin, and Montgomery Ward, these kit homes were shipped by train to their purchasers in boxcars containing everything required for their construction, whether a vacation cottage, modest bungalow, or two-and-a-half story home. Rebecca Hunter brings to life the history of these charming homes, tens of thousands of which were sold throughout the United States in the early 1900s, and many of which still exist. Fully illustrated and including numerous images from period catalogs, this book describes the customers who bought and built mail-order houses, the various styles and designs, and the boom and bust of the industry.

Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.

Elgin, Illinois, was founded in 1835. However, the community truly came into its own at the end of the Civil War, when the Elgin National Watch Company moved there and took the city name as its own. The name Elgin became synonymous with quality for over 100 years. Elgin, Illinois: "Wish You Were Here" tells the story of the town of Elgin during the 20th century, featuring vintage postcards of that period. Special events of historic interest include the tornado of 1920, and the Elgin Road Races, which gained national fame for a brief time around the World War I era. More than 200 pictures, culled from the collection of the Elgin Area Historical Society, and colorful narratives tell of the accomplishments by those first few generations who lived and died in the community.

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“One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades.”—John Gray, New York Times Book Review Hailed as “a magisterial critique of top-down social planning” by the New York Times, this essential work analyzes disasters from Russia to Tanzania to uncover why states so often fail—sometimes catastrophically—in grand efforts to engineer their society or their environment, and uncovers the conditions common to all such planning disasters. “Beautifully written, this book calls into sharp relief the nature of the world we now inhabit.”—New Yorker “A tour de force.”— Charles Tilly, Columbia University