The House in the Mail

Rating:
Summary: A House of Their Own.....
Review: "Hello, whoever you are out there in the world of the future! I wonder how many years will pass before someone reads this. I'm only twelve years old now, but I might be a very old lady by the time you read these pages." Narrated by Emily Cartwright of Enfield, Kentucky, and presented as a family scrapbook, Tom and Rosemary Wells describe how one family picked out and built a mail order house from Sears, Roebuck & Company. The house will arrive by freight train, ready to be assembled, and there will be six rooms, modern appliances like a gas stove, electric ice-box, and washing machine, and best of all indoor plumbing...no more chopping wood, emptying drip pans, and hauling and heating water from the well. The Wells' easy to read and engaging text takes the reader on an exciting adventure as the house comes to life on the page, and is full of charming period details, interesting facts and trivia, and intriguing anecdotes about the early 1900s. Dan Andreasen's beautiful and evocative artwork combines drawings, blueprints, old photographs, advertisements, and mementos, that give the "scrapbook" an old and genuine feeling, and children will enjoy poring over the pictures and exploring all the special details in each illustration. Perfect for youngsters 6-10, or as a read- aloud story the entire family can share together, The House In The Mail is a captivating and entertaining slice of Americana that should open the door to interesting discussions, and a wonderful experience that shouldn't be missed.

Rating:
Summary: A House of Their Own.....
Review: "Hello, whoever you are out there in the world of the future! I wonder how many years will pass before someone reads this. I'm only twelve years old now, but I might be a very old lady by the time you read these pages." Narrated by Emily Cartwright of Enfield, Kentucky, and presented as a family scrapbook, Tom and Rosemary Wells describe how one family picked out and built a mail order house from Sears, Roebuck & Company. The house will arrive by freight train, ready to be assembled, and there will be six rooms, modern appliances like a gas stove, electric ice-box, and washing machine, and best of all indoor plumbing...no more chopping wood, emptying drip pans, and hauling and heating water from the well. The Wells' easy to read and engaging text takes the reader on an exciting adventure as the house comes to life on the page, and is full of charming period details, interesting facts and trivia, and intriguing anecdotes about the early 1900s. Dan Andreasen's beautiful and evocative artwork combines drawings, blueprints, old photographs, advertisements, and mementos, that give the "scrapbook" an old and genuine feeling, and children will enjoy poring over the pictures and exploring all the special details in each illustration. Perfect for youngsters 6-10, or as a read- aloud story the entire family can share together, The House In The Mail is a captivating and entertaining slice of Americana that should open the door to interesting discussions, and a wonderful experience that shouldn't be missed.

Rating:
Summary: A very sweet little story with adorable drawings, but...
Review: This book is not entirely accurate from a historical perspective. While I was THRILLED to see a child's book about Sears homes, I was so disappointed to see that the book missed a golden opportunity to teach parents and children a little more about these awesome old mail-order houses.

The book states that Dad "...wrote a check out to Sears, Roebuck and Company for $2500..." Further, it says that this was their "whole life savings."

This family is already in trouble, because Sears kit homes did not include masonry, plaster, labor costs, excavation expense or heating, plumbing and electrical equipment. Nor did the house include ALL appliances as is inferred in Homer's conversation with his sister.

Pa brought home a "big fat catalog" (presumably a Sears Modern Homes catalog), but in fact, these catalogs were about 125 pages long. Hardly big and nothing close to fat. Small point, I know, but stay with me.

The book also states that the house would be put together "with a barrel of nails." Actually, the average Sears home contained 750 pounds of nails in widely varying sizes. They were shipped in 50 and 100-pound kegs, not in a single barrel. (That'd be SOME barrel.)

After the house arrived, it took "three trips in Grandad's truck" to haul the house from the train depot to the building site. The average Sears home had 30,000 pieces. That's going to take a LOT more than three trips.

The floor plan, pictured in the book is the Sears Honor-Bilt home - "The Walton." But the house pictured on the cover (and inside the book) is "The Avalon." Pretty confusing.

Further the book states that the house had a second floor. Neither the Avalon or the Walton had a second floor.

Perhaps most disappointing are the drawings of the interior trim and the door hinge. Sears never used "bull's eye" trim in their homes (as is pictured in the book) and their door hinges were often quite distinctive because they were half-mortised, half-surface mount. Showing one of these distincitive hinges could have done so much to teach folks how to spot Sears homes!

The book states that 22 doors were hung on brass hinges. Neither the Avalon or the Walton had anything close to 22 doors. And Sears homes did not have brass hinges, but plated steel.

Homer took the "leftover scraps of wood" and built a new treehouse in the woods. Considering that this house came as a "put-together kit" (pre-cut), there would be very, very few scraps of wood "leftover." In 1919, Sears claimed that someone assembling one of their pre-cut homes could "hang their saw on nail all day..."

About "The House in the Mail," - let me say again - it's cute, interesting, appealing and dear. But there are some informational errors.

A story should have its facts straight, even if the facts are not the central part of the story. On the plus side, Ms. Wells' love of children shines through the pages of this book.

I love Sears homes and spent two years researching them in order to write my book, "The Houses That Sears Built." 95% of the Sears homes in this country remain undiscovered. "The House in the Mail" could have helped remedy that problem...

Rating:
Summary: A cute story, but filled with misinformation
Review: This book is not entirely accurate from a historical perspective. While I was THRILLED to see a child's book about Sears homes, I was so disappointed to see that the book missed a golden opportunity to teach parents and children a little more about these awesome old mail-order houses.

The book states that Dad "...wrote a check out to Sears, Roebuck and Company for $2500..." Further, it says that this was their "whole life savings."

This family is already in trouble, because Sears kit homes did not include masonry, plaster, labor costs, excavation expense or heating, plumbing and electrical equipment. Nor did the house include ALL appliances as is inferred in Homer's conversation with his sister.

Pa brought home a "big fat catalog" (presumably a Sears Modern Homes catalog), but in fact, these catalogs were about 125 pages long. Hardly big and nothing close to fat. Small point, I know, but stay with me.

The book also states that the house would be put together "with a barrel of nails." Actually, the average Sears home contained 750 pounds of nails in widely varying sizes. They were shipped in 50 and 100-pound kegs, not in a single barrel. (That'd be SOME barrel.)

After the house arrived, it took "three trips in Grandad's truck" to haul the house from the train depot to the building site. The average Sears home had 30,000 pieces. That's going to take a LOT more than three trips.

The floor plan, pictured in the book is the Sears Honor-Bilt home - "The Walton." But the house pictured on the cover (and inside the book) is "The Avalon." Pretty confusing.

Further the book states that the house had a second floor. Neither the Avalon or the Walton had a second floor.

Perhaps most disappointing are the drawings of the interior trim and the door hinge. Sears never used "bull's eye" trim in their homes (as is pictured in the book) and their door hinges were often quite distinctive because they were half-mortised, half-surface mount. Showing one of these distincitive hinges could have done so much to teach folks how to spot Sears homes!

The book states that 22 doors were hung on brass hinges. Neither the Avalon or the Walton had anything close to 22 doors. And Sears homes did not have brass hinges, but plated steel.

Homer took the "leftover scraps of wood" and built a new treehouse in the woods. Considering that this house came as a "put-together kit" (pre-cut), there would be very, very few scraps of wood "leftover." In 1919, Sears claimed that someone assembling one of their pre-cut homes could "hang their saw on nail all day..."

About "The House in the Mail," - let me say again - it's cute, interesting, appealing and dear. But there are some informational errors.

A story should have its facts straight, even if the facts are not the central part of the story. On the plus side, Ms. Wells' love of children shines through the pages of this book.

I love Sears homes and spent four years researching them in order to write my book, "The Houses That Sears Built." 95% of the Sears homes in this country remain undiscovered. "The House in the Mail" could have helped remedy that problem...