( 2 reviews )
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Posted: Dec 28 2008
this is a fun book. great to get this historical perspective. The illustrations are good, you can really understand how each house works. It's just a charming book with historic graphics.
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( 10 of 10 found this review helpful ) Posted: Sep 24 2000
This is an 8 x 11, 117 page [Dover] reprint of Aladdin's 1917 Catalog. The print and architectural renderings (house sketches) are really very good. The back of the book has garages, hardware miscellany, colonnades, arches, built-ins, etc. The first dozen pages are company history and background, which I find completely fascinating. The catalog looks like most house catalogs of this era, with an angled, although primarily frontal view of the house, with floor plans, house description, etc.It's pretty interesting reading and most folks would enjoy perusing it. I have several Dover Publication reprints and always find them good additions to my ever growing historical architecture library.And if you're doing research on Sears Catalog homes, like me, this Aladdin book is an invaluable research tool because it really highlights the *similarities* between these different catalog homes. All catalog houses, it turns out, look surprisingly alike. Only vague nuances separate the Aladdins from the MWards houses and the Sears Houses. They all copied one another - changing a front entry or a bracketed eave or some other minimal change.The Aladdin 1917 Catalog is interesting and a good quality reprint. Rose
