The House that Came in the Mail Again
99% Invisible5 Loka 2021

The House that Came in the Mail Again

The Sears & Roebuck Mail Order Catalog was nearly omnipresent in early 20th century American life. By 1908, one fifth of Americans were subscribers. Anyone anywhere in the country could order a copy for free, look through it, and then have anything their heart desired delivered directly to their doorstep. At its peak, the Sears catalog offered over 100,000 items on 1,400 pages. It weighed four pounds. Today, those 1,400 pages provide us with a snapshot of American life in the first decade of the 20th century, from sheep-shearing machines and cream separators to telephones and china cabinets. The Sears catalog tells the tale of a world -- itemized. And starting in 1908, the company that offered America everything began offering what just might be its most audacious product line ever: houses.

Buy The 99% Invisible City!

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.

Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(791)

The Straight Line Is A Godless Line

The Straight Line Is A Godless Line

Straight lines form the core of our built environment. Building in straight lines makes predicting costs and calculating structural loads easier, since building materials come in linear units. Straigh...

30 Syys 201415min

Port of Dallas

Port of Dallas

There’s a photograph we have tacked to our studio at 99% Invisible HQ. The photo, taken 1899, shows three men, all looking very fashionable, suspended mid-air on the lifted arm of a giant dredging mac...

24 Syys 201417min

Castle on the Park

Castle on the Park

On the southwest corner of Central Park West and 106th Street in New York City, there’s an enormous castle. It takes up the whole east end of the block, with its red brick cylindrical turrets topped w...

16 Syys 201416min

Genesis Object

Genesis Object

In the beginning, there was design. Before any other human discipline, even before the dawn of mankind its self, design was a practice passed down from generation to generation of early humans. Today,...

10 Syys 201412min

Holdout

Holdout

Around 2005, a Seattle neighborhood called Ballard started to see unprecedented growth. Condominiums and apartment buildings were sprouting up all over the community which had once been mostly single ...

2 Syys 201416min

Thomassons

Thomassons

Cities, like living things, evolve slowly over time. Buildings and structures get added and renovated and removed, and in this process, bits and pieces that get left behind. Vestiges. Just as humans h...

26 Elo 201412min

Hacking IKEA

Hacking IKEA

IKEA hacking is the practice of buying things from IKEA and reengineering—or “hacking”—them to become customized, more functional, and often just better designed stuff. The locus of the IKEA hacking m...

19 Elo 201418min

The Sound of Sports

The Sound of Sports

Way back in October 2011 (see episode #38, true believers!), we broadcast a short excerpt of a radio documentary produced by Peregrine Andrews about faking the sounds of sports on TV broadcasts. It wa...

12 Elo 201458min

Suosittua kategoriassa Liike-elämä ja talous

sijotuskasti
rss-rahapodi
mimmit-sijoittaa
psykopodiaa-podcast
rss-oivalluksia-rahasta-elamasta
rss-rahamania
ostan-asuntoja-podcast
rahapuhetta
inderespodi
rss-sisalto-kuntoon
rss-viisas-raha-podi
herrasmieshakkerit
rss-sami-miettinen-neuvottelija
sijoituspodi
hyva-paha-johtaminen
lakicast
rss-lahtijat
rss-karon-grilli
rss-paasipodi
rss-asiakaskokemusklubi