Old homes via mail

One of the blogs I subscribe to via Google Reader is Interesting Thing of the Day. Given my love for trivia, I find the varied topics discussed there, well, interesting.

Recently, the topic was on the mail-order homes offered by Sears during the early part of the 20th century. (Goodness, saying that makes it seem so long ago.) While it was entertaining to read about the logistics entailed by mail-ordering a home during those times, I was more curious about the house designs then.

So I visited the archived Modern Homes Sears website hoping to see floor plans of the Modern Homes that were offered and was amused but not surprised to note some common features of the houses back then:

• As expected, the kitchen layout didn't indicate the presence of a refrigerator until the later models. Pantries appeared to be the standard instead in the early models.
• Some models didn't have a living room per se but rather a parlor (is this a Britishism for living room?).
  
• Cooking ranges appeared to be rather large. I think they were still using wood stoves as today's gas stoves were most probably unknown at that time and electricity was a luxury? (Sorry, I'm not an expert in this area.) The description of one house (The Wabash, Model Nos. 248) in fact explains that "Under the work table [in the kitchen] is a fuel box which can be filled once a week. The ashes drop from the stove through an iron pipe to the concrete ash bin beneath the floor."
• Long continuous kitchen counters didn't seem to be the norm either. There would be a sink with just enough counter space for dishes, a work table, the aforementioned range and a cupboard or two.
• Bathrooms were optional particularly in the smallest houses. The main page explains that "An outhouse could be purchased separately...". If ever a bathroom was present some floor plans, particularly that of the early models in the 1900's to 1920's, seem to indicate the old free-standing footed bathtubs rather than the fitted ones in use today and apparently introduced in the 1930's. Even then, each house was generally equipped with just one full bath. There was no such thing as a separate bath for the master bedroom which in itself was nonexistent as most rooms were simply labeled as bedrooms or chambers.
• There seemed to be greater variety in the architectural styles in the later models: a few houses featuring what I think is the Tudor style started to be introduced.
  

What I also found intriguing was a sentence in one of the descriptions that implied the imposed gender roles that was typical of that era:

From the screened porch you can enter direct to the combination dining room and living room without disturbing the women in the kitchen.

That statement seems to not only assume that women were relegated to the home and kitchen but also that it was a man who, being responsible for providing a roof over his family, was the one going through the sales catalog and likely the one as well to make the decision regarding the choice of a home.

Altogether, browsing through those floor plans provided me with a rare glimpse of the lifestyle a hundred years ago.