Catalog Shopping - Mail Order Homes and Stock Plans

Did your old house come in the mail? Between 1906 and 1940, thousands of North American homes were built according to plans sold by mail order companies such as Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Wards. Often the entire mail order house (in the form of labeled timbers) came via freight train. Other times, builders used local materials to construct homes according to the mail order catalog house plans. Today, catalog homes can be bought online. Stock plans are pre-drawn building plans that you can order from a catalog, magazine, or website. Most builders and developers offer a number of house plans in stock from which you may choose. Stock plans ordered through the mail or downloaded from a website may include floor plans, foundation plans, structural framing plans, electrical and plumbing plans, cross-section drawings, and elevation drawings. If you are not sure about your selection, you can usually obtain an inexpensive floor plan to review. However, you will need to buy the full set of plans before you can apply for a building permit and begin construction. Catalog house plans by Sears, Montgomery Wards, Aladdin, and other companies were widely distributed in the United States and Canada in what has generally been called pattern books. Where are those plans now? To find the original plans and to learn other important information about your mail order house, follow the steps listed below. Search for Written Records The neighbors may say your home was made by Sears, but they could be mistaken. Several other companies also sold house kits and house plans. To find out who made your house, check building permits, mortgage agreements, deeds, and other public records. Also look through scrapbooks, old correspondence, and ledgers to discover how old is your house. Look for Physical Clues Scout around in the cellar and attic for numbers or words stamped on joists and rafters. Also check your homes hardware and plumbing fixtures. You may be able to find trade names that will identify the manufacturer of your home. Keep in mind that the popular catalog houses were widely copied by local builders. Its easy to mistake a locally-made home for one designed by Sears or Wards. Use the process of architectural investigation. Browse  Online Catalogs Actual pages from historic house plan catalogs are reproduced on several websites. As you browse through these pages, remember that plans were often used for several years after they were first created. So, if your house was built in 1921, make sure to also browse plans for earlier years. Here are some good places to start: Mail Order House Plans  Index in  ThoughtCo.comSears Archives - Find catalog images and network with owners of Sears Mail Order houses. Browse Print Catalogs Cant find anything that resembles your house online? Dont give up. Browse through original or reproduction catalogs at your library or bookstore. Some catalogs even include construction information such as the type of woods to use. Here are a few reproduction Sears catalogs availalble from Amazon.com: Small Houses of the Twenties, the Sears, Roebuck 1926 House Catalog. Construction information includes detailed illustrations of interiors and fixtures.  Sears, Roebuck Homebuilders Catalog  - The Complete Illustrated 1910 Edition. Well-illustrated with construction specifications.  Homes in a Box, Modern Homes from Sears Roebuck, Schiffer Publishing. Reproduction of Sears 1912 Modern Homes catalog.   Be Open-Minded Local builders and homeowners often customized mail order plans, adding porches, moving doors, and adapting details to accommodate personal tastes and needs. The mail order plans you find may not resemble your own home exactly. Study the Ads The catalog page for your mail order home will provide a wealth of information. Youll find the original retail price of the house and the types of materials used. Youll see floor plans and a simple drawing of the house. You might even find some construction details and specifications. Stock Plans Today Stock plans dont have to be from Sears, Roebuck and Company, although bungalows by mail were popular at the turn of the 20th century. Pre-drawn plans dont have to be manufactured built or prefab homes. These days, architects may make custom plans for a client and then put those plans on the market as stock plans.  Houseplans.com is one avenue for these architects. Does all this seem like a lot of work? You bet! But researching your mail order home is also fun and fascinating. Youll enjoy the journey, and along the way youre likely to meet friends who share your enthusiasm for older homes.  Good luck!

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Fire, Furor and Internal War Essay - 1193 Words

Psappo’s poetry was the model from which ancient cultures defined love. Her views on love have influenced many works of literature, including The Aeneid of Virgil. Love is an uncontrollable force that strikes an individual from the outside and can occur suddenly as well as unexpectedly. Love is often depicted as a positive emotion that causes people to feel blissful, but this can easily turn into furor; furor is the aspect of love associated with violence and insanity. Dido’s love for Aeneas exemplifies the internal turmoil that afflicts individuals when they are deprived of the love that they crave so ardently. Virgil accomplishes this through the incorporation of the symbol of fire and through the platonic metaphor of the war between†¦show more content†¦Dido is so enthralled by Aeneas that she will love him at the expense of her reputation. This text clearly demonstrates this when it says, â€Å"Hope burned away her doubt, destroyed her shame.† (page 81, line 75). At this point in the text Dido makes the decision to shift the relationship she has with Aeneas from hostess to lover. In the beginning of book IV, fire symbolizes the exceptionally influential power of love over Dido, in enticing her to break her promise and pursuing a relationship with Aeneas. Dido’s relationship with Aeneas causes her to experience a series of internal struggles. Virgil uses platonic philosophy in order to illustrate the negative affects that love can have on a person. At first, Dido is so jovial about being in love that the only thing she can focus on is Aeneas; this causes the citizens of Carthage to feel like their queen is shirking her responsibilities by indulging in love. This does not seem to phase Dido until Aeneas tell her that he must leave Carthage in order to fulfill his destiny of founding a city for his people. The text verifies this when Dido says, â€Å"Do you flee me? 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Passion to Profession free essay sample

A company’s most vital asset is its customers and without them, we would not and could not exist in business. When you satisfy our customers, they not only help us grow by continuing to do business with you, but recommend you to friends and associates. Every single contact with a customer can either cultivate or corrode the relationship with a customer. This includes every letter or email that is sent out, every ad that may run and every phone call made. Working as a Medical Assistant in a doctor’s office is direct contact with patients in many aspects. The customer service starts from the moment the patients walk into the office. Many patients have questions and concerns about their treatments, illnesses, tests, lab results, financial status, etc. , and it is the job of a medical assistant to effectively serve the patient to their satisfaction. My career goal is to teach in the Allied Health field and customer service is a must. We will write a custom essay sample on Passion to Profession or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The three-fold Bachelor’s degree I am now working on at Florida Technical College consists of Health Service Administration, Health Information Technology and Medical Assistant. It will equip me to teach clinical and practical skills to Medical Assistants and other health professionals. In order to accomplish my goal to teach, it is imperative that I learn effective customer service skills. When dealing with students, customer service means going the extra mile, helping students with their questions and their thirst for knowledge. It also means making sure that when it’s time to start the clinical practice; each student understands technique and the importance of following rules and guidelines. In all sense, teaching requires good communication and customer service skills. Teachers provide a service, provide the community with educated people, provide the students with a safe learning environment, and provide the students with useful and relevant education. Teachers do not only teach class, they send out emails, post updates on blogs, have a website on a server; they motivate the students to learn what I know they need to learn. In order to be a good teacher, you have to develop a program that is suitable for your students. You must prepare activities which can enhance the physical, intellectual and cultural abilities of students. A teacher can do so much better in their career and in accomplishing their educational goals with their students if they would add a little customer service strategy to their teaching. Communication Communication is a two-way process of reaching a mutual understanding in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. (Graham, Paul, 2006) Communication involves means such as listening, speaking, writing and reading. All these means can be used for an active communication process. In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. Many times, one of the biggest challenges people face when developing customer relations skills is empathy. If we are empathetic, it helps us better understand a person or situation, enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and is imperative in leadership. In my personal experience in the medical field, communication has always been very important, and has also gone hand in hand with empathy–the ability to identify with and understand somebody elses feelings or difficulties. Good customer service cannot exist without communication. When I worked as manager of an assisted living facility in Lewiston, Idaho, my job was communication between the elderly residents and their families, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and healthcare and social service agencies. Many times I was liaison between the resident and Medicare/Medicaid. Effective communication required phone calls, conversations with residents and family members in order to make important healthcare decisions, formal and informal memorandums to staff and/or management, and formal professional letters. In all essence, customer service and communication cannot work individually. Communication in all its aspects is imperative for effective customer relations. References: 1. Bolden ,Colon. Jun 28, 2010. Customer Service Tips-The Best Way to Treat People. Retrieved from: http://www. articlesbase. com/customer-service-articles/customer-service-tips-on-the-best-way-to-treat-people-2738621. html 2. Graham, Paul. 2013 Web Finance Inc. Retrieved from: http://www. businessdictionary. com/tips/customer-service