Elbert Hubbard’s Working Copy of "HOUSES WHILE YOU WAIT"

Description

This
W
orking
Copy of
HOUSES WHILE YOU WAIT –
An Advertisement for Prefabricated Homes
is a demonstration of Elbert Hubbard’s capability to participate in the world of advertising – in this case
a thirteen page paper, with extensive pencil editing, deemed to become
an advertisement for mass produced homes aimed at both a purchaser or investor.
The item’s pages are approximately 5 ½ x 8 ½ inches in size, with the typed text and pencil editing on only one side of a sheet. In the first 5 pages, Elbert Hubbard describes the quality and economy benefits of mass production by citing homemade or tailor-made clothing vs. ready-to-wear and the first Ford auto vs. assembly lines and then describes how his client – The North American Construction Company (Aladdin Houses), with their own forests, saw mills, planing mill, architects and designers can send the parts (numbered and marked) to the buyer so that the local carpenter can put up the home for
“almost before breakfast”
, saving the buyer from 25% to 50%. He continues with anecdotal stories (pages 6 and 7) to enliven his pitch and then (pages 8 to 12) appeals to one’s patriotism (love of family, home, country, laws and government) and
“great work for civilization”
. There are 12 numbered pages – 10 typed very heavily annotated and corrected in pencil plus the remaining 2 completely in pencil. One more unnumbered typed page is incorporated that cites the combination of finance with the humanities. All the pages are on buff-colored paper, clean and clear, and housed in a buff paper folder (reading, in black print –
“Original Manuscript of Elbert Hubbard”
) that is lightly soiled, chipped at the edges and partially separated at the spine.
ELBERT HUBBARD
(1856 – 1915)
–
A leading proponent of the Arts and Cr
a
fts Movement, started the Roycroft Community with artisans producing furniture, leather work, metal, books, etc. It might be noted that among the notables who got their start in the Roycroft community was W. W. Denslow, a cartoonist and illustrator, later know for illustrating Frank Baum’s
Wonderful Wizard of Oz
and Dard Hunter, an American authority on printing and paper, later producing the wonderful, folio tomes on paper making. In addition to art, his homespun philosophy evolved from a William Morris inspired defense of socialism and free enterprise, illustrated amply in our offering here. He was mocked in the Socialist Press for “selling out”. He replied that he a had not given up any ideal of his, but had simply lost faith in Socialism as a means of realizing them. (Wikipedia). He authored
Message to Garcia, Notebooks, Scrapbook,
a
series of Homes of Businessmen, Homes of Musicians,
etc., and many more titles bound in cloth, tooled leather, suede and often illustrated with beautiful calligraphic headpieces. A good biography –
Art & Glory: The Story of Elbert Hubbard.
He and his wife died
in
the
sinking of the
Lusitania.
The North American Construction Company
(1807 – 1989) manufactured Alladin kit homes, which sold well-made component parts at a cheap price allowing buyers to put together their homes in a day. In our offering, Hubbard goes into a great deal of detail about the rationale and myriad advantages of such homes. It’s interest to see his corrections, his crossed-out omissions and substitutions for his striving for perfection. Early catalogs of the Alladin homes are still available on the internet.
Note: The quoted shipping cost of .00
does not
include shipping insurance. If shipping insurance is desired, an additional cost of .75 would be required for USPS insurance coverage for the declared value of the shipment.