Vintage House Book

An amazing resource book if you are interested in the American home from 1880. Tad Burness started in the sixties collecting illustrations, photos and ads of anything to do with domestic housing and this book is the result of his endeavours. You need to know though that the book is essentially visual and 2500 images are shown in a scrapbook format, with many of them irregular shapes, where a house, for instance, has been cut out from its background, Each crammed page has between nine to fourteen pictures (plenty in color) which could include six or seven exterior house photos or illustrations, possibly taken from period ads, three or four interiors (also from period ads) mostly kitchens and bathrooms, maybe a floor plan or some period ads for a heating system, door handles or property. Many of these items have a few handwritten words from the author. I rather liked these very busy, crammed pages but I could see that they might not be to everybody's taste. This large paperback is a fascinating overview of a hundred years of American housing but if you want to see pictorial books with a more formal presentation have a look at these: 'Houses by Mail', by Katherine Stevenson and Ward Jandl, a picture and floor plan of the hundreds of styles sold by Sears Roebuck from 1908 to 1940. For domestic interiors of the fifties and sixties check out two books by Eugene Moore: Inspiring Interiors from Armstrong 1950s and Interior Solutions from Armstrong the 1960s both use several hundred room set photos taken from Armstrong flooring ads. For a really comprehensive study of past decades the Decorative Art series by Charlotte and Peter Fiell published by Taschen can't be beat. ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.