Richard Harris - Building a Market: The Rise of the Home Improvement Industry, 1914–1960

HISTORICAL STUDIES OF URBAN AMERICA

Edited by Timothy J. Gilfoyle, James R. Grossman, and Becky M. Nicolaides

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Building a Market

The Rise of the Home Improvement Industry, 19141960

RICHARD HARRIS

The University of Chicago Press

Chicago and London

Richard Harris is professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences at McMaster University in Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a 2005 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

The publication of this book was supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637

The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London

2012 by The University of Chicago

All rights reserved. Published 2012.

Printed in the United States of America

21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5

ISBN-13: 978-0-226-31766-3 (cloth)

ISBN-10: 0-226-31766-8 (cloth)

ISBN-13: 978-0-226-31768-7 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harris, Richard, 1952

Building a market : the rise of the home improvement industry, 19141960 / Richard Harris.

pages ; cm. (Historical studies of urban America)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-226-31766-3 (cloth : alkaline paper)

ISBN-10: 0-226-31766-8 (cloth : alkaline paper) 1. Construction industryUnited StatesHistory20th century. 2. Building materials industryUnited StatesHistory20th century. 3. DwellingsRemodelingUnited StatesHistory20th century. 4. DwellingsUnited StatesMaintenance and repairHistory20th century. I. Title. II. Series: Historical studies of urban America.

HD9715.U62H37 2012

338.4769024dc23

2012005110

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

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