Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
In the third year of collaboration between the Folklife Festival and the Department of Energy, attention turned to Native American architecture. In recent years, a new interest in native American dwellings had begun to focus on their energy efficient features as well as the symbolism of traditional Indian structures. For example, experiments comparing the energy efficiency of the tipi with a modern American home indicated that on freezing winter nights the Indian lived at a similar comfort level. Their hardwood-burning fires warmed the tipi at a comparable efficiency level to oil heated furnaces, because the space required for each person was a tenth the area non-Indians were accustomed to.
Indian communities in the late 1970s were experiencing a revival of old house building. The Wichita of central Oklahoma had resumed building the distinctive beehive-shaped houses of red cedar ribs that had seemed to be lost a half-century ago. In Northwestern California the Hupa had been reconstructing their traditional cedar plank houses on the sites of three old rancheria (or village) locations. Both the Hupa family house and the slightly smaller men's sweat house belonged to the oldest architectural tradition in North America, the pit house. Here earth serves as excellent insulation, walling the four-foot deep excavations where the Hupa once warmed themselves during the damp winter and cooled themselves throughout the baking summer.
Visitors entering the Indian lodges built at the Festival could notice the skillful use of available materials. These home traditions perpetuated practical adaptations to climate; also, they indicated the human impulse to invest the immediate environment with spiritual meaning.
Diana Parker served as Energy Exhibit Coordinator, with Gary Floyd as Technical Coordinator.
Participants:
Doris Kicking Woman, tipi painter, Browning, Montana
George Kicking Woman, tipi painter, Browning, Montana
Molly Kicking Woman, tipi painter, Browning, Montana
Ernest Doyebi, 1920-2004, arbor and windbreak builder, Anadarko, Oklahoma
Billy Evans Horse, arbor and windbreak builder, Carnegie, Oklahoma
Alonzo Chalepah, arbor and windbreak builder, Carnegie, Oklahoma
Roy Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida
Irene Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida
Ted Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida
Rachel Cypress, chickee builder, Ochopee, Florida
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1979 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Aladdin Redi-Cut Homes ; North American Construction Co. Search this
Notes content:
"Modern American Home" ; heavily illustrated, also include "Homecraft" furniture, built-in fixtures, e.g. cabinets, arches, buffets, summer cottage kits, and plumbing, heating, and lighting fixtures. Models generally have specifications and floor layouts, and catalogs include testimonials ; see also: "Standard of Living," by Marina Moskowitz ; this book has an entire chapter on mail-order homes, and deals extensively with Aladdin, including illustrations.
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, photographs and histories
Black and white images
Color images
Physical description:
5 pieces; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Bay City, Michigan, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Heating; ventilation and air conditioning Search this
Large catalog entitled "The Price Wrecker" selling everything from air pressure systems to groceries to windmills ; they secured the contract to demolish the Columbian Exposition structures . Sometime in the early 1900's, they began offering house plans and selling the material and lumber to construct these. In 1913, the company name was changed to Harris Brothers, and they published their first catalog of pre-cut homes in 1912. The company remained in business until 1960, moving to Wisconsin, where they produced doors and windows. Harris apparently stopped selling homes during the depression. Harris, Leo. "Wrecking to Save: The Chicago House Wrecking Company." Journal of the West 38:4(October 1999):65-74. Russian immigrant Moses Harris established a successful salvage business that reused materials from world's fairs. His companies included the Chicago House Wrecking Company and the Columbia Exposition Salvage Company in which he pioneered techniques for preserving historical materials by reusing them.(from SIL website: Revisiting the World's Fairs and International Expositions)
Includes:
Trade catalog and price lists
Black and white images
Physical description:
3 pieces; 2 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Date range:
1800s-1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Architectural designs and building materials Search this
Department store; dry goods and mail order catalogs Search this
Trade catalogs on grinding wheels, mounted wheels, grinders, polishers, routers and shapers, precision drill presses, tool post adapters, combination carvers, master craftsman's sets, glass grinders, steel cutters, saws, brushes, mandrels, etc. These materials comprise the uncataloged portion of Chicago Wheel and Mfg. Co.
Curtis Bros. & Co., Clinton, IA; Curtis & Yale Co., Wausau, WI; Curtis Door & Sash Co., Chicago, IL; Curtis Sash & Door Co., Sioux City, IA; Curtis, Towle & Paine Co., Lincoln, NE and Topeka, KS; Curtis-Yale-Purvis Co., Minneapolis, MN. Search this
Notes content:
Woodwork for the home: windows; front doors; interior doors; stairways and stairwork; cabinet work; colonnades ; unique ; nice color illustrations of interiors circa 1920's
Garlinghouse Inc. ; Garlinghouse Publications ; L.F. Garlinghouse Co., Inc. Search this
Notes content:
Custom home designs and floor plans ; publishing company ; UNIQUE ; after World War I, Garlinghouse was publishing its collection of home plans and marketing books and brochures to lumber dealers across the nation. Lumber dealers then distributed the publications to prospective builders to win their business while Garlinghouse sold the blueprints. After World War II, the swell in demand for home plans prompted the company to sell its publications directly to consumers. The company specialized for a time in plans for bungalow style homes ; Soon Garlinghouse was publishing books and magazines on Southern homes, cottages, vacation homes, duplexes, garage apartment homes, and Cape Cod-style homes (many of the suburbs built just after World War II were populated with Capes: Levittown, on New York’s Long Island, for example. But the ranch house became the dominant plan sold by Garlinghouse after World War II. A fairly extensive history of the company can be found at: http://familyhomeplans.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=12 1985 catalog ; 139 traditional home plans...this comprises the uncataloged portion.
Includes:
Trade catalog
Black and white images
Color images
Physical description:
6 pieces; 1 box
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Topeka, Kansas, United States
Date:
1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Architectural designs and building materials Search this
Business services (advertising; marketing; organizational management; etc.) Search this
Topic:
"Decoration and ornament, Architectural" Search this
