The bungalow received both good and bad reviews depending on the person. Some
were crazy about the idea while others were very critical of the use of these
dwellings for permanent use. They claimed that the structure had no
architectural creativity at all and that they were boring. It is very intriguing
that something as petty as a mail order home could be as popular as it was for
the time period that it was. For William and Otto to think of this idea and to
actually be able to make a profit off of it is very praiseworthy. They took a
risk when they ventured into the business but it paid of when they were able to
promote an ideas that spawned so many other companies to do the same thing.
Also, to be able to overcome the overwhelming disapproval of some critics is
admirable. Aladdin’s idea for the bungalow was very versatile and therefore it
appealed to the middle class. The middle class would be able to buy a home like
this and be able to change it around as they saw fit for what they needed. The
way that the author compares the bungalow to the log cabin becomes very
intriguing. He says that the bungalow is the modern day log cabin.
The way that the author relates these two allows you to really be able to
make a connection between them. Everyone knows what a log cabin looks like and
the bungalow is basically a descendant to the log cabin. It’s not exactly the
same but one can see several relationships between the two. Both are very small
but at the same time they are ideal for the middle class families. Several home
designs following the bungalow fall into much the same category. They are the
Tudor, the Cape Cod, and the Ranch. All three of these types of homes are still
seen throughout the United States and in new building designs. During the first
few decades of the 1900’s, the Aladdin Company was able to think of, promote,
sell, and become extremely successful in their business. With the help of their
catalogue and their other promotional ploys, they became very widely known and
the idea of the bungalow will always be present in the United States because of
their influence with it. The ability of the Aladdin Company to portray the
bungalow as a vacation get away they were able to appeal to those who worked and
were stressed and needed a way to escape from life’s worries and they also
appealed to the middle class because of their inexpensive homes that eventually
became the year round homes for many. The bungalows were very popular and
culturally they created a whole new aspect of what it meant to live in a middle
class home in the early 1900’s.
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