Aladdin Catalogs

Through this page the Clarke Library brings to the web the Aladdin Company annual sales catalogs published between 1908 and the mid-1950s.

Aladdin created a very comprehensive body of advertising material through which to sell their homes to the public. Despite the large volume of material, almost all of it was linked to the annual sales catalog. Magazine advertising, for example, invariably invited the reader to send away for the catalog. Similarly, most other direct mailings from the company to potential customers either prepared the customer for the arrival of that year's "new and exciting" catalog or warned them that "the time to act had come." The annual sales catalog was the firm's core marketing tool and thus is the most lasting record of the buildings the company sold.

1910-1919

1930-1939

1940-1949

  • 1940
  • 1941
  • 1942-1947 - During World War II and the period immediately following, Aladdin did not produce any new catalogs. They reprinted the 1941 catalog in 1945 and 1947, but did not begin producing domestic housing again until late 1946.

About Wartime Advertising Material

Instead of building domestic housing, Aladdin dedicated itself, like many companies, to the war effort. Under government contract, they produced barracks and other military use buildings. Under private contract, they produced workers' housing for war-related industries, most notably the automotive industry.

 

Five Man Huts for the Armed Forces

Letter Concerning Government Material Controls

List of Aladdin's Government Contracts

Prefabricated Buildings for the Military

Recreation Buildings for the Military