The concrete block, a now ubiquitous building material, has been a viable means of constructing buildings quickly for over for over a century. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the concrete block was used in the construction of houses, commercial buildings, and outbuildings. A prevalent form of the block was the rusticated concrete block, also known as the rock-faced block, a concrete masonry unit that was common by 1920 in the rural and suburban neighborhoods that were developing. Machines were sold to amateurs and professionals through catalogs that had different plates that could be switched out in order to create different textures on the faces of the blocks. This made the machines versatile although the chiseled-looking block really caught on and still survives in many places across the United States. The most notable catalog to sell the block machines was Sears, Roebuck, and Company, which also sold a variety of kit houses that utilized these blocks. Although they were common in the construction of Sears homes, which the company was explicitly marketing the machine for, many other buildings used the blocks. The homes that defined the early 20th century, the Foursquare and the bungalow, utilized the blocks with many exteriors being made solely from the blocks with the exception of the roofing and the woodworking around the windows and doors. The concrete blocks and the machines that created them were popular and while not still produced today were a part of the shift away from the wooden homes to a more modern style of home.
About the presenterA M Smith
A. M. Smith is a master’s candidate in Decorative Arts and Design History. She is currently researching Victorian and early 20th-century architecture with a focus on the vernacular.