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| Volume 8, Number 6 | November 10, 2000 |
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Prof. emeritus compiles book on phenomenom of ‘Eaton’s houses’
Les Henry’s latest labor of love actually began when he was an infant on a farm near Milden, Sask. The U of S Prof. Emeritus of Soil Science was raised in an "Eaton’s House" – a house bought as a kit out of the Eaton’s catalogue. By 1985, while in the middle of his 1969-96 tenure as a U of S professor, Henry was moved to contact the Eaton’s company archives in Toronto, which sent him some information about the houses that people across the Canadian Prairies bought and built in the first half of the 1900s. That year, he wrote an article in Western People magazine about the houses, and Henry says that brought him letters from dozens of readers. He knew there was a major story to do on the phenomenon of the houses, but he was busy until the late-1990s as an active professor. Finally, in January 1999 he made a commitment to write a book before Christmas 2000. He’s done it. His book, Catalogue Houses – Eaton’s and Others, is an attractive volume with color photos, stories and plans of the homes. Henry says he logged nearly 13,000 km from Winnipeg to Edmonton and Lethbridge to Swan River, taking photos and gathering stories about at least 90 different models of homes – "most still occupied, some as much as fifth generation." He has self-published 1,000 copies, and already sold more than 200 since mid-September. Henry notes copies are available in the University Bookstore, at $49.99.
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