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EgaoNoGenki's avatar

Can Mr. 篠原 deliver on his Christmas promises in time?

Asked by EgaoNoGenki (1164points) December 25th, 2009

(Names and titles have been changed in order to have the moderators not construe this question as a “self promotion”)

In this alternate history novel I have planned (title withheld for above reason), for the 1900 Christmas Season, he will give everybody in Nebraska five presents worth up to $1,000 each.

(He does start out with $(((2^45)-1)/100) so he can afford it. I dare you to decipher that amount! Can you do it?)

However, he will only deliver the presents in his “Santa 篠原” campaign to anyone who writes him a letter.

Moreover, even though he won’t give raw cash, he will pay off people’s debts up to $1,000 per “present.”

But for this to happen on time, how early must he start his “Santa 篠原” campaign?

Also, without FedEx and UPS around in those days, how does he deliver these presents in the fastest times possible?

Moreover, even entire houses used to cost less than $5,000. How many people would he need to hire on as construction crew, per house, in order to construct 1,000 square feet a day?

(I understand that houses may not be finished in time for December 25, 1900, and I’m sure the present recipients will understand. But making the promise of building a house does count, does it?)

Lastly, any other logistical and other steadfast issues in this gift-giving campaign that no amount of money can rectify?

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2 Answers

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

A few observations: People at that time, especially rural people in the midwest, often would not ask for help no matter how dire the need. Stubborness and pride ran deep.

As to delivery, the railroad network was much more extensive than it is today. Railway express was used quite efficiently at that time by mail-order catalogue companies..

His best strategy for construction will be using a standardized design and precut materials delivered to the site as a package. The time delay will be setting the foundations. Excavators and reinforced concrete were existing technology at that time.. A 1,000 ft^2 house could be framed, sheathed and roofed in a day by a six- person crew using prefabs. Other specialist crews would move in behind them for wiring, plumbing, windows/ doors, cabinetry installation, painting, etc. The important logistical part is scheduling the work crews so they are not tripping over one another. The houses should be fairly close to each other so the specialist crews can move from one to the next in assembly-line fashion.

He might consider coordinating his efforts with Willian Jennings Bryan, an idealistic genius who, if elected President in 1912 might have kept the US out of WW1 and altered the history of the world (without US troops, Ludendorf’s 1918 offensive would have succeeded and a more equitable peace treaty achieved, possibly preventing the European portion of WW2).

A major problem in that area at that time is the age-old one of farmers not getting a proper price for their crops. Working with Bryan on this with his ideas might have had a major impact on the economy. The rural Populist movement had many good ideas, such as the farmers banding together and withholding their excess product from the market and cutting out the monopolistic food processing companys and the bankers grasping methods.

jaytkay's avatar

Re: His best strategy for construction will be using a standardized design and precut materials delivered to the site as a package.

Sears Catalog Homes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_house :
Sears Catalog Homes (sold as Sears Modern Homes) were ready-to-assemble houses sold through mail order by Sears Roebuck and Company, an American retailer. Over 70,000 of these were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. Shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included all the materials needed to build a house. Many were assembled by the new homeowner and friends, relatives, and neighbors, in a fashion similar to the traditional barn-raisings of farming families.

Thomas Edison’s Concrete Houses
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/1996/3/1996_3_50.shtml
“I AM GOING TO LIVE TO SEE THE DAY WHEN A WORKING MAN’S HOUSE can be built of concrete in a week”

Thomas Edison’s Concrete House
http://concreteconstruction.net/industry-news.asp?sectionID=718&articleID=245874
Basic to the plans were Edison’s ingeniously conceived cast-iron molds, which when assembled would produce in a single operation walls, floors, stairways, roof, bath and laundry tubs, and conduits for electric and water service. As many as 500 different sectional molds were required for a single unit.

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