thruoghout structural members and sheathing in the attic of my wabash xvii is the number 1344 written in red grease pencil. the owner of another aladdin in town, a brunswick xvi, tells me he finds the recurring number 1289. there is one other, a cleveland xvi, but the owner is new and the house renovated and stuffed with insulation so he has not found any numbering. so my question, pretty well aimed at dale wolicki since only he would know, is there any significance to these numbers that you are aware of?

The number 1344 written onto the structural members and sheathing in grease pencil is the customer order number Aladdin Homes used to track the assembly of materials at the plant. Contrary to popular opinion, early kit homes do not necessarily have stenciled identification numbers. It was much faster for the employees to cut the lumber or pull the piece from storage and simply write the part number on the piece.

Most of the housing comanies did not stamp their name on the lumber because they subcontracted orders to regional mills. There was a mill in Hattiesburg Mississippi that manufactured houses for Aladdin, Lewis and Gordon-VanTine. You might remember a few years ago when many customers discovered their new Buicks had Chevy engines -opps! There was really no difference between the engines, just the nameplate, but the customers were not happy.

The hardware (hinges, doorknobs and such) were typically shipped seperate from the lumber in wooden crates onto which Aladdin, Lewis, and Gordon-VanTine would stencil their name. Many times I have discovered the manufacturers name on basment doors and attic dividers made from these crates!

thanks dale,i had asked les henry if it was something like that but he wasn't sure, i will let him know.