When the words "pre‑fabricated homes" come up, the name Brandon B. immediately jumps to mind as the foremost fig­ure working in this lucrative, important field. Brandon's fame in this area is due of course to his choice of inexpensive building materials, namely cardboard, flour‑paste, string, and safety‑pins. Using these easily purchased articles, the expense of which keeps the overhead down, the Brandon Cardboard Construction Company has cornered virtually the entire pre‑fab housing market, earning him high praise from former Vice President Dan Quayle, who frequently commended Mr. B. for finding a building material to substitute for lumber, which the VP noted comes from our diminishing tree resources, until an aid informed the former Vice President that, in fact, cardboard also comes from trees.

In an exclusive interview with Mr. B., we have learned where it all started. It should come as no surprise that young Bran­don was a student of the Legendary Mr. Christopherson, having taken the fabled Creative Expressions class back in the winter of 1993-4. The great educator, whom we also interviewed, being fortu­nate to catch the noteworthy teacher in between world‑class projects, informed us that he had noticed a fondness in young Bran­don for cardboard, going beyond the typical student attraction to the material. (It should be mentioned that the Legendary Mr. Christopherson is famous for his uncanny ability to spot the most insignificant aspects of his students and point them out for all to see.)

We learned that young Brandon would latch onto a moderate sized piece of sturdy cardboard, holding it to his cheek lovingly, much as Linus (of Peanuts fame) did with his baby‑blanket, refusing to give it up even when close friends pleaded with him to give them a chance to enjoy holding it too. Teachers also soon learned that one simply didn't dare require young Brandon to go cardboardless in class, since the boy would break out into a cold sweat and fidget nearly out of control, cuddling scraps of paper, which proved to be an inadequate substitute for his favorite material. (It may be noted that the Legendary Mr. Christopherson, always looking out for the needs of his students, kept a pile of sizable empty cardboard boxes stacked in a corner of his room for young Brandon to revel and cavort in, smiling with pleasure as the boy would climb in first one and then another, often pulling the flaps down over his head and, while hiding thus, calling out, "I'll bet you can't find me!")

And pity the poor, uninformed student that dared to mutilate even the tiniest scrap of cardboard in Brandon's presence! One such unlucky fellow is still going through life with Brandon's brand on him which reads, "Cardboard Cutter!" Another hapless victim of Brandon’s wrath was forced to come to school for a week wearing cardboard signs hanging on front and back, reading, “Cardboard is our friend”

Construction using cardboard was also in evidence back in those middle school days. Young Brandon cleverly pasted together his very own student table and chair set which he proudly carried from class to class (these furniture items, being constructed of cardboard, could be neatly folded up into a small packet which he could fit into his book bag). Student requests for similar furniture sets came pouring in and it was thus that young Brandon got his business start. In fact, these table‑chair sets were so popular and inexpensive that the school board, never to be accused of squandering money, declared that all future furniture replacements would be purchased from the newly formed Brandon Cardboard Construction Company.

Mr. B. admitted that as a kid growing up in downtown Parkland, Washington, he collected cardboard boxes discarded by local businesses which, as he put it, failed to recognize their value. His collection soon amounted to some fifty or sixty­ thousand of them, providing him with ample material to experiment with, far more than his still ongoing fold‑up furniture business required. He began lovingly and carefully disassembling the boxes, converting them into large sheets of light‑weight building material. Since he couldn't bear the thought of nailing or stapling the cardboard, which would destroy the surface of the material, he hit upon using flour‑paste which would not mar the beautiful brown cardboard finish, but would allow it to be connected to other sheets, providing the ability to put together some truly impressive‑sized constructions.

One such early example of Brandon's building abilities is the still standing Parkland First National Bank Building, soar­ing to a height of twenty feet and containing office space for thirty people. This historic building has unfortunately fallen into disrepair, some say because the 5 foot square offices inside, while adequate for the needs of the time when first constructed, just are not up to the needs of modern banking. Brandon supporters have offered to pay the expense of remodeling (knocking out inner walls here and there where structural weakness problems would not be encountered, and running a significant number of additional extension cords to augment the electrical potential of the building), however recent examination by cardboard experts has shown a certain deleterious amount of weathering wherein the cardboard has become mushy, leading to a prohibi­tive cost for refurbishing the building. Attempts are now being made to place the structure on the Washington State Historic Buildings list, which would assure it the care and preservation it richly deserves.

We hope we have provided an insight into the background of the famous founder of the Brandon Cardboard Construction Company, permitting all to understand where all these wonderful cardboard homes have come from which we see springing up all over the country, replacing slums and ghettos in every major city with their cardboard equivalents. Congratulations, Mr. Burrell for a job well done!