Most of us didn't see these catalogs firsthand (I suspect) but Sears sold mailorder houses until the early 40's. Most accounts have them being good quality homes. Anyway, this link showed up on another forum and though it might interesting to some here. Funny (maybe tragic, at least to me) how the brand so influential to America has really taken a dive. Anyway, there's even been several books written about those houses, down at the bottom of the page.

Edited November 20, 20178 yr by Ron Dudelston
tags added

Thanks Fred for the nostalgia visit and the post...There are a few of the Sears homes remaining in our area...a few years back one of the newspapers ran a series on these homes. I wish I had kept that article series now. From what I've read and know about the Sears homes, while designed to be affordable, they were high quality homes.

 

I've seen a few featured a few times on some of the HGTV series. Most often the one's shown are considered the "craftsman" (not to be confused with Craftsman brand) period design. In fact, ownership of a Sears home is now in vogue and very desirable from a preservationist standpoint.

 

I've learned the Sears homes dropped off due to WWII and after the war the demand for housing grew so rapidly that "prefabs" quickly rose in popularity. One of the more popular companies of that era was National Homes. They went by the wayside in the early 1980's...mainly due to poor leadership and mismanagement. I knew dozens of folks who had worked there their entire lives who lost jobs and even pensions.

 

Thanks for the post...I never thought I'd see the day when the Sears candle would be flickering toward extinction. Ironic how the company that revolutionized marketing through catalog ordering wa unable to adapt to eCommerce & .com business. It's a shame...

My experience with the Sears catalog is best described by...

 

"It was not so long ago that I went tripping through the snow
Out to that house behind my old hound dog
Where I would sit me down to rest like a snowbird on his nest
And I'd read that Sears and Roebuck catalog."

 

Thanks to Billy Edd Wheeler
 

3 minutes ago, lew said:

Out to that house

kinda fitting...

Lew, BTDT. But many of the pages had been ripped out. 

Those slick pages weren't all that efficient either.

On the street that my wife grew up on from age 4 to 21 when we got married, each house was different. Many of them were Sears houses. Also the house that President Richard Nixon grew up is was a Sears house built by his Dad in Yorba Linda, California where I grew up.

36 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Those slick pages weren't all that efficient either

monkey wards catalogs were better...

the ink stayed on the pages...

Allen I lived in Yorba Linda from 1941 to 1951. Nixons museum is what use to be the grammar school where lots of my memories were made. The area behind the school, play grounds, is where all the folks would bring their metal and pile it sky high for the authorities to haul it away and make war with it.. The concrete irrigation canal that ran behind the ball diamond was a great way to get around back then . It was just a one way thingy back then. with a long way back home. A guy who was the overseer of said waterway from one end to the other drove a model A and you could hear him coming way before you could ever see him so we always had time to jump out and hide in the orange and lemon trees. We swam in the large reservior that supplied the irrigation canal with its water almost daily being buck naked and never got caught.

Mother packed oranges during the war and dad worked at Calship, you guessed it, welding ships together. Yorba Linda's main street was one block long back then and today it is still one block long. The population was about 400 then but today-------------

3 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

Allen I lived in Yorba Linda from 1941 to 1951. Nixons museum is what use to be the grammar school where lots of my memories were made.

 

 

Dang, I though I was old!!! 

I milked cows for a time in a Sears Roebuck kit dairy barn.  It still stands today, still being used for it's intended purpose.  This is in upstate New York.

Cal

Edited January 15, 20179 yr by clhyer

They were called Sears Craftsmen houses, in the catalogs I saw. We have a half a city full of them or ones that look like them.

Herb

Herb, where in WA do you live? My BIL lived in a Sears Craftsman in Everett, WA. His wife still lives in the house.

Edited January 15, 20179 yr by Gene Howe

4 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Allen I lived in Yorba Linda from 1941 to 1951. Nixons museum is what use to be the grammar school where lots of my memories were made. L

You are a tad older than me as I was born in 1962 (sorry to make you feel older than dirt ;-) )

My family moved to Whittier in 1903 and then moved to Yorba Linda. Your family would have known my family. The Worsham Family Homestead was on Yorba Linda Blvd between Imperial Hwy and Lakeview next dood to the Yorba Linda Women's Club. My Great Grandfather (last name was Kaub) was a builder contractor and  helped build the Hardware Store on Main Street as well as the church on Lemon and Main. My Dad had lots of stories about swimming in the lake. Some of them did not include swim trunks either.

4 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Allen I lived in Yorba Linda from 1941 to 1951. Nixons museum is what use to be the grammar school where lots of my memories were made. 

You are a tad older than me as I was born in 1962 (sorry to make you feel older than dirt ;-) )

My family moved to Whittier in 1903 and then moved to Yorba Linda. Your family would have known my family. The Worsham Family Homestead was on Yorba Linda Blvd between Imperial Hwy and Lakeview next door to the Yorba Linda Women's Club. My Great Grandfather (last name was Kaub) was a builder contractor and  helped build the Hardware Store on Main Street as well as the church on Lemon and Main and a number of others on town. My Dad had lots of stories about swimming in the lake. Some of them did not include swim trunks either.

Edited January 15, 20179 yr by Allen Worsham

1 hour ago, Gene Howe said:

Herb, where in WA do you live? My BIL lived in a Sears Craftsman in Everett, WA. His wife still lives in the house.

Gene I live in Auburn now, but I was referring to Seattle. You drive in any part of Seattle and you will see the old Sears Craftsman houses, especially in Ballard ,and they are referred to as Swede houses because of the old Scandinavian population in Ballard.  But it also true all over in towns in Western Washington, Aberdeen, Chehalis, Bellingham , are all the same. They are solid built houses and still bring premium prices on the markets even though some lack insulation and still have the old knob and tube wiring, and screw in fuses.

herb

My wife grew up in a Sears home built by her dad and grandfather.

 

I noticed last week, the Sears Hardware that I travel past with some regularity is closing.    The mall store near one of my daughters closed last year and I went by "Inventory Clearance" sale to stroll through the tool department.    It was a whopping 5-10% off.   Left.

pretty soon all we'll hear about sears is that it's being taken out back with old yeller....

Absolutely true, it will go the way of another Icon (Ringling Bros) and they (Sears) did it without the help of PETA.

Well, we ought to start a friendly wager here on how long before Sears either:

1. closes down completely

2. sells to another company

3. files bankruptcy

4. or ???

 

When I was a kid, Sears sold farm equipment under the David Bradley name.  We had several pieces on our farm.  Into the 70's & 80's and maybe into the 90's Sears was always the first place I went to for nearly everything I needed.

When our son was 15 he was hired by the local Sears - to start the following week when he turned 16.  I took him over to the store that day to fill out the application.  When he handed it back, it was looked over and they asked if he could come back the following (whatever day it was).  I asked if that was for an interview, no they said, it was to report for work!  He worked part time there up through his first couple years of college.  That would have been 2004.

 

It will be a sad day, but it ain't the Sears I remember...

Cal

 

PS, I give 'em about 2 1/2 years.

My first job outside of college was at Allstate, then owned by Sears.   My co-workers would often say, "Sears is trying to sell K-Mart quality at Macy's prices."      (Well now, K-Mart (also experienced problems) and Sears have merged, and Macy's is also closing stores)

Edited January 16, 20179 yr by kmealy