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Sears Sold 70,000 Homes From Their Catalog. Are You Living in One?
popularmechanics ^ | May 16, 2016 | Timothy Dahl

Posted on 05/17/2016 12:12:08 PM PDT by PROCON


Not long ago, the Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail-order catalog was the ultimate marketplace, much like Amazon is today. You could even buy a house straight from the catalog. Just pick out the home you like, and voila, Sears would deliver it just for you. (The best Amazon can do is either a DVD box set or houses that, uh, would have some size and space issues for most people.)

These Sears homes weren't cheap low-end houses. Many of them were built using the finest quality building materials available during that time. It's not uncommon to find Sears homes today with oak floors, cypress siding, and cedar shingles. As with most old homes, the tough part is finding one that has been well maintained, and with the youngest of Sears homes going now eight decades old, they all require a significant amount of care. From 1908 to 1940, Sears sold between 70,000 to 75,000 homes, so there are plenty out there, you just need to know where to look.

(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: houses; sears; searscatalog
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To: shotgun

Yes, my grandparents built their family home that was ordered from Sears around 1920. The materials were delivered by train from Chicago to Ohio, and brought out to the site in a horse-drawn wagon.


21 posted on 05/17/2016 12:30:47 PM PDT by IndyTiger
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To: RegulatorCountry

[[The failure of vision that led to the current state of Sears, rather than leveraging their vast catalog operations to become what Amazon has become instead, is a sad thing to ponder. They had practically all they needed, already in place. ]]

Buying Kmart was one of their bad visions.


22 posted on 05/17/2016 12:31:32 PM PDT by Lera ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
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To: PROCON

We live in one. Built in 1904. Shipped by rail to town,then built by a local carpenter.


23 posted on 05/17/2016 12:31:43 PM PDT by CJinVA
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To: CJinVA
It's interesting in this broad demographic of FReepers, that so many on this thread live or know someone who has lived in these houses.

Cool!

24 posted on 05/17/2016 12:34:07 PM PDT by PROCON
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To: PROCON
The logistical system we had back then was marvelous. The kits were typically delivered by rail car, loaded on a truck and delivered to the building site.

If you decided you wanted some minor modification such as, say, a bay window, there were smaller kits which would be shipped by parcel post.

The post office was a logistical marvel in those days. You could post a letter in Maine and it would typically arrive at a destination in California three days later, maybe four if it was too far off a main rail line. Trains plied the tracks 24/7 and ran on time. Many of these trains included a postal rail car which had a crew sorting mail en route. Bags were coded according to station and direction and could be picked up and dropped off with a special hook and pulley arrangement even if the train didn't make a stop at that particular station.

Sorting errors were rare and were usually caught by the destination station master and rerouted before the postal patron even noticed a delay in delivery.

25 posted on 05/17/2016 12:34:12 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (ObaMao: Fake America, Fake Messiah, Fake Black man. How many fakes can you fit into one Zer0?)
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To: Attention Surplus Disorder

Was it held together with rivets?


26 posted on 05/17/2016 12:34:26 PM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia (Democrats: The perfect party for the helpless and stupid, and those who would rule over them.)
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To: PROCON

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm


27 posted on 05/17/2016 12:35:03 PM PDT by Roccus (POLITICIAN...............a four letter word spelled with ten letters.)
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To: Vigilanteman
And then the Government unions arrived :-)

The rest is history.

28 posted on 05/17/2016 12:37:00 PM PDT by PROCON
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To: Lera

They saw big box discount retail as the future and were not entirely wrong, but never did quite turn Kmart around to be a strong competitor to Walmart.


29 posted on 05/17/2016 12:38:32 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: PROCON

Back then, a Sears home was a reasonably-priced alternative to stick-built, and pretty good quality too. Nowadays, a “modular” home is either going to be a bare step above a trailer, or a trendy upscale building that generally costs more than a comparable stick home. I wish I could still get a modest-priced, but good-quality house sent in on a trailer and put up on my own plot.


30 posted on 05/17/2016 12:38:58 PM PDT by Little Pig
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To: PROCON

Sears used to sell ponies ( I think), chickens, eggs for hatching and bees. I lived for a while in a Sears house in South Carolina. It was remarkably solid and used space wisely. Almost no wasted hallways. Oak wood floors, dining room ,living room, some neat features. There was however almost no closet space. Wardrobes were the standard. I believe the date of the house was 1912. My am I getting old...


31 posted on 05/17/2016 12:42:09 PM PDT by Howe_D_Dewty
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To: PROCON
Nice website here about a community in built in Carlinville, Illinois in 1918: http://www.oldhouseweb.com/architecture-and-design/community-of-sears-homes.shtml
32 posted on 05/17/2016 12:43:02 PM PDT by rhoda_penmark
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To: PROCON

At one time, Sears sold cars too.

Google the Allstate..


33 posted on 05/17/2016 12:43:17 PM PDT by chrisser
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To: PROCON

Does anyone know the name of the style of that era, the one in the OP’s pic? There are some older areas of Fort Worth with homes like that. I like that style.


34 posted on 05/17/2016 12:43:23 PM PDT by avenir (I'm pessimistic about man, but I'm optimistic about GOD!)
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To: rhoda_penmark

make that: http://www.oldhouseweb.com/architecture-and-design/community-of-sears-homes.shtml


35 posted on 05/17/2016 12:44:13 PM PDT by rhoda_penmark
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To: RegulatorCountry
They had practically all they needed, already in place.

One thing they had "already in place" was the catalogue. Its demensions were just a little smaller than the Monkey Ward catalogue. That way, when they were stacked on the end table or on a shelf, the Sears book was always on top. Pure genius.

36 posted on 05/17/2016 12:44:23 PM PDT by Roccus (POLITICIAN...............a four letter word spelled with ten letters.)
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To: PROCON

Bookmark


37 posted on 05/17/2016 12:46:04 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: avenir

The brickwork on that home is marvelous and I’ve seen that style up here in the Pacific Northwest too.


38 posted on 05/17/2016 12:48:42 PM PDT by PROCON
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To: rhoda_penmark

The style of house being built by the dozens in the photo at the link you provided is known as a Foursquare, because the house is essentially square and there are four rooms on each floor.

The OP’s color photo of a brick house is typically referred to as an English Cottage, but larger more elaborate examples might be called a Tudor.


39 posted on 05/17/2016 12:49:19 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: Lera

Buying Kmart was one of their bad visions.

**************************************************************

K-Mart bought Sears.


40 posted on 05/17/2016 12:57:30 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (Crooked Hillary's going down and I aint talkin about, on Huma.)
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