Last month, a Jacksonville reporter contacted me and asked if I knew of any kit homes in the area. We exchanged a few emails, and much to my surprise, she said that she’d found a kit house, and in fact, she’d found a rare house:  Sears Modern Home #179.

Reading her email, I thought, “Sure you did. Right. And I bet that there are three Sears Magnolias around the corner and a whole block of Aladdin Villas just down the street.”

With a little digging, we found an address for this #179 and then (thanks to Google Maps), I “drove” to the address. Sure enough, it was a picture-perfect Sears Modern Home #179 (more about that later!).

Across the street from Modern Home #179, I found another delightful surprise: An Aladdin Georgia, and just like its pristine neighbor, the “Georgia” was also in beautifully original condition.

Jacksonville, Florida has two more kit homes than I would have thought likely and both are jaw-dropping gorgeous. And what a nice bonus, that this time, it was the reporter that told me about this rare Sears House!

Now about that Aladdin Georgia…

Did I mention that it’s a beauty? And the home’s owner did not realize it was a kit home prior to my discovering this house, and I would have never discovered this house if it weren’t for that resourceful reporter!

Thanks so much to Tracy and Bethany for supplying these wonderful photos!

To learn more about Aladdin click here.

The Aladdin Georgia as seen in the 1919 Catalog.

*

Aladdin Georgia was offered in two sizes, with two floorplans.

*

Floorplan #2 was two feet longer and two feet wider.

*

In the mid-1910s, Aladdin built a "Georgia" in Bay City, documenting the progress day by day. The house was "move-in ready" in about 20 days. These were the days before portable saws, and for a small-time or novice homebuilder, the average two-bedroom bungalow would require more than 4,000 cuts with a hand-saw. (The electric portable saw was first marketed in the early 1920s.) Pre-cut lumber presented a huge savings in time and effort. To have a house ready for occupancy 20 days after construction began (not including foundation work) was a remarkable achievement.

*

The photographic record of the fast-built Georgia (about 1915).

*

Note, this house was framed using platform construction, NOT balloon! And the foundation was not included in the "built in 20 days" time-frame. Note the shingles in the foreground.

*

According to accompanying text, the carpentry work (framing in and sheathing) was done by one carpenter with two helpers. By day two, the house is framed in!

*

By the fifth day, it's taking shape.

*

On the 7th day, the two workers saw all that they had done and they were very pleased. Note, the guy on the scaffolding is taking a smoke break.

*

Day eleven has arrived and it's looking substantially done (exterior).

*

Twenty days later, it's complete, inside and out.

*

Finis!

*

Oh my goodness! There's the house in Jacksonville! What a dreamie house! And it's in such wonderful condition! Photo is copyright 2013 Tracy Greene and Bethany Pruitt and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

Oh baby! Excuse me, haven't I seen you somewhere before, like a glossy magazine featuring the most beautiful bungalows in America? Where have you been all my life? Photo is copyright 2013 Tracy Greene and Bethany Pruitt and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

Nice comparison of the subject house and the vintage image. Photo is copyright 2013 Tracy Greene and Bethany Pruitt and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

And the home's owner was kind enough to supply some photos of the home's interior. Photo is copyright 2013 Tracy Greene and Bethany Pruitt and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

It's a house filled with windows and light. Photo is copyright 2013 Tracy Greene and Bethany Pruitt and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

From the living room, looking into the dining room. Photo is copyright 2013 Tracy Greene and Bethany Pruitt and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

This fireplace is in the dining room, and those narrow cabinets are actually pass-throughs to the kitchen. Photo is copyright 2013 Tracy Greene and Bethany Pruitt and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

What a house!

*

Do you know of any other kit homes in Jacksonville? Please leave a comment below!

*

To learn more about how to identify kit homes, click here.

What fueled the bungalow craze? Germs!

*   *   *

In the early part of May, I gave a talk in Staunton (which was organized by the Historic Staunton Foundation).

Driving to Staunton, I stopped in Waynesboro and did a little looking around, and found four beautiful Sears Homes. Read about those houses by clicking here.

Several days later, fellow kit house aficionado Linda Ramsey made the trek from Staunton to Waynesboro and found three more Sears Homes!

Now I am really jazzed about returning to Waynesboro and doing a proper street-by-street survey!

And you may be asking, what is a Sears kit home?

From 1908-1940, Sears sold entire kit homes through their mail-order catalog. Each 12,ooo-piece kit came with a 75-page instruction book that promised “a man of average abilities” could have the house assembled in 90 days! During their 32 years in the kit house business, Sears and Roebuck sold about 70,000 houses, offered in 370 models.

Finding them today is, as Linda can attest, just like looking for hidden treasure.

So when am I going back to Waynesboro? As soon as possible - I hope!

Thanks so much to Linda Ramsey for driving out to Waynesboro and finding these Sears Homes (and photographing them!).

To learn more about the history of Sears Modern Homes, click here.

To read about the kit homes I found in Charlottesville, click here.

UPDATED! Read about the very rare Gordon Van Tine “Bristol” Linda Ramsey found in Waynesboro!

*   *   *

First, my favorite. This is the Sears Alhambra, a hugely popular house for Sears - and a beautiful one too. Shown here from the 1919 Sears Modern Home catalog.

*

Be still my quivering heart. The Alhambra that Linda Ramsey found in Waynesboro! And it's in brick! And it's also perfect in every detail! Photo is copyright 2013 Linda Ramsey and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

Oh yeah! What a perfect match!!! Oh my goodness!!

*

Linda also found a Conway/Uriel. (This popular model was known by both names.)

*

And what a fine Conway it is! And in wonderfully original condition! Photo is copyright 2013 Linda Ramsey and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

Last but not least, she also found a second Collingwood.

*

Again, a very nice match to the original catalog image! Photo is copyright 2013 Linda Ramsey and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

And here's a picture of the other Collingwood I found in Waynesboro.

*

One of my favorite finds in Waynesboro was the Del Rey!

*

Again, it's in PERFECT condition! Wow. Just WOW!

How many more kit homes are there in Waynesboro? Perhaps a few. Perhaps many.

To read about the other kit homes I discovered in Waynesboro, click here.

To contact Rose, please leave a comment below!

*   *   *

Having lived in Norfolk for seven years now, I have scoured every street in this city, searching for mail-order kit homes. I’ve ridden around with several friends, studied maps, queried long-time residents and harangued my husband and I was quite certain that I’d seen every early 20th Century neighborhood that Norfolk had to offer.

Wednesday night, my buddy Milton and I were on our way to CERT class, and we swung by Church’s Fried Chicken to buy some of their world-famous honey biscuits. For reasons I can’t explain, an integral part of the CERT class is a pot-luck supper. (We’re  expected to bring a piquant and palatable platter of something wonderful to these weekly classes.)

As we pulled out onto Virginia Beach Blvd, I noticed a lovely Dutch Colonial staring back at me.

“Huh,” I thought to myself. “That Dutchie has an interior chimney,  just like the Martha Washington (Sears Home). Isn’t that something?”

And then I noticed that it had the curved porch roof, just like the Martha Washington.

And then I looked again and thought, “And it’s got those short windows centered on the second floor, just like the Martha Washington.”

Next, I looked at the small attic window and thought, “And it’s got that half-round window in the attic, just like the Martha Washington.”

As Milton drove down the road, I twisted my head around and saw that the Dutchie had the two distinctive bay windows on the side, just like the Martha Washington. Those two windows are an unusual architecture feature, and that was the clincher.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I told Milton. “I think that’s a Sears House.”

Now anyone who’s hung around me for more than 73 minutes knows that I’m a pretty big fan of Sears Homes, and my friends understand that a significant risk of riding around with Rose is that there will be many detours when we pass by early 20th Century neighborhoods.

Milton gladly obliged and gave me an opportunity to take a long, lingering look at this Dapper Dutchie.

That night at the CERT meeting, I kept thinking about the fact that one of the most spacious and fanciest Sears Homes ever offered was sitting right here in Norfolk, and after seven years of living in this city, I just now found it.

The next day, Milton picked me up around 11:00 am and we returned to the Sears Martha Washington so that I could take a multitude of photos. Sadly, as we drove through the adjoining neighborhoods, we saw that the nearby college (Norfolk State) had apparently swallowed up great gobs of surrounding bungalows.

Between that and some very aggressive redevelopment, it appears that hundreds of early 20th Century homes are now just a dusty memory at the local landfill.

Do the owners of this Martha Washington know what they have? Based on my research, more than 90% of the people living in these historically significant homes didn’t know what they had until I knocked on their door and told them.

What a find! What a treasure! And it’s right here in Norfolk!

So is there a Magnolia hiding somewhere nearby? 

To learn more about the kit homes in Norfolk, click here.

To learn how to identify marked lumber, click here.

*   *   *

The Martha Washington was a grand and glorious house. According to this page from the 1921 catalog, it had seven modern rooms. I wonder how many "old-fashioned" rooms it had?

*

Here's a Martha Washington that was featured in the back pages of the 1919 Sears Modern Homes catalog. This house was built in Washington, DC, and shows the house shortly after it was finished.

*

This line drawing from the 1921 catalog shows those two bay windows on the side.

*

This was described as a "snowy white kitchen de Lux." For its time, this really was a very modern kitchen. Notice the "good morning stairs" too the right, and the handy little stool under the sink. According to a 1928 Sears Modern Homes catalog, the "average woman spends 3/4ths of her day in the kitchen." So maybe that's why she got a hard metal stool to sit on at the sink?

*

"Judge for yourself how attractive, bright and sanitary we have made this home for the housewife." And a "swinging seat"! I guess that's a desperate attempt to make kitchen work seem more recreational, and less like drudge work.

*

An “exploded view” shows the home’s interior. That baby-grand piano looks mighty small!

*

*

As you can see from the picture (1921), this was a fine home!

*

Be still my quivering heart! And it's right on Virginia Beach Boulevard!

*

A view from the side, showing off those bay windows.

*

The PVC fish scales over the porch are a pity (and do a fine job of hiding the beautiful fan light), and the badly crimped aluminum trim on that porch roof doesn't look too good, and the wrought-iron is a disappointment, but (and this is a big but), at least it's still standing.

*

The porch, in its pre-aluminum siding salesmen and pre-wrought-iron and pre-PVC state.

*

A comparison of the Martha Washington in DC with the house in Norfolk!

*

And here's a Martha Washington in Cincinnati, Ohio.

*

To learn more about the Martha Washington, click here.

To learn more about biscuits, click here.

*   *   *

Thanks to Kit House Aficionado Andrew Mutch, I now have pictures of a picture-perfect Wardway Norwood in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Truthfully, if I’d been driving past this Wardway Norwood, I probably would have kept driving because I would not have recognized it as a kit home!

But major kudos to Andrew for not only spotting it, but correctly identifying it! And more kudos to Andrew for sending me a picture!! 

Do you have remarkable pictures of kit homes that you’d like to share? Please contact me at Rosemary.ringer@gmail.com.

And thanks so much to Andrew Mutch for sending along this photo!

To learn a LOT more about Wardway Homes, please click here.

To learn more about kit homes in general, visit Rebecca Hunter’s website, here.

*   *   *

If I'd been the one driving past this Wardway Kit Home, I probably would have KEPT driving!! Thanks to Andrew Mutch for finding and identifying this house! (1927 catalog image). And the title of the blog, you may notice, comes from the headline above: "Good Looking and Roomy!"

*

Nice floor plan, too! CLASSIC foursquare design!

*

I love these descriptions! The plain lines are "skillfully relieved"!

*

Not a bad deal, either. And for $16 extra, they'll throw in some shades.

*

It is a good-looking house.

*

And here it is in Ann Arbor, Michigan! Photo is copyright 2012 Andrew Mutch and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

Thanks again to Andrew for sending along the photos!

To learn more about how to identify kit homes, click here.

*   *   *

Stanhope is the name of a city in Iowa and New Jersey. And it’s also the name of a car that was sold from 1904-1906, by the Twyford Motor Car Company of Brookville, Pennsylvania.

But for this blog, we’re going to talk about the Stanhope that was sold by Aladdin of Bay City, Michigan.

The Stanhope was a fairly popular house. In 1920s America, it was an ideal home in both size and price.  And unlike so many of these diminutive bungalows, it had three bedrooms (most had two).

Yes, they were only 10 x 10, but for the family with four girls and three boys, it was probably a whole lot better than fold-out cots in the living and dining rooms (another popular option at the time).

Aladdin, like Sears, offered kit homes through their mail-order catalog. Sears sold about 70,000 kit homes during their 32 years in the building business. Aladdin sold more than 75,000 homes. The Sears Modern Homes department was in business from 1908-1940. Aladdin started selling houses in 1906, and didn’t close until 1981, a full 75 years!

Here in Norfolk, Virginia (where I live), we have many more Aladdins than Sears. Aladdin had a large mill in Wilmington, NC which explains why there are so many Aladdin kit homes in the Southeast.

Thanks to Dale Wolicki for providing info on Aladdin!

To learn more about Aladdin, click here.

To read more about Roanoake Rapids (which has a massive collection of Aladdin kit homes), click here.

*   *   *

Aladdin (based in Bay City, Michigan) sold kit homes through mail order. This is my favorite graphic from their catalog (1919).

*

The Stanhope was one of Aladdin's most popular little houses.

*

It had three bedrooms, but it was a very small house.

*

The catalog page featuring the Stanhope, as it appeared in 1919.

*

"Are you not pleased with the Stanhope?"

*

Aladdin was famous for their "Dollar a Knot" guarantee.

*

The Stanhope can be tough to identify because it looks like every little early 20th Century bungalow and is rather nondescript.

*

And yet, they can be identified if they're in original condition. Here's a perfect Stanhope in Scotland Neck, NC (near Roanoke Rapids).

*

Nice match, isn't it?

*

And here's one in Norfolk, Virginia. This house is very close to ODU, and is on 51st Street. It's a perfect example of the Aladdin Stanhope and one of my favorite finds!

*

To learn more about how to identify kit homes, click here.

Have you visited Roanoke Rapids? It’s a town FULL of Aladdin kit homes. Click here to learn more.

*   *   *

The Elsmore was a hugely popular house for Sears, and it was probably one of their top five best selling models.

Since all sales records were destroyed during a post-WW2 corporate housecleaning at Sears, it’s hard to know for sure, but I do know that I’ve seen a whole lot of Elsmores in my travels.

Earlier this year, I posted another blog on the Elsmore (click here to see that), but I was inspired to post a second blog, due to this home’s incredible popularity and also because Cindy Catanzaro found and photographed one of the prettiest (and most well-cared-for) Elsmores that I’ve ever seen.

To read more on the Elsmore, click here.

"Refinement and Comfort here." Sounds lovely!!

*

Here's an Elsmore that was built in Cairo, IL not far from the spot where Sears had their 40-acre lumber mill. This Elsmore, built at 1501 Commerce Avenue, was torn down pre-2001. I visited Cairo then and went looking for this house, but 1501 Commerce was an empty lot at that point. How many Sears Homes in Cairo have been razed? It's a vexing question.

*

Another vintage Elsmore. This one was in Glenshaw, PA (1919 catalog).

*

This is one of my favorite Elsmores. It's in Park Ridge, Illinois. Picture perfect in every way. Photo is copyright 2010, Dale Patrick Wolicki and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

Visit Dale’s website by clicking here.

And the crème de la crème. Cindy Catazaro found this house in Oakwood Ohio and it has been lovingly and faithfully restored. The house has obviously had some "renovations," but they've been done in a thoughtful, sensitive manner. I'm so impressed to know that there are people in the world who love their Sears House *this* much! Photo is copyright 2012, Cindy Catazaro and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

An skinny mini-Elsmore? It might be a trick of the eye, but it appears this Elsmore in Walnutport, PA is a little narrower than the catalog version. The window arrangement is also a little different. I'd love to know the history behind this house. Photo is copyright 2012 Angela Laury and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

*

The Elsmore, as it appeared in the later 1910s and 20s was actually a remodel of Modern Home #126, which was first offered in the 1908 (first) Sears Modern Homes catalog.

*

If you compare the two floorplans, you'll see how similar they are. This is the floorplan for the Sears Modern Home #126 (1908). Notice the size of the rooms and placement of windows.

*

And here's the floorplan for the Elsmore (1916). The chamfered corners are gone and the front porch is different, but the rest of the house is the same, down to window placement and room size. The front porch roof on Modern Home #126 (with cantilevers) *always* sagged due to its fantastic weight. Not a good design. The changes to the Elsmore porch fixed that problem.

*

Thanks to Cindy Catazaro and Dale Wolicki for providing such beautiful photos!

To read more about the Elsmore, click here.

To visit Dale’s website, click here.

Did you enjoy this blog? Please take a moment and leave a nice comment below. I’m living on nothing but love.

*   *   *

What a difference a day makes!

Early this morning, I posted the information about Dr. Malone and his Sears Hamilton at a forum and a kind soul did some research on her own and sent me this link.

That link sends you to a narrative, written by Dr. Malone’s daughter. It’s an incredibly detailed life about growing up in the Sears house in Capleville.

It’s a long detailed (and wonderful) story, and I’ve reprinted a few highlights below.

I spent many hours in the swing on the front porch at Mama and Papa’s. That way I could see the patients who came to Papa (Dr. F.M. Malone) for any and all their ills. The Dr’s office had an entrance off the screened porch, back side. Real often I sneeked around to listen to their complaints. On one such day I heard Papa ask the man, who had given his name as Bob Jones, if Jim Jones was any relation. The man said, “Lawsy, Doc., He’s liable to be My Pa”.

The “big house” as referred to by Kiline, had a parlor on one side dawn stairs troll and Papa’s office on the other.

They were separated by a front hall with sliding doors. The stairway in the front hall went to 4 large bedrooms & one bath room. There was no running water, but a tub was in the bath roost.

Water for the tub had to be brought up the steps by buckets. However there was a drain for the dirty water to run out. Down stairs, behind the parlor was the dinning roost, butlers pantry and kitchen. The screened in porch off from the kitchen housed the cistern, with a pump. A door in the kitchen went down to the cellar.

To some it might have been a basement. Canned goods, sweet potatoes, & empty jars found a home there. If there was a storm brewing Mama always rounded us all up to find shelter there too.

There was a fire place in each room, but in the winter Mama & Papa’s bed room was the only one heated after supper. Everyone gathered there. Since there was no radio or T.V. we played games. Dominoes and Logomiky were favorites.

Logomiky was cards that had beautiful pictures and letters to spell with. Often Papa entertained me with post cards that he had saved from far away places. He kept them in his desk by the fireplace. Sometimes Mama was busy with sewing. The back bed room, with a stairway to the attic didn’t have a fireplace.

The attic fascinated me. I could imagine a store place of wonderful things. Forbidden to go there, made it all the more interesting. One day Maxey and I, slipped away from the adults and crawled up on our hands and knees. The opening was one big hole. Soon we were disillusioned and ready to come down.

It looked much more dangerous from that view. Maxey said, “Tuie, (his name for me) how we gona get down?. I was only 3, but I said, “Just turn loose and fall down Bu”. This he did and hit his eyebrow on the foot of an if iron bed. I just stayed were I was. Of course he screamed with pain and help name. Papa h..d to sew up his wound. This was u scar that he carried to his grave. After everything had cooled down, he was asked; “Why did you fall down?”, His explanation was “Tuie told we to.”

Read the rest here.

Now, if I could just find the living descendants of Dr. Malone and/or the current owners of this fine old house! 

To read Part One of this blog, click here.

*

Sears Hamilton, as seen in the 1908 catalog.

*

Dr. F. M. Malone's own "Hamilton" in Capleville, TN, shortly after it was built in 1909.

*

Dr. Malone spoke in glowing terms about his new Sears Home.

*

To read the prior blog (Part I), click here.

To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.

*   *   *

Sears started offering kit houses in 1908, but when was the first Sears Home sold?

Well, for years, we believed that the first order for a Sears House wasn’t actually received until 1909 (based on info gleaned from the Sears archives in Hoffman Estates, IL).

But now, it seems that that information may not be correct.

When Dr. F. M. Malone purchased his Sears Modern Home #102 in late 1908 or very early 1909, it was probably one of the first Sears Homes built in the country and yet (to complicate our life even further) he customized this design a bit!

The Sears Hamilton (Modern Home #102) was a traditional-looking foursquare and with the passage of 100 years or so, this simple (and yet spacious) house would be mighty hard to differentiate from other foursquares.

So, where is Dr. Malone’s home? Somewhere in Capleville, Tennessee.

If I were queen of the world (and that moment should be arriving soon), I’d find this house, contact the owners and present them with a plaque that reads, “One of the first Sears kit homes built in the country.”

That is a pretty cool designation.

UPDATE:  I was contacted by Dr. Malone’s granddaughter (see first comment below), and she reports that this house was razed many years ago.  While I’m grateful for the update, I’m saddened to know that the house is now gone.

The Sears Hamilton was offered in the first "Modern Homes" catalogs (1908) and Dr. Malone must have snatched it up immediately. He ordered it (about an eight-week lead time) and had it finished and photographed in time for it to appear in the 1909 catalog.

*

One of the distinctive features of the Hamilton is this indented porch on the rear of the house.

*

That's the biggest kitchen I've ever seen in these original Sears Homes.

*

A diminutive version of the Hamilton (also known as #102) was offered by Bachmann Toys for model railroading (in the 1980s). Nice example o f Sears Modern Home #102!

*

The 1909 Sears Modern Homes catalog is probably the rarest of these catalogs. It's in this catalog that I found Dr. Malone's testimonial on the Sears Hamilton. These catalogs had about a six-week lead time, and most of the testimonials in this catalog speak to the quality of Sears building materials (because there were so few house sales in those early days). Dr. Malone's testimonial was one of four testimonials that actually described the building of a "Sears Modern Home." In that his house was finished by 1909, in time to appear in this catalog, it must have been ordered in late 1908 or very early 1909.

*

It's the most thorough and loquacious testimonial I've seen in these old catalogs.

*

And here is "Picture #9" also known as Dr. Malone's Sears Hamilton. Likely, this is one of the first Sears Homes built. In fact, I'd be so bold as to guess it was probably one of the first 20 Sears Homes built in the country.

*

What the heck is that on the second floor? Is it a sliding glass door? Sure looks like it. But this came from a 1909 catalog, well before the advent of such inventions. And look at the front porch roof. Dr. Malone had a good time making it difficult to identify this house as a Sears Hamilton (from the street, anyway).

*

Is Dr. Malone’s house still standing? Do the current owners realize they’re living in a piece of America’s architectural history? Do they know that they own one of the first Sears Homes built?

Inquiring minds want to know!

To learn more about the Sears Hamilton, click here.

*   *   *

As mentioned in my previous blog, Richard Warren Sears was my hero, and he really was a marketing genius.

Here’s my #1 favorite story that showcases his brilliance:

Knowing that many households would have both his catalog and the Montgomery Ward catalog, Sears purposefully designed his catalog a little shorter and narrower than the Ward catalog. He knew that when the housewife was tidying up the home, the Sears catalog, being smaller, would be stacked on top of the Wards catalog.

The book Sears Roebuck and Company: 100th Anniversary relates that a Sunday School pupil was asked,”Where did the Ten Commandments come from?” The child innocently replied, “From the Sears, Roebuck catalog.”

Local merchants and owners of general stores were up in arms at the low prices Sears offered in his catalog and the bold promises that buyers could save money by eliminating the middle man. Of course, the middle man that Sears wanted to eliminate was the owner of the general store! In more than a few towns, children were promised a free movie ticket for every Sears catalog they brought into the local store. The catalogs were then piled high and ceremoniously burned in a massive bonfire.

In 1896, the annual sales for the mail order firm of Sears and Roebuck were $1.2 million and by 1914 they hit $101 million. At its peak in 1915, the general merchandise catalog contained 100,000 items in 1200 pages and weighed four pounds.

During World War I, the Sears Roebuck catalog was the book most requested by American soldiers recovering in overseas hospitals. Julius Rosenwald sailed to France in the midst of the Great War (WWI) with four huge wooden crates, each filled with Sears catalogs, for distribution to the American boys lying in a hospital. (The Good Old Days; A History of American Morals and Manners as Seen Through the Sears Roebuck Catalogs.)

According to Sears, Roebuck, USA: The Great American Catalog Store and How It Grew a Sears customer wrote and asked to return several bottles of patent medicine shed purchased from Sears, explaining that the medicine had originally been intended for her husband and he’d since passed on. The clerk who received the inquiry responded by asking the woman if shed like to see a copy of Sears Tombstone Catalog.

The famous Chicago radio station, WLS, actually began as a promotional tool for Sears. In fact, WLS stands for Worlds Largest Store. The station signed on in 1924 with farm reports and weather information. Sears sold the radio station in the fall of 1928.

In the 1930s, Sears sold live baby chicks through their mail order catalogs. The chicks cost ten cents each and safe, live delivery was promised.

In November 1952, Sears announced it would sell the Allstate - a small car with a 100-inch wheelbase, capable of 35 mpg. It was an incredibly “basic” ride, and the first models lacked trunk lids and glove compartments. The little car with a four or six cylinder engine cost $1395 - $1796. Two years later, Sears stopped selling the cars, having sold about 1500. The reason: Sears was ill-prepared to handle the problem of trade-ins.

To see several beautiful photos of this 1950s Dream Machine, click here.

To see a video of the Henry J (the Sears Allstate), click here.

*

For 76.99 pounds (British), you can have your own "Henry J" (Sears Allstate) auto. This is a miniature reproduction of the 1952 "Deluxe" Allstate, offered by minimodelshop.com.uk.

*

To order your own Henry J, click here.

*

WLS was originally started by Sears and Roebuck to use wholly as a promotional tool. WLS stands for "World's Largest Store." Shown here is the first edition of the WLS (Sears) employee newsletter.

*

Sears had a massive lumber mill just outside of Cairo, Illinois. The street was named "Sears and Roebuck Road," but in later years, it was split into two dead-end streets by the highway. One side was named "Sears Road."

*

And the other side was named "Roebuck Road."

*

And Garmin never got the memo...

*

To read more about the mill in Cairo, click here.

To read the prior blog about Richard Sears, click here.

*   *   *

When Dale and I visited Bedford, Virginia in 2008, we drove around for some time, striving to find the Sears Hamilton that (according to the Sears catalog) had been built there in the mid-1910s.

Dale drove slowly and methodically throughout the county (and the city) while I scoured the landscape for any foursquares with a hipped roof.

We found many kit homes along the way, but we never found our Hamilton.

On my various hard drives, I have about 35,000 photos and yet I don’t have any photos of a real live Sears Hamilton.

If anyone has a photo to share, I’d be very grateful to receive it.

As a side note, The Hamilton was also the name Sears gave to a modest bungalow with clipped gables (circa 1930s). The Hamilton I’m looking for is a large foursquare.

Sears Hamilton, as seen in the 1916 catalog.

*

By 1916, this had already become a popular house! But where are they now?

*

Nice floorplan, too.

*

The house has several distinctive features. Note the inset back porch which extends the full length of the long kitchen. Also noticed the 4/1 windows on the front. The one side (right side above) extends significant further than the left side.

*

Close-up on that back porch.

*

In the 1980s, the Sears Hamilton was also offered by "Spectrum" as a wee tiny kit house for HO model railroads. And this one has only 172 pieces! Notice that it's a little different from the house above? That's because they modeled it after the 1908 design. In 2001, I purchased and built this small model house. It took some time, but it was worth the effort because finally, I'd have my very own "Sears kit House." Sadly, it was lost in "The Great Divide" (divorce).

*

Here's the Hamilton as seen in the 1908 catalog. It's a perfect match to the model above and slightly different from the 1916 version. The dormers in the 1908 house are shed dormers, and in 1916, they were hipped. The front center window (second floor) has diamond muntins in 1908.

*

So where are our Hamiltons? I don’t know, but I’d love to find out, and I’d love to have a photo!

To read more about Sears Homes, click here.

To read about the Sears Homes in Roanoke, click here.

To read the most recent blog, click here.

*   *   *