Sears was a pioneering mail-order company that sold watches, underwear, furniture, appliances—and from 1908 to 1940 sold 100,000 homes through a catalog. As the timesununion states, “The pieces arrived packed in boxes that contained lumber, cut to length and numbered for convenience, as well as shingles, doors, windows, molding, plumbing, a furnace and every nail needed to put the whole thing together.” The components were shipped by train, and in the early days were delivered by horse and buggy from the train depot, as MHProNews knows, and assembled much like a puzzle.

Available in 447 styles, it is nearly impossible to distinguish them from site built, much like today’s manufactured and modular homes. A shipping label on the back of some mill work could be a clue, as would the letters “SR” cast into an inside corner of the tub, or on the underside of the bathroom or kitchen sink.

Additionally, there may be some blueprints or papers identifying it as a Sears home in the attic or basement. Sears offered home mortgages, so courthouse records might reveal the origins.

In today’s market, manufactured and modular homes are likewise delivered to the home site, but on flatbed trucks, and already constructed. The Sears & Roebuck homes were more of a kit. Would some company offer full size homes as a kit again? ##

(Photo credit: Times/Union-Lori Van Buren–Sears home in Albany, New York)

Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.