The Houses That Sears Built
by Rosemary Thornton

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Book Reviews of The Houses That Sears Built

Book Review: Home Sweet Home!
Summary: 5 Stars

The quality of these homes was second-to-none. Everything was pre-cut and fit together perfectly. All one had to do is follow the directions and blueprints which were supplied with each home. Each piece was numbered. The attention to detail was astounding because the reputation of the Sears company and the Sears home was precious!

The book further chronicles a different era in America when there was much more pride in quality and home ownership than there is today. Even with the technology that we are "blessed" with, I don't see our current society as having the vision that Sears and the other Empire Builders of America had. In those days, these people made a way out of no way. They found a way to get things done. By contrast, in today's society, all we do is complain and people with vision are suspect. The Sears catalog home adventure was the right thing to do at that time. Today, it would never take off.

And there was trust in those early days. Today, one has to beg the bank for the privilege of paying them mortgage interest. Sears would finance their homes and all they asked was one question that would be considered financial: "What is your vocation?" Or, to put it another way, what do you do for a living? They didn't care about how much you made or your Social Security Number.

This new 2004 edition of The Houses That Sears Built updates Ms. Thornton's previous effort with a lot of new information that will bring the reader up to date with her ongoing research. But above all, the underlying purpose of the book is to help you and me to find these gems in our respective communities. Ms. Thornton is working on another book and video to assist us in that endeavor.

The only thing lacking in the book that I could see is an index. Other than that minor shortcoming, I highly recommend the book as must reading for students of Americana or those who are fascinated by the lore of the catalog. It is a fascinating story that just "grows" on you. Beware! Reading this book will "hook" you into finding Sears homes!!! Have a lot of fun doing it.

Summary of The Houses That Sears Built

This new edition includes more than 20 new photos of existing Sears Homes throughout the country as well as a plethora of recently discovered information.

This major revision also includes reproductions of newly-discovered original documents from the Sears Modern Homes Department as well as compelling interviews with men who worked at the Sears Mill in Cairo, IL. You'll also hear the fascinating stories from Sears Homeowners who actually built their own Sears Kit Home many decades ago!

Want to learn how to identify a Sears Home? This book contains new graphics, photos and easy-to-reference bulleted points that will tell you and show you - step by step - how to identify a Sears Home.

It also includes four brand new chapters, such as "Chapter 3 - The Amazing Mr. Sears; A Brief Look at The Handsome Genius and His Store," "Chapter 5 - Milling About Sears Homes, A Look Inside the Sears Mill at Cairo, Illinois," "Chapter 8 - Homart Homes, The 'Other' Sears Homes, "Chapter 11 - Those Dandy Houses, Testimonials; Trivia and Reminiscences of Building a Sears Modern Home."

Since the first edition of The Houses That Sears Built was published in Spring 2002, the author has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning News, PBS's History Detectives, A&E's Biography and WGN-TV News, as well as the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Dallas Morning News and more than 50 regional publications. As a result of this publicity, Ms. Thornton has received more than 1,000 emails and letters from readers all over the country, telling stories and sharing precious memories about their own "Sears Modern Homes," and she incorporated many of these stories into this new edition.

This new edition of The Houses That Sears Built is more than a revision - it contains a tremendous amount of new information and trivia and wonderful photos that the Sears Home enthusiast will treasure and enjoy!

About Sears Homes: Between 1908-1940, Sears customers ordered about 75,000 houses out of the Sears Roebuck and Company mail-order catalogs. The houses were shipped by rail to city lots and farms all over the country.

Each "kit home" contained 30,000 pieces, including 750 pounds of nails and 27 gallons of paint and varnish. A 75-page instruction book showed home buyers, step by step, how to assemble those 30,000 pieces of house.

Only 10% (approximately) of the Sears homes in the country have been discovered.

Because of this, our communities? best architectural treasures ? our grand collection of Sears homes ? are being damaged by remuddling and worse, demolished.

There is tremendous interest in this topic and hopefully, The Houses That Sears Built will spur that interest even further.

When you have finished reading The Houses That Sears Built you will be your community?s expert on Sears homes. You?ll learn how to identify Sears homes from the inside, outside and from courthouse documents. You?ll learn the interesting details of Sears homes? construction. One chapter is devoted to the $1 million order of Sears homes that was shipped to Carlinville, Schoper and Wood River (Illinois).

Another chapter is devoted to "The Lost Sears Homes." These are Sears homes which appeared only once in obscure Sears Modern Homes catalogs and were not included in "Houses by Mail: A Guide To Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company," by Katherine Cole Stevenson and H. Ward Jandl.

Company Profiles Books

• Subjects > Business & Investing > Biography & History > Company Profiles
• History > Americas > United States > 20th Century
• Crafts, Hobbies & Home > How-to & Home Improvements > Home Design
• Professional & Technical > Architecture