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[Mike Sokol]

As you got older the ladies undies section was especially interesting.

Actually, some of the Sears girls wearing nothing but panties and a bra were my first crush when I was 6 years old. Hubba hubba... 

Grandma let us drink coffee and chase the cows too, things that my parents frowned upon. Everyone needs a grandma who will let you get away with some stuff.

[Ivan Beaver]

Pretty sad. Wasn't Sears the first mail-order catalog?
Early mail order that I remember was Sears, Lafayette, and Heathkit.

Chris.

Sears was doing mail order around 100 years ago.

You could even order a DIY house from them-years ago.

[Mike Sokol]

Sears was doing mail order around 100 years ago.

You could even order a DIY house from them-years ago.

Yup, as I noted earlier in this thread my own house built in 1923 was a Sears kit home. They delivered all the materials and a set of plans to the building site, which local workers would then assemble.

[David Allred]

Car engines and performance headers even. 

[Art Welter]

Sears was doing mail order around 100 years ago.

You could even order a DIY house from them-years ago.

Ivan,

The houses in the photo below across from where I used to live were both Sears kits. The owner of the "fixer upper" on the left made the mistake of demolishing and burning it.
When he went to apply for a new building permit, he found that current setback laws would only allow a 10' x 10' house to be built on the property, while the old Sears Kit house could have been "grandfathered in" had he rebuilt it.

The lot will likely sit empty forever, unless a "tiny house" enthusiast decides to buy it.

That house had at one point been chain sawed in half, and moved from the north end of Madrid to the south side, where it became the most photographed house in Madrid until February 7, 2007...

Art

[Ivan Beaver]

When he went to apply for a new building permit, he found that current setback laws would only allow a 10' x 10' house to be built on the property, while the old Sears Kit house could have been "grandfathered in" had he rebuilt it.

It is interesting how some of those laws work.

I have known houses that have been "fixed" (they kept the front stoop), by tearing down the old house and putting a new one up.

As long as part of the old house was still there-it was "OK".

[Jonathan Johnson]

The houses in the photo below across from where I used to live were both Sears kits. The owner of the "fixer upper" on the left made the mistake of demolishing and burning it.
When he went to apply for a new building permit, he found that current setback laws would only allow a 10' x 10' house to be built on the property, while the old Sears Kit house could have been "grandfathered in" had he rebuilt it.

In a town a few miles away from my place, there was an old two-story, wood-framed commercial building that was mostly beyond saving.

The owner demolished the upper story down to the second level floor. Then removed all the first floor walls and foundation. The second level floor was left in place, temporarily held up by cribbing. Upon removing the slab, it was discovered that there was soil contamination from failing underground fuel storage tanks on the property.

The property then sat with no action for about a year as the cleanup was litigated.

Once all that was taken care of and the site declared clean, a new slab, foundation, lower level walls, upper level walls, and roof were constructed. But the second-level floor was still original, allowing the owner to call it a "remodel" and avoid tens of thousands of dollars of permit and impact fees required on new construction.

Here's what it looks like after the remodel. Too bad I don't have a picture of when it was just a floor floating in the air for a year.

[Don T. Williams]

I just visited the National Solar Observatory at Sunspot, NM near Cloudcroft.  It is currently used to observe the sun for many scientific reason including the study of sun spot activity and solar flares.  When first established, one of the telescopes (I think for observing the night sky) was literally out in the weather, so the USAF bought a farm grain bin kit from Sears and Roebuck and modified it to protect the telescope.  Though no longer used for governmental and military purposes, the local astronomy club still uses "the grain bin" telescope!

[Mike Sokol]

A buddy of mine just sent me this link to the Sears Craftsman kit houses. His grandparents built one: https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/business/would-you-buy-a-home-from-sears-these-people-did-and-they-love-it/2017/05/31/da09f8f4-4618-11e7-8de1-cec59a9bf4b1_video.html

[Art Welter]

A buddy of mine just sent me this link to the Sears Craftsman kit houses. His grandparents built one: https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/business/would-you-buy-a-home-from-sears-these-people-did-and-they-love-it/2017/05/31/da09f8f4-4618-11e7-8de1-cec59a9bf4b1_video.html

Wow,

Those Elgin Ill. kit houses were a lot more upscale than the Madrid miner kits!

I had $175,000.00 worth of sound and lights stolen by a biker gang in Elgin Ill. back in 1985, wonder if that gang survived like the kit houses :^).

"Mr. Positive"

[ProSoundWeb Community]