The Houses That Sears Built [Paperback]

Rosemary Thornton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2004

This is a newly revised and expanded version 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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Since 1999, Rosemary Thornton has traveled throughout the Midwest studying, researching and learning more about Sears Homes.

This newest revision of The Houses That Sears Built features pictures of Sears Homes in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Maryland, Washington, DC and Virginia.

Rose has appeared on CBS, PBS, A&E, WGN-TV and her book has been featured in the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Dallas Morning News and many more.

Her email and other contact information is in the back of the book, if interested readers would like to write her for more information.

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: Gentle Beam Publications; 2 edition (February 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971558817
• ISBN-13: 978-0971558816
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book with something in it for everyone., May 28, 2005

By 

J. LaPorte (Millersville, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Houses That Sears Built (Paperback)

Author Rosemary Thornton did an excellent job with this book. I expected that the book would be a dull, purely technical treatise on Sears Catalog Homes. To my surprise and delight, this was not the case at all.

The book does excel as a technical reference. What makes it a cut above, though, is how the author describes in detail the social and historical context into which the Sears Homes fit. She reminds the reader of the relative value of the dollar back then along with what it was like to live in the peak of the Sears Home era. She also describes the status of the construction technology of the time, noting for example that some Sears home models were offered without bathrooms since running water and sewer systems were not available in some of the regions in which they were marketed.

Author Thornton also engages the emotions of the reader in her writing. One example that struck me in particular was on page 11 where she wrote, "Imagine someone pressing a handsaw into your hands and pointing you toward 620 pieces of framing lumber!" She also included many personal anecdotes about how she did her research and the humorous and heart warming situations that occurred in doing so.

Yes, this is an excellent technical reference on Sears Catalog homes for sure. Beyond that, though, it is a wonderful read, filled with historical facts about construction in general and how things were done back then. Even though I am a university professor and have taught construction courses for decades, I nonetheless I gained a wealth of new knowledge from this book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And the Award goes to the reader, April 22, 2004

By 

Donna France (Elgin IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Houses That Sears Built (Paperback)

I would like to thank the Academy, my mother, my father, my teachers, my girl scout leader, my psychoanalyst, my minister, my co-workers, and everyone I have ever brushed a shoulder with in my entire life! But most of all I want to thank Rosemary Thornton for writing the book The Houses That Sears Built!

Ms.Thornton's book about everything you ever wanted to know about Sears catalog homes is the Holy Grail for anyone interested in a special piece of Americana. As a woodworking artist, I replicate historical homes and buildings into functional birdhouses. The Sears homes seemed like an interesting project, so I needed to do some research. Ms.Thornton's book seemed like the logical place to start. Little did I know that the research was going to be so much FUN!!!

The Houses That Sears Built not only gives you a practical and orderly reference to all the different models of homes that Sears offered during it's "hay day," it also offers up a light hearted look at our American way of life. It's the Grapes of Wrath on the sunny side. It's the Donald Trump copy cat story of Richard Sears without the annoying hair!!!

Just as Richard Sears offered a needed product to the everyday working family man, Rosemary Thornton's writing offers today's reader a much needed look at a simpler way of life. There is a real bonus to this book. Besides getting an accurate and factual account of The Houses That Sears Built, Rosemary Thornton's writing has taught me and told me a wonderful "tell me again" story.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Home Sweet Home!, March 8, 2004

By 

Paul Thompson (St. Paul, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Houses That Sears Built (Paperback)

This book chronicles the story (and the stories behind the story) of how Richard Sears got rich by bringing the opportunity of home ownership to others in and through the good and the bad times of the early 20th century beginning in 1915. Sears helped to fulfill the "American dream" for thousands of people who otherwise wouldn't have a home by marketing do-it-yourself homes through his catalog and how he created a market for his other catalog merchandise through the people who bought his homes.

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.