Sears Roebuck Houses
     1908 to 1940
     Chicago, Illinois
     The Sears Roebuck mass-merchandising, mail-order company was 
founded in 1886 and quickly became one of the largest such 
operations in the world. Between the last decade of the nineteenth 
century and the beginning of World War II, its name became 
synonymous with American retailing. While most people know that 
Sears sold nearly everything for the home from its mail order 
catalogue few realize that it also sold the house as well. They 
started to offer building supplies and house plans in 1895. 
Between 1908 and 1940 Sears operated a "Modern Homes" division 
that supplied building plans, materials and kit houses shipped by 
rail to all corners of the nation.
     In 1908 Sears commenced issuing a yearly catalogue of house 
plans and construction supplies. This continued until 1940. The 
first catalogue contained 22 plans for houses of moderate size and 
offered to supply specifications and materials. In 1913 Sears 
brought out a line of panelized buildings called "Simplex" houses. 
1916 saw the first Sears "kit-house" offered for sale. This 
package included the entire house, with numbered parts and 
instruction booklets, paint and nails. Sears is often credited 
with inventing the mail-order kit house but that distinction goes 
to the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan who began the 
practice in 1906.  Records are scarce in this area, but estimates 
place the total output of kit homes between 1900 and World War II 
at nearly one-half million. In the twenties, the colorful "Sears 
Honor-Bilt Modern Homes" catalogue contained over one hundred 
house models and numerous summer cottages and garages in a variety 
of the most popular styles.
     One of Sears', and indeed the nation's, biggest selling 
models was the common bungalow. This compact, affordable house 
began as a vacation style home in the 1880s but grew into a major 
housing type in cities and suburbs in the years before World War 
I. Bungalows came in a wide variety of types and styles that 
included Arts & Crafts, Spanish, Colonial and English Tudor. The 
house is often distinguished by its roof type as well, having 
labels such as Pyramid, Double Front Gable and Airplane to 
describe it. Sears was not the only company to offer plans and 
kits for bungalow. In this period there were at least seven 
companies were advertising nationally. They include Montgomery 
Wards and Harris Homes of Chicago plus three Bay City, Michigan 
companies, Aladdin, Lewis and Sterling. The Gordon-Van Tine 
company of Davenport, Iowa rounded out the list. All offered 
bungalows in a vast assortment of sizes, styles and price ranges. 
Sears was likely the leader in total sales and in visibility 
purporting to have sold over 100,000 homes in the 1908 to 1940 
period.