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Does anyone know if any of the blueprints/schematics for old Sears kit homes are available online anywhere?
EDIT: OK lots of people have responded with the catalogs themselves, which are awesome. But I am still looking for BLUEPRINTS. It seems like they were probably mostly destroyed by the company itself at some point in the 80's but this is a long shot, right?
Does anyone know any like history professors in Chicago or anything who would have some weird architectural archives or whatever
All I'm saying is America had fewer problems with housing when you could order an entire house from the Sears catalog for a reasonable price and assemble it yourself
Like obviously that was not the only thing, but it didn't hurt either
Holy dicks these things were cheap when they were new.
Like adjusted for inflation, we're talking like $6K for an entire 1 bedroom house. An extra $300 got you all the kitchen cabinets you needed.
Shed kits smaller than this cost more than that now...
"There is more pleasure and satisfaction in owning a small home than living in a large rented one." I'm noticing none of these ads talk about the future value of the home. This wasn't about speculation, this was just about getting away from landlords.
They were basically using increased automation from then-new sawmill tech and economies of scale, plus a lack of distributor/dealer/contractor incentives to pass the savings along to the consumers. This was actually pretty awesome.
$8,700 in 2024 dollars for a four bedroom house. This is emotionally difficult for me to read
"You pay for no waste lumber" because they owned the sawmills and just pulped all the waste to make wallpaper and then sold that too omfg this is so much smarter than how our economy works today
Also thinking about how the fact that they had one clear price for all customers with no commissions or discounts meant they were probably more accessible to racially marginalized people
Holy crap they had a return policy lmao. "Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back"
How do you even return a kit home after you've built it? Amazing.
"Every merchant who sells on credit must add extra profit to all prices to make up for his credit losses" Who wrote this ad copy, Lenin himself? They're literally calling out their competitors for [checks notes] engaging in capitalism 
Wish these were a little higher res but I like the floorplans a lot. Cozy but functional. Not too many people even make houses this size in America anymore (also, check out the "sewing room" on the 2nd floor!). This is a bit of an exaggeration but it feels like all new construction is giant, sprawling McMansions, terrible townhouses/condos/"efficiency microapartments," and tiny homes on utility trailers.
It reminds me of how economized my parents-in-law house is way out on the coast in Bay Center - house built in the late 1800s, with kitchen, 2 bedrooms, living room and upstairs sewing room to boot.
Living in a 700 sqft apartment for over a decade now it feels like the right size for a house - not too big but plenty of room for hobbying and loafing.