Thanks, Sears!
Monday, November 18, 2024
Alvah Curtis Roebuck was a watchmaker who partnered with Richard Sears to start the mail-order business that eventually became Sears, Roebuck and Company.
My father worked for Sears for nearly forty years. Santa was always at Sears during Christmas. I was four years old here. I grew up with the Sears Catalog and I loved getting a first copy of the Christmas Wish Book each season.
Sears was really a pretty big deal. The store and the catalogs.
- Mobile movie theaters: In 1899, Sears sold kits for setting up mobile movie theaters that used limes to produce light.
- Money-back guarantee: The famous money-back guarantee was first included in the 1903 catalog.
- Multimedia presentation: 1905 the catalog included wallpaper samples and fabric swatches.
- Christmas Wish Book: The first Christmas Wish Book was published in 1933.
- Big Book Catalog: Printed from 1888 through 1993. By the early 1930s, the catalog had grown to over 600 pages.
- Sears Homes: From 1908 to 1940, Sears sold 70,000 to 75,000 mail-order homes. The kits came in 447 different designs and were delivered precut and ready to assemble.
- Sears Tower: The Sears Tower in Chicago opened in 1973 and was the world's tallest building for 25 years. It was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009.
- Sears and quack cures: In the early 20th century, Sears sold quack remedies like Dr. Hammond's Nerve and Brain Pills, Dr. Barker's Blood Builder, and Dr. Rose's Arsenic Complexion Wafers.
Thanks, Sears! In 1955, a misprint in Colorado Springs newspaper resulted in a call to Colonel Harry Shoup's secret hotline at the Continental Air Defense Command, CONAD, now known as the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD.
The Santa Tracker started with a Sears ad that instructed children to call Santa on what turned out to be a secret military hotline. Today, kids can call 1-877-HI-NORAD ( 1-877-446-6723). Read more below.
Follow Santa here: NORAD Santa