Well I don't remember them! But I've heard of them, and read about them.

Another kind of interesting "kit" house is the Lustron series. Some aircraft manufacturer or somebody like that had to retool after WW2, and came up with metal pre-fabricated homes. They only made 2k or so but they were pretty well sprinkled around the country, including about 60 on the Marine base at Quantico, VA. I think there are five or six in my hometown that I can think of. They last pretty well, being enamel coated steel. They cost about $8000 to $10,000 when new.

 

I do some work sharing chopping corn silage and other random things with a guy that has a old Sears kit house, it has been remodeled recently and is a very nice modern house now but they did comment that it was a well built structure to restart with.... And I seem to remember them mentioning literally every board on the house that was original had a code of some sort stamped on it so they knew where to put it while assembling it originally, maybe that's a myth but that's what they told me. Kind of found that intriguing?

 

This is the one I lived in:

There are several just like it around here. Those houses were not designed with indoor plumbing in mind.

 

Interesting house specs.

I'm wondering why they call out the basement--I can't imagine that they supplied the blocks and the cement.

The roofing also struck me -- shingle roll roofing. Onder if that was some kind of a one layer combo instead of base layer and shingles.

Not sure that anybody does prefabs anymore,

hj

 

That was nearly the layout of the last house I was in. The rooms were flipped. The bedrooms were too small. I always liked the Sear and Roebuck houses. I didn't think it was a Sears house when we lived there.

 

I still have my Craftsman socket set, wrenches that my Dad bought me for my 18th birthday (1986); they look rough, but still work good.


GOOD Quality tools, no busted knuckles.


It's too bad.

 

That was the beauty of American made goods, they weren't always "the best" or the fanciest, but they provided good value for the money. Refrigerators that would last 60 years, as well as providing decent careers for the employees that made them. Now our choices are "energy star" BS crapola made with slave labor, that usually end up in the landfill after less than 10. Can't make this **** up.

 

We had a Sears TV once. Got it with the extended warranty. We got a phone call from Sears when the warranty was up, asking if we wanted to extend it. We said no. Next day the TV died. Maybe they pushed a button some where....

 

Just saw this:
https://www.mail.com/business/econom...-stage-set12-4

 

Now my Power Craft tools will not feel so bad. (Wards)
My new Craftsman ratchets have sure been poor quality. Only the 1/2" does not skip.
I do miss the days of going to Sears to just look at the tools. What a selection they used to have. I still use my 3 ton floor jack I bought back in the 70's. I bought a new one a few years back and it failed in less than a year. Lots of competition out there these days. But non to match the old Sears store tool isle.

 

I did take a walk through a Sears for the first time in a few years last month, and they have some interesting tools. They have Knipex pliers rebranded for Craftsman, and a tool box I wish I could have afforded- It's a fairly nice, heavy duty tool box that has a bluetooth lock on it. It can be set up to lock and unlock automatically when your phone goes in and out of range. I hadn't even heard of this, I may have bought one but instead bought a Cornwell box (which looks like it was made by the same company).

 

Today Sears pretty much said that they were out of business. I can't remember the exact phrase, but they apparently they don't think that they can survive. No real surprise.

Wonder if there repair parts might continue on somehow.

hj

 

As I said before, I'm not interested in any repair work they will do with the quality they have now. And the classic Craftsman tools are good.

 

Sears parts direct has been my go-to source for most appliance and outdoor equipment parts, hopefully that will continue.
With the loss of Sears, we may see a larger collapse of those fields as well, since most everything they sell is made by a division of Electrolux.