Sears offered three grades in all their lines: Good, better and best. In the 1922 Sears Modern Homes catalog, the housing lines were known as Honor-Bilt, Econo Built (later known as “Standard Built) and Lighter Built. (To learn more about these “lesser grades” [Econo, Standard and Lighter], click here.)
Honor-Bilt homes (their best grade and most popular line) utilized traditional construction standards, such as double headers over the doors and windows, double floors (primary floors over subfloors), exterior sheathing under clapboard or cedar shingles and wall studs on 16-inch centers.
Below are a few of my favorite pages, delineating the fine features that define the Honor Bilt house.
Honor Bilt houses had pre-cut lumber and trim, as shown above. Notice the fellow above, working on a Sears Glenn Falls (1938 catalog).
Honor Bilt kit homes came with 27 gallons of paint, and 10 pounds of wood putty. And the paint was mixed by a Master paint mixer, or so this ad promises.
A list of the many benefits of an Honor Bilt home (1938 catalog).
Part 2 of that amazing list!
Several pages in the 1938 catalog were devoted to extolling the virtues of the Honor Bilt Modern Home.
When Sears went from balloon construction to platform construction, it was a big deal and was persistently touted in all their literature, such as this 1938 catalog.
A comparison of Honor Bilt and Standard Built from the 1921 catalog.
From the 1921 catalog, this 13-item list shows the specific benefits of the Honor Bilt home.
0 Comments