“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”
That’s a quote from Jonathan Swift, who died in 1745. (For the youngsters, that was a couple years before the internet was invented.)
There’s a photo of a purported “Sears Roebuck” house that has now had millions of views (thanks to Facebook), and people are eating it up with a spoon.
As a historian, it is painful to see misinformation spread like wildfire.
First and foremost, if it’s a “Sears kit house,” it should look like a Sears kit house. If it can’t be matched to one of the 370 designs that Sears offered in their 38 years in this business, then you’ll have to find other ways to authenticate (original blueprints, marked lumber, shipping labels, etc.). Absent that, it’s just not a Sears House.
And if it was built pre-1908, it can not be a “Sears & Roebuck” house.
Every now and then, I’ll try to jump into these frays on Facebook and I’ll state, “It’s a lovely house but it’s not a Sears House” and invariably, I’ll hear the same comments from the percipient literati of that site:
1) You don’t know everything. Maybe it’s a new model.
2) And what makes you think you’re an expert?
3) The Realtor couldn’t post that if it wasn’t true.
4) My grandmother said it is, and you say it’s not. You’re just wrong. Accept it.
5) U R a moran.
And worse. Much, much worse.
Take a gander at these photos. They’re worth a lot of words!
*
The listing states that this house was built in 1926. Okay, that's believable - IF they used building materials salvaged from a house built in 1885. This house predates the 20th Century. Of that, I am sure. Thin porch posts, frippery and fretwork and gable ornaments are all classic indicators of a late 19th Century house.
*
Yes, it's a great house but it is NOT a Sears House.
*
Allegedly, this house (Edison, TN) was destroyed by fire recently.
*
Nice porch on this not-a-sears-kit-home house!
*
If it is a Sears House, it should look like a Sears House! Here's the Sears Whitehall, side-by-side with the original catalog image. Those two pictures are a good match!
*
Come see Rose in person on Monday night!
Want a laugh? Check out these pictures from Zillow.
Penniman Houses in Norfolk! Enjoy the pictures!
*
*
A few of my neighbors have told us over the years that our house was a Sears Kit House. I finally (after 13 years) looked it up and sure enough it is. It is VERY similar to that Whitehall, but I don’t think it shared the name. Mine is exactly like 264B181A. We have some very minor differences that make me wonder if those were options or later modifications. Our porch pillars have that signature Sears design and I don’t know if they can be salvaged. Would LOVE to know if more info is out there on this house.