Mail-Order Homes: Sears Homes and Other Kit Houses

Published in Great Britain in 2012 by Shire Publications Ltd, Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 0PH, United Kingdom.

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All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.

Every attempt has been made by the Publishers to secure the appropriate permissions for materials reproduced in this book. If there has been any oversight we will be happy to rectify the situation and a written submission should be made to the Publishers.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Shire Library no. 645. Print ISBN-13: 978 0 74781 048 3

PDF e-book ISBN: 978 0 74781 112 1

ePub e-book ISBN: 978 1 78200 103 4

Rebecca L. Hunter has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this book.

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COVER IMAGE

Catalog image of the Sears “Alhambra.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Without assistance, encouragement, and support from the following, this book could not have been created: Dale Wolicki and Rosemary Thornton, my colleagues in pursuit of the elusive history of mail-order homes; Arlene May, Sears, Roebuck Archivist, consultant, and provider of materials and information; Marilyn Raschka, second-generation Hartford, Wisconsin, Sears “Mitchell” owner; Mary Rowse, Chevy Chase, Maryland, tireless collector of mail-order homes and their histories; Tom Wahl, Elyria, Ohio, discoverer of a subdivision of 1941 Sears, Roebuck homes; Kelli Christiansen, editor, Shire Books; Cindy Catanzaro, Springfield, Ohio; Jean Lythgoe, Rockford, Illinois, Public Library; Historic Preservation Commission, Blue Island, Illinois; Lincoln Library Sangamon Valley Collection, Springfield, Illinois; Preservation Department, City of Aurora, Illinois.

MAIL-ORDER HOME SURVEY SPONSORS

James Chapa, Downers Grove, Illinois; Heritage Commission, Elgin, Illinois; Arlene Lane and Sonia Schoenfield, Cook Memorial Library, Libertyville, Illinois; Heidi Beazley and Fidencio Marbella, Public Library, Melrose Park, Illinois; City Museum, West Chicago, Illinois; Park District, Worth, Illinois; Joe Carney and Ray Featherstone, Anderson, Indiana; Garden Club, Sylvan Lake, Michigan; and Sunny Acres Civic and Improvement Association, Cranford, New Jersey.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS

All photographs by Rebecca Hunter unless otherwise specified.

Shire Publications is supporting the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, by funding the dedication of trees.