Back when I was a kid, the Old Sears Roebuck Catalog was like a bible around the house. If you needed something, you would just get out the Old Sears Roebuck Catalog and order it. They had order blanks in the back of the catalog and I remember Mother filling out the order in pencil (We rarely used pens and the ballpoint pen had not been invented at that time), check the zone and add up the weight and add that to the order and it was ready to mail. We would either mail it the next time we went down to the village or put the money in the envelope for the mailman to get a money order to send with it. I actually believe the postmaster would put the money order in the envelope, seal it and send it on its way and the next day the mailman would bring back the receipt for the money order and any change. We never worried about leaving money in the mailbox which was about a half a mile away from the house and out of sight.
Sears was our favorite catalog, although there was Montgomery Wards and Spiegel's. This came to mind when I was thinking about the Sears Roebuck Houses that they used to sell. We have a couple right here in the village. Phyllis Soule's house is a Sears Roebuck House and was constructed in 1915 by the Stevens Family. I sent Phyllis a note yesterday and asked her about it and she sent me the following note:
"I wish I had all the info Shorty Cherrier told me, he worked on the construction. The house was transported on sled from Georgia. It is a Sears house and they were precut. They all have certain characteristics, lots of porches, oak floors, and many windows. Dick decided to check on Roscoe storm windows I thought the windows were outsized but the were standard western ones which we bought. My dad was interested in building a house and had catalogues of these houses. Montgomery Ward also sold them. There are many around , I have often thought the Malcolm Howard house might also be one. I have books on these houses if you would be interestd. When the car hit the house we had to restore it rather than just fixing it. Hope this is helpful. Phyllis"
Phyllis is right, Malcolm Howard's House which is where the medical building is, is a Sears Roebuck House. Her recollection of Shorty Cherrier telling her it came from Georgia on a sled is also correct as all of our freight came in on the Railroad and was transported by horses from the East Georgia Railroad Station up on what is now The Jed Sheppard Road near the Georgia High Bridge.
I'm not sure just when they stopped selling their precut houses, but I do know that we have a number of houses here in town that were built in the 1960s that were from other companies. Grossman's was one company and Ridge Homes was another. I am stretching my memory a bit, but I think that Bernie Gregoire's house was from one of those companies. Not sure if Ralph & Claire Lemnah's was or not, but it certainly would be interesting if some of you that know of some of those houses would either post or let me know.
My house was partially constructed and came on a big truck. All of the sidewalls, with windows and doors were pre-built at a factory in New Hampshire. I can't remember the name of the company now. My house was 46x26 with a 24x18 attached garage and in 1968 the shell erected house cost me $7,000.
I had looked at Grossman & Ridge homes before that, but I know that a lot of people that built those homes had a lot of carpentry skills of their own which I lacked.
By the way, the Sears, Montgomery Ward & Spiegel catalogs did not get thrown out when their season was done. They made their way to the old outhouses where not only were they used to read again, but eventually were the Charmin of the outhouses.
