100 years ago, Sears was the Amazon of its day when you could buy from their catalog. They also sold houses. It is sad the downfall of Sears and Kmart which was an iconic brand.
@ 😂😂. True. But in all seriousness, while it seemed to be a good business decision at the time, it put them at a great disadvantage when the world changed and companies like Amazon were in place to meet the demand. Had they kept their catalog, all they would have had to do was bring it into the internet era rather than have to build from the ground up. And they had name recognition whereas Amazon was the. A new startup known for selling books
With the catalog they already had the physical infrastructure and brand recognition to be a perfect online retailer. They just needed to hire the right people to put the catalog online. Has to be one of the biggest missed opportunities in retail history.
@@iluvcamaros1912 Further than that, they could have shipped from the nearest store for fastest and cheapest shipping like Amazon does from it's warehouses. That would have created a few extra jobs and increased sales from it's retail locations helping everyone in the process. I didn't ever shop much from Sears mostly because I could get everything I wanted closer to home, but for some things like hand tools it was worth the trip. And if you were lucky enough to have a Sears Surplus store nearby the prices were awesome.
Used to work at a Sears store as a youngster. I hated when people brought Craftsman tools back in for a refund and the company would make us destroy them before putting them in the dumpster. Most of them had nothing wrong with them.
I saw a Sears house at the Nixon library in California. His childhood house was a Sears house. Don’t forget the sears motorcycles that were made by Puch in Austria. Sears Allstate 250 is a cool bike.
When I was growing up as a young boy we lived in a big 2-story house. My Dad was resizing a full size window into a Kitchen window over a sink when an actual kitchen was put in. The old man who lived across the alley came over and said he remembered when the local freight delivery guy who had horses and a wagon hauled the Montgomery Wards home we were living in. He said it was freighted in just in time for the need of the carpenters. He pointed out some numbers on the wood that was under the clapboard siding. That house is still standing today and even survived a tornado when houses next to it did not.
I ordered a bicycle from Sear Catalog. It was shipped by train from Chicago to southern IL to our town on the Wabash River. I rode my junky old bicycle down to the train station 2 or 3 times a day to bug Mr. Ammon, the stationmaster if my bike had come in. That was when I became enamored with the Morse Code. His key had the prerequisite Prince Albert can resting on it to act as an amplifier. Of course, the railroad telegraphers' code relied on the spaces between the clicks, not dots and dashes. A good ham radio friend and his scheduled Thursday night contact with another very old ham used to play "Burn Out" by getting up to around 70wpm. Then they would in the middle of their sending switch to the railroad telegraphers code. It was very noticeable as the Dashes disappeared. I took my old friend to Louisville, KY to a big hamfest. They had a code speed contest and I tried to get him to set in. He refused until they got to 50wpm. He was the last to get perfect copy at 70wpm. He requested 73wpm and they set the machine to that. Perfect copy. Then he asked for 74wpm and no copy as he said it was so fast that everything lost its space. He got a nice certificate and a lot of back-patting from other CW operators who just witnessed the contest.
I've worked on a few of these and helped renovate one. They were good quality for their time but dependent on the labor for the results, and like today DIY often means done poorly. They also depended on being built on a good foundation and that's the biggest problem with the ones built locally here. The local ones are older, and unless they were always well maintained they fall down as fast as any other house in those conditions so many have been lost.
And to think that as a kid born in 2003, I was surprised to be working on sears craftsman lawn mowers, when I had previously assumed that it sold smaller things...
Circuit City got it right when they decided to sell cars. I think they learned from the Sears debacle and set up their own division and stores to sell used already existing cars. Circuit City is gone but CarMax is still here.
Sears also sold farm tractors. As a young man, I worked on Henry J and Nash autos. Also, Willys aero autos, which my friends mother owned one because we had a Willys dealer in our small town. My grandparents always had the previous Sears & Montgomery Wards catalogs in the little house out back with the hole in the middle of the wooden seat and always a 50lb bag of slaked lime that only grandma was allowed to apply to the residue. BTW, a friend's little brother fell through the seat opening one time while we were playing ball in the empty lot next to their house. You never heard so much screaming and how loud he protested when his mother stripped him out in the open and hosed him off. Evansville, IN, was a producer of Briggs bodies that made cars for Dodge. They even shipped them by the Ohio River and down the Mississippi River. One of their car-carrying boats capsized near Cave-In-Rock, IL. It was always joked that the ghosts of the famous Cave-In-Rock river pirates/thieves ghosts had attacked the car-carrying boat.
Born in Feb 1949, remember seeing one in the Sears store at The Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo, CA. It was a shock seeing it parked inside the store, guess that's why I remember it. It was Blue.
I have a 1964 Sears Allstate scooter made by Vespa, and a 1979 Sears Free Spirit 50cc pedal moped made by Puch/Kromag. Both are in excellent running condition.
My Grandfather bought a Ford Model T chassis from Sears in 1920 and he built the bodywork for it. The body was mostly wood and canvas. It was very small, just big enough for he and my grandmother. He called it his spider, as that's what it resembled. Yes, I have a picture of it.
I'm 71 and Sears selling the automobiles was before my time but when I was a kid I remember the Allstate motorcycles they sold out of their auto dept. There also was an Allstate Vespa style scooter. Also if you wanted Allstate insurance you went to Sears. At the Sears in our town the Allstate office was a one man booth at the bottom of the escalator. Sears had one characteristic I never saw anywhere else. The public address system played that department store music non stop but was occasionally interrupted by a series of various melodic tones. Never did find out what the purpose of the tones were.
I love looking for Sears homes, great episode =) I’m happy you saw the Tucker in that design as well, it also looks like 1950 studebaker bullet nose as well
A terrific subject. Thorough and entertainingly presented. We all liked it here. You may have perfectly explained the eventual cause of the demise of Sears as a company, as well. The cars were out dated merchandise. That factor is what did in Sears as a company many decades later. The bean counters won as they always do in the short run; often killing the innovative characteristics of a company which eventually destroys the spirit driving a company and its products. An exceptionally well done and characteristically insightful video. Well done, Jon.
Thanks. I enjoyed this one, but I'll admit I thought it was going to be a very short and very quick one to pull together. not "Find a Sears house and go on location to film the intro" type video. :)
They were cheap to get, lightweight, and easily converted to the purpose. Most were turned into "Gassers" which were as popular as the Top Fuel category till the mid- 60's. Were it not for drag racing they probably wouldn't be remembered now.
I can see why the failures at the time but watching this today I have to confess the Model "M" is so quirky it's absolutely gorgeous and the Allstate fastback has stunning lines. Honestly I didn't know about this and I'm kinda shocked. I'm sure someone stuffed a Ford flathead in an Allstate. It was the right price...
I've heard of the Kaiser/Allstate before. I didn't know they had earlier attempts to sell cars. I can see why that one failed too. I wasn't up to the current state of technology.
Great video! I recall seeing one of these Allstate cars in the early 1960s. I still recall that rear logo with the chrome outline of the continental USA, During the Korean war, my Dad was stationed at Nellis AFB north of Las Vegas and our neighbor had a Henry J. As a kid, I was always there to watch him when he tinkered with it. Thanks for a well done reach back in time.
My grandpa told me Sears catalogs were very popular back in those early days. They made sure everyone in the family got one because they were also used in the outhouse for toilet paper.
Catalogues were a big thing in rural Australia, but only up to fridges & coppers. This is quite hilarious, would I buy an IKEA 'Bjorn' to finish assembly at home? I'd rather buy GM Korea lol. 2,363 seems a decent result for such a silly idea. _Looks beautiful in NC in Autumn. We call that house design "California Bungalows" here, distinguished by that lower roofline, squared verandah & the angular theme. Typically 1932 - 1945 builds in double brick. Spring & 30c here. Cheers Jon._ 🇦🇺
The demise of the catalog really impacted our household. The older folks remember how the Christmas season began when the Sears Christmas catalog arrived. Without it young folks never appreciate the wonderful moments of imagining toys and scenes could be theirs too as seen in the catalog. Shopping on the Internet today presents no such nostalgic moments.
My small community has several kit homes from sears. The saratoga model that was pictured in the 1914 sears catalog was 4 doors down from me, but it burned down about 5 years ago. Mine is also a kit, but its a Chicago wrecking company home from 1905.
Jon, good video, you went in a completely new direction. I was one of many that didn't shop at Sears as much as I might have, and I miss the stores alot. Much Success.
They've already partnered with brands like Hyundai and are working on the concept. And remember, just like Sears you can buy (tiny) houses from Amazon.
@@AllCarswithJon There are some video's on TH-cam about this. Things are really moving quickly. With dealerships in such trouble the direct sell idea (like Tesla today and Daewoo of several decades ago) is picking up steam. Have you ever thought of doing a video on the history of direct auto selling in the U.S. ? th-cam.com/users/shortsTMQdodC5_9w
I remember buying my 1st 19" color TV with remote using Sears white and Gold fonts Credit Card in special Design shape. I still have my 1st Credit cards issued under my name.
Fascinating. As I understand it, many of their kit houses have stood the test of time quite well. The Henry J/All State is an attractive looking design; the kind of small car that appeals to my British sensibilities. I can understand that it may not have been what the US consumer was looking for. However in the UK and Europe during what they termed The Post-War Austerity Era, steel in countries like Britain for example, became strictly rationed while exports were prioritised as a means of getting the more or less bankrupted economy back on an even keel. Witness the Beetle, Morris Minor, Citroen 2CV and many others - all of which clamoured to fill the need for utilitarian transport. These small American cars like Crosley, and Kaiser J may not have been born from the same kind of restrictions, but they were very much of a similar ethos.
Nice setting for the intro. I’ve only read the story of Allstate and Sears’s ambition to sell cars from Wikipedia. So it was very interesting to hear the details. Too bad both Kaiser Frazer and Sears don’t exist anymore.
Appreciate the kind words. I'm fascinated by the Sears homes and would love to look into them more, but it's outside the scope of the channel. So I opted for a quick intro in front of one. I was actually very, very concerned that the intro was too long into Sears history and the houses. :)
@@AllCarswithJonHeck, no way! The intro was perfect for understanding what kind of company Sears was. I’d watch a Sears home video if you made one. I don’t think the folks on this channel mind at all.😅
I know this is a show about Sears but fun fact at one time Montgomery Ward also offered vehicles I've actually seen one in my lifetime it was called a Warlock. It was kinda like a El Camino but it had the Montgomery ward badge I was blown away by it. Think it was a 1978 or 1980 year model very very cool little vehicle
There's a young guy that goes to my local cruise that has two Henry's Js. I think one is a Sears car. It came with a goofy single wheel trailer that attaches at two points on the car and the wheel pivots. My dad also had a Henry J that he drag raced in the late 60s, early 70s
In the Illinois community where I live, there are still a number of Sears "Honor-Bilt" homes...but I have never seen an Allstate automobile. The idea of someone ordering a car from a catalog was truly unreal in 1910, much less 1952. And Kaiser-Frazer dealers treated the Allstate as something to be avoided, despite the fact it was based on the Henry J, which had already entered its own nosedive in 1952 after selling more than 81,000 cars in 1951... Those looking for a compact car went for the Nash Rambler!
Nobody called them "Wil--ISS" that only came about recently. It's something only you kids do. Even the Willys Dealer pronounced it "Wil-EZE". Sugar Magnolia--- "Jump like a Willys in four wheel drive. She's a summer love in the spring, fall and winter. She can make happy any man alive"
@@geraldscott4302 Yeah I owned a couple of them over the years, and later on I owned a Kaiser Jeep Pickup made before AMC acquired them. Nobody ever called them Wil--ISSS. If someone would have insisted on saying it Wil--ISS like "What Chu Talking about Willis" We would have looked at them like they were some kind of weirdo
They also sold an Allstate version of the famous Italian Vespa scooters by piaggio...and high standard firearms, from Connecticut,under the jc Higgins brand name. Im sure theres many more too
Their second attempt failed because it was a very very small car when the market wanted full size cars. Still may have been a hard sell if it was a normal car.
My man.... that intro took me over 30-45 minutes to film. EVERY time I got into it... along comes Mr. LeafBlowerNoise. The absolute worst part was they apparently had contracts for houses on both sides of the street. So it literally didn't matter where I set up, they followed me. I swear the dude made eye contact with me while walking towards me blowing leaves... But it's all good. i hope you enjoyed the rest of the video! :)
Sears was the Amazon before internet. The problem with the rebadged Henry J. It was a very cheap car. Cheap as in quality as well as price. It had a trunk area, but had no opening trunk lid. Seats that ripped when still new from passenger weight. The same price got a buyer a much better slightly used car.
Considering the cars (the good basic vehicles) that were available back in 1952 I'm surprised these little Allstate's didn't sell. They looked as nice as any other car but the price was pretty much as any Chev or Ford.
Take a good look at the chassis layout at 3:03 and it seems that the first Sears car was also the first car in history with dual exhaust. Puch is pronounced "Poohk."
Sears had credit you could pay low amounts to get you to buy . They sold motorcycles to Bridgestone bikes . They sold Boy Scout uniforms and Girl Scout uniforms. Sears kept the poor alive . America is gone .
Interesting Jon, while Tesla is similar, unfortunately regulations would hinder this type of sales. With low sales, rebranding as track car, rally or special registered car, i could see this happening in Australia at a profit. Gone is Ford Falcon n Holden Commodore but as the local as age, less of them to purchase because value clean examples maybe private equity firm could by either Ford or Holden factory line. PE buying old rolling line, with stamps n other parts proven, paid for original model, PE could offer chassis car with suspension, wheels this to avoid buying full rights off original manufacture. I could see heap Australians buying this rolling chassis at reasonable price then adding dash parts, engine LS1? transmission BTR 4speed auto (Australian made) i reckon these hybrid powertrain, rolling chassis would make cheap cars or utes, while limited for road use, Australians could service themselves, without dealerships. Future Mad Max cars?
Pe? The lines for the 10 year old VF Commodore and 15 year old FG Falcon were destroyed.. Maybe in 2017 they could have been saved. But Broadmeadows plant is stripped out and bring turned into industrial estates like Doveton was.
They may have flopped at selling cars, because they limited their inventory to poor retail performers in the first place, but they succeeded at everything else and rebranded many popular firearms models most notably having Marlin make them 336’d but stamp them Sears and Winchester to add Sears or Ted Williams on their 94’s headed to Sears gun counters.
Sears sold guns and outboard motors motorcycles boat's and good clothing and combat boots and everything was made in USA that's why China and Amazon and computer buying killed it
Different parts of a store selling different types of items. Pots and pans in one department and sheets and towels in another, sporting goods in yet another, etc.
Great content-! ->Please -->>Note: The plural of Sears; is Sears; it is >>both: Singular; &, Plural-! You do NOT add an extra "s" to the "s" at the end of their name!
$500 for a model a ford . they want 10 - 18 thousand for those . my dad showed horses for his . why could never get him to buy another . even when i said i'd help him pay for it .
Seems odd that they didn't just keep a couple cars in parking lots for demonstration purposes (a base option and a top trim option). Not like it would have been a big expense to keep a couple cars on hand and take them down to the car wash it once a week. Of course no one is going to want to buy a car they can't even test drive.
I suspect there may have been a few stores that did. The resources I could find said that "most" stores had none on hand, but I couldn't find any information about how many may have or anything else.
I have bought many brand new motorcycles I never test rode. I stopped buying new motorcycles when they became the flat black computerized abominations they are today.
Mom had a sears house built from a kit still standing the early car was junk the friction clutch didnt live long. Most catalouges ended in the outhouse before charmin the henry j allsh..t was another pffft ask someone ho owned one dad had one 😂❤. Was a contest to name the car dad said my carr henry j was in insside job 😮
The catalog model helped break the back of segregation, allowing them to bypass the local "WHITES ONLY" stores, the boxes and packages were delivered direct to the customer's homes. They were not bound by the "black laws" and sold guns as well as ammunition direct to the people. When I black family was not allowed to buy dress shirts, pants and suits , only work clothes, from the local merchant. The post office would show up with these items. it was that democratization of commerce that helped break the Jim Crow laws, as well as making segregation look as foolish as it really was, they helped open local markets up for all people.
The light blue car with the Keystone rims has been modified and its bumpers have been removed. The stock version cars had what looked to be fairly sturdy bumpers.
Sears was bigger and more diversified than Mal*Wart. Sears was not just a store chain. They were a bank, real estate broker, stock broker, insurance company.....They only thing they didn't deal in was perhaps nuclear weapons. LOL.
@@dr.elvis.h.christ They DID actually sell groceries in 2 different eras: The late 19th and early 20th Centuries through their catalog. (Obviously food that did not require refrigeration) and believe it or not in the early 21st Century! their "Sears Grand" format stores sold items similar to those found in a 7-11 or a Circle K.
i bet a car with no showroom to display,no test drives and no servicing,is thought as a risk....maybe even a scam...a price that is too cheap that would be thought of as too good to be true .. ,thats why people went to nash instead
No, im almost 60,and remember going to sears back in the early 70s for everything, they were the superstore of their day and trustworthy, if there was a problem, they took care of it. Basically, you got a popular item re badged in a sears brand name. It was a big loss in our town when the sears roebuck burned down
The Allstate was a rebadged Henry J. I think it was only offered for one year. An old friend of mine in his 90s had one of the "horseless carriage" Sears that his father bought. It arrived by train in pieces and you put it together. Can't remember what year it is.
They were offered for 2 years. Like the Henry J, the first year didn't have an opening trunk; access was by folding down the back seat. The Nash Metropolitan didn't have a trunk lid either.
Amazing how much bad management decisions kil sales. Also, many of these "lessons" are repeated even today, as if nobody reads history.... (Sounds of laughter.)
Do you remember, or know someone when you were younger, who had a Sears or Allstate branded car?
I believe the majority of your audience is younger than you think.
60% is over 45. Just FYI. :)
My dad always said his mother had one but this was before my time.
I have a 66 sears allstate 250 2 stroke motorcycle.
th-cam.com/users/shortsf7XYGU56CKU
When I was a kid, there was nothing better than getting the thick Sears book searching for the toy section.
For Real that was the Christmas wish book in the 70's and early 80's I sure do miss them simple times
So true MrDan
When i gotta little older it was bras and panties ...😮...lol
100 years ago, Sears was the Amazon of its day when you could buy from their catalog. They also sold houses. It is sad the downfall of Sears and Kmart which was an iconic brand.
And one day we will say the same about Amazon. All these big companies fold sooner or later.
@@LynxStarAuto I think Bezo's once said someday Amazon will fail
Kmart killed Sears.
I can't say I miss either one.
@@iFixJunk They were both on their last leg when they merged. It won't be long before they close up shop for good.
I have many Sears and Craftsmen tools I bought in the 60s. They're indestructible.
Sears was the Amazon of the day. The DUMBEST thing they did was to get rid of their catalog.
Them getting rid of catalogs created a bigger market for roll toilet paper in very rural areas.
@ 😂😂. True. But in all seriousness, while it seemed to be a good business decision at the time, it put them at a great disadvantage when the world changed and companies like Amazon were in place to meet the demand. Had they kept their catalog, all they would have had to do was bring it into the internet era rather than have to build from the ground up. And they had name recognition whereas Amazon was the. A new startup known for selling books
@@bigun447 When Sears discontinued their catalog rural residents probably felt a reliable source of TP had been wiped out.
With the catalog they already had the physical infrastructure and brand recognition to be a perfect online retailer. They just needed to hire the right people to put the catalog online. Has to be one of the biggest missed opportunities in retail history.
@@iluvcamaros1912 Further than that, they could have shipped from the nearest store for fastest and cheapest shipping like Amazon does from it's warehouses. That would have created a few extra jobs and increased sales from it's retail locations helping everyone in the process. I didn't ever shop much from Sears mostly because I could get everything I wanted closer to home, but for some things like hand tools it was worth the trip. And if you were lucky enough to have a Sears Surplus store nearby the prices were awesome.
Used to work at a Sears store as a youngster. I hated when people brought Craftsman tools back in for a refund and the company would make us destroy them before putting them in the dumpster. Most of them had nothing wrong with them.
I saw a Sears house at the Nixon library in California. His childhood house was a Sears house. Don’t forget the sears motorcycles that were made by Puch in Austria. Sears Allstate 250 is a cool bike.
Mentioned the motorcycles and scooters near the end of the video during my outro... as a way to see who stayed to the end!
@ you caught me leaving. Ouch.
my uncle had one in Miami
They Just Renovated a 1950's Sears House across the street.
When I was growing up as a young boy we lived in a big 2-story house. My Dad was resizing a full size window into a Kitchen window over a sink when an actual kitchen was put in. The old man who lived across the alley came over and said he remembered when the local freight delivery guy who had horses and a wagon hauled the Montgomery Wards home we were living in. He said it was freighted in just in time for the need of the carpenters. He pointed out some numbers on the wood that was under the clapboard siding. That house is still standing today and even survived a tornado when houses next to it did not.
@@bigun447 I was thinking of Montgomery Wards. also! Their catalog was just as big & fun to look at!
I ordered a bicycle from Sear Catalog. It was shipped by train from Chicago to southern IL to our town on the Wabash River. I rode my junky old bicycle down to the train station 2 or 3 times a day to bug Mr. Ammon, the stationmaster if my bike had come in. That was when I became enamored with the Morse Code. His key had the prerequisite Prince Albert can resting on it to act as an amplifier. Of course, the railroad telegraphers' code relied on the spaces between the clicks, not dots and dashes. A good ham radio friend and his scheduled Thursday night contact with another very old ham used to play "Burn Out" by getting up to around 70wpm. Then they would in the middle of their sending switch to the railroad telegraphers code. It was very noticeable as the Dashes disappeared.
I took my old friend to Louisville, KY to a big hamfest. They had a code speed contest and I tried to get him to set in. He refused until they got to 50wpm. He was the last to get perfect copy at 70wpm. He requested 73wpm and they set the machine to that. Perfect copy. Then he asked for 74wpm and no copy as he said it was so fast that everything lost its space. He got a nice certificate and a lot of back-patting from other CW operators who just witnessed the contest.
I've worked on a few of these and helped renovate one. They were good quality for their time but dependent on the labor for the results, and like today DIY often means done poorly. They also depended on being built on a good foundation and that's the biggest problem with the ones built locally here. The local ones are older, and unless they were always well maintained they fall down as fast as any other house in those conditions so many have been lost.
It's the railroad that made Sears possible... No railroad no Sears...😊
Like Bezos is doing with trucking now.
And to think that as a kid born in 2003, I was surprised to be working on sears craftsman lawn mowers, when I had previously assumed that it sold smaller things...
Circuit City got it right when they decided to sell cars. I think they learned from the Sears debacle and set up their own division and stores to sell used already existing cars. Circuit City is gone but CarMax is still here.
Interesting. I didn’t know that connection.
🚗🙂
Sears also sold farm tractors. As a young man, I worked on Henry J and Nash autos. Also, Willys aero autos, which my friends mother owned one because we had a Willys dealer in our small town. My grandparents always had the previous Sears & Montgomery Wards catalogs in the little house out back with the hole in the middle of the wooden seat and always a 50lb bag of slaked lime that only grandma was allowed to apply to the residue. BTW, a friend's little brother fell through the seat opening one time while we were playing ball in the empty lot next to their house. You never heard so much screaming and how loud he protested when his mother stripped him out in the open and hosed him off.
Evansville, IN, was a producer of Briggs bodies that made cars for Dodge. They even shipped them by the Ohio River and down the Mississippi River. One of their car-carrying boats capsized near Cave-In-Rock, IL. It was always joked that the ghosts of the famous Cave-In-Rock river pirates/thieves ghosts had attacked the car-carrying boat.
motorcycles, too Allstate
They also sold machine tools like mills and metal lathes. They sold guns, you name it.
Born in Feb 1949, remember seeing one in the Sears store at The Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo, CA. It was a shock seeing it parked inside the store, guess that's why I remember it. It was Blue.
I have a 1964 Sears Allstate scooter made by Vespa, and a 1979 Sears Free Spirit 50cc pedal moped made by Puch/Kromag. Both are in excellent running condition.
I have a 66 sears allstate 250 2 stroke motorcycle. made by puch
My Grandfather bought a Ford Model T chassis from Sears in 1920 and he built the bodywork for it. The body was mostly wood and canvas. It was very small, just big enough for he and my grandmother. He called it his spider, as that's what it resembled. Yes, I have a picture of it.
My Grandfather had a 1908 Sears Runabout back then
I'm 71 and Sears selling the automobiles was before my time but when I was a kid I remember the Allstate motorcycles they sold out of their auto dept. There also was an Allstate Vespa style scooter. Also if you wanted Allstate insurance you went to Sears. At the Sears in our town the Allstate office was a one man booth at the bottom of the escalator. Sears had one characteristic I never saw anywhere else. The public address system played that department store music non stop but was occasionally interrupted by a series of various melodic tones. Never did find out what the purpose of the tones were.
I love looking for Sears homes, great episode =)
I’m happy you saw the Tucker in that design as well, it also looks like 1950 studebaker bullet nose as well
Great vid, really enjoyed!! 👍👍
Thanks!
@@AllCarswithJon 👍
A terrific subject. Thorough and entertainingly presented. We all liked it here. You may have perfectly explained the eventual cause of the demise of Sears as a company, as well. The cars were out dated merchandise. That factor is what did in Sears as a company many decades later. The bean counters won as they always do in the short run; often killing the innovative characteristics of a company which eventually destroys the spirit driving a company and its products. An exceptionally well done and characteristically insightful video. Well done, Jon.
Thanks. I enjoyed this one, but I'll admit I thought it was going to be a very short and very quick one to pull together. not "Find a Sears house and go on location to film the intro" type video. :)
Great video On sears car history !
Glad you enjoyed it!
😊👍 Drag racers loved them!
They were cheap to get, lightweight, and easily converted to the purpose. Most were turned into "Gassers" which were as popular as the Top Fuel category till the mid- 60's. Were it not for drag racing they probably wouldn't be remembered now.
Nice to see a video made by a human being instead of all this AI rubbish we're bombarded with on TH-cam.
True Dual Exhaust on that buggy!
I can see why the failures at the time but watching this today I have to confess the Model "M" is so quirky it's absolutely gorgeous and the Allstate fastback has stunning lines. Honestly I didn't know about this and I'm kinda shocked. I'm sure someone stuffed a Ford flathead in an Allstate. It was the right price...
I've heard of the Kaiser/Allstate before. I didn't know they had earlier attempts to sell cars. I can see why that one failed too. I wasn't up to the current state of technology.
Great video! I recall seeing one of these Allstate cars in the early 1960s. I still recall that rear logo with the chrome outline of the continental USA,
During the Korean war, my Dad was stationed at Nellis AFB north of Las Vegas and our neighbor had a Henry J. As a kid, I was always there to watch him when he tinkered with it.
Thanks for a well done reach back in time.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
My grandpa told me Sears catalogs were very popular back in those early days. They made sure everyone in the family got one because they were also used in the outhouse for toilet paper.
This is great! First time to the channel. Awesome stuff.
Welcome aboard!
There are preppers probably drooling over the mail order house kit.
Great video as usual
Thanks again!
Catalogues were a big thing in rural Australia, but only up to fridges & coppers. This is quite hilarious, would I buy an IKEA 'Bjorn' to finish assembly at home? I'd rather buy GM Korea lol. 2,363 seems a decent result for such a silly idea.
_Looks beautiful in NC in Autumn. We call that house design "California Bungalows" here, distinguished by that lower roofline, squared verandah & the angular theme. Typically 1932 - 1945 builds in double brick. Spring & 30c here. Cheers Jon._ 🇦🇺
The demise of the catalog really impacted our household. The older folks remember how the Christmas season began when the Sears Christmas catalog arrived. Without it young folks never appreciate the wonderful moments of imagining toys and scenes could be theirs too as seen in the catalog. Shopping on the Internet today presents no such nostalgic moments.
@@wescam2958 Yeah, we used to go through Sears and JC Penny catalogs and circle the stuff we wanted.
My small community has several kit homes from sears. The saratoga model that was pictured in the 1914 sears catalog was 4 doors down from me, but it burned down about 5 years ago. Mine is also a kit, but its a Chicago wrecking company home from 1905.
My father told me that you could order a car from the catalog, but it was a real pain to return.
Very well done. You've earned a new subscriber.
Thanks, welcome aboard!
Jon, good video, you went in a completely new direction. I was one of many that didn't shop at Sears as much as I might have, and I miss the stores alot. Much Success.
Thanks! :)
Now imagine Amazon selling cars...
It is in the works. Google it. It is coming.
I could see them selling an emerging Chinese EV in the future.
I could definitely see that happening, in the future!
They've already partnered with brands like Hyundai and are working on the concept. And remember, just like Sears you can buy (tiny) houses from Amazon.
@@AllCarswithJon There are some video's on TH-cam about this. Things are really moving quickly. With dealerships in such trouble the direct sell idea (like Tesla today and Daewoo of several decades ago) is picking up steam. Have you ever thought of doing a video on the history of direct auto selling in the U.S. ? th-cam.com/users/shortsTMQdodC5_9w
I remember buying my 1st 19" color TV with remote using Sears white and Gold fonts Credit Card in special Design shape. I still have my 1st Credit cards issued under my name.
Cool!
They weren’t Walmart………they were AMAZON.
Both Walmart and Amazon sell made in China JUNK. Sears sold high quality stuff.
America
They were both. They had catalog sales and a lot of retail stores.
I have a 1976 Free Spirit Brittany bicycle that was sold by Sears. I bought it at a thrift store. Excellent bike and I wouldn't trade it for anything
Fascinating. As I understand it, many of their kit houses have stood the test of time quite well. The Henry J/All State is an attractive looking design; the kind of small car that appeals to my British sensibilities. I can understand that it may not have been what the US consumer was looking for. However in the UK and Europe during what they termed The Post-War Austerity Era, steel in countries like Britain for example, became strictly rationed while exports were prioritised as a means of getting the more or less bankrupted economy back on an even keel. Witness the Beetle, Morris Minor, Citroen 2CV and many others - all of which clamoured to fill the need for utilitarian transport. These small American cars like Crosley, and Kaiser J may not have been born from the same kind of restrictions, but they were very much of a similar ethos.
Nice setting for the intro. I’ve only read the story of Allstate and Sears’s ambition to sell cars from Wikipedia. So it was very interesting to hear the details. Too bad both Kaiser Frazer and Sears don’t exist anymore.
Appreciate the kind words. I'm fascinated by the Sears homes and would love to look into them more, but it's outside the scope of the channel. So I opted for a quick intro in front of one.
I was actually very, very concerned that the intro was too long into Sears history and the houses. :)
@@AllCarswithJonHeck, no way! The intro was perfect for understanding what kind of company Sears was. I’d watch a Sears home video if you made one. I don’t think the folks on this channel mind at all.😅
Never heard of this. Thank you.
Very interesting excellent cheers 🥂 😊
Thank you kindly
@AllCarswithJon 😎
Never even knew. Thanks!
You're Welcome
I know this is a show about Sears but fun fact at one time Montgomery Ward also offered vehicles I've actually seen one in my lifetime it was called a Warlock. It was kinda like a El Camino but it had the Montgomery ward badge I was blown away by it. Think it was a 1978 or 1980 year model very very cool little vehicle
There's a young guy that goes to my local cruise that has two Henry's Js. I think one is a Sears car. It came with a goofy single wheel trailer that attaches at two points on the car and the wheel pivots. My dad also had a Henry J that he drag raced in the late 60s, early 70s
Kaiser-Frasier was junk!
I have a 51 and love it.
Their copy of the Henry J was at least a good reliable car. The willys hurricane engine was practically bullet proof.
there was a Henry J for sale here where I live just a couple months ago,, cool looking little cars
@@chrisr4188 understandable
Imagine trying to stock and ship 100,000 unique items to the whole country without the aid of computers.
In the Illinois community where I live, there are still a number of Sears "Honor-Bilt" homes...but I have never seen an Allstate automobile. The idea of someone ordering a car from a catalog was truly unreal in 1910, much less 1952. And Kaiser-Frazer dealers treated the Allstate as something to be avoided, despite the fact it was based on the Henry J, which had already entered its own nosedive in 1952 after selling more than 81,000 cars in 1951... Those looking for a compact car went for the Nash Rambler!
Let's not forget the Seats Allstate motorcycles or the Montgomery Wards Riverside motorcycle. I had both. My father had the Henry J automobile in blue
Mentioned the motorcycles and the scooters they sold in the outro of the video. Just to see who watches to the end! LOL
Nobody called them "Wil--ISS" that only came about recently. It's something only you kids do. Even the Willys Dealer pronounced it "Wil-EZE".
Sugar Magnolia--- "Jump like a Willys in four wheel drive. She's a summer love in the spring, fall and winter. She can make happy any man alive"
It's pronounced Willy's, like something the belongs to Willy. I used to own a 1962 Willys Jeep.
@@geraldscott4302 Yeah I owned a couple of them over the years, and later on I owned a Kaiser Jeep Pickup made before AMC acquired them.
Nobody ever called them Wil--ISSS. If someone would have insisted on saying it Wil--ISS like "What Chu Talking about Willis" We would have looked at them like they were some kind of weirdo
They also sold an Allstate version of the famous Italian Vespa scooters by piaggio...and high standard firearms, from Connecticut,under the jc Higgins brand name. Im sure theres many more too
I mentioned the scooters and motorcycles during my ending in the video. There to see who watched the whole thing. :)
Their second attempt failed because it was a very very small car when the market wanted full size cars. Still may have been a hard sell if it was a normal car.
I have a 1966 Sears Gilera motorcycle in my junkpile. They also sold rebadged Deluxe motorcycles c1911-12 as Sears motorcycles. 😂
Costco failed too
How so?
Bravo Sir thank you
Thanks! :)
8:14 the poster on the wall says "41.57 Miles Per Gallon!". Here we are 70 years later desperately trying to catch up.
But the cars today that match that have much more than 80 HP.
0:14 I hate leaf blowers!
My man.... that intro took me over 30-45 minutes to film. EVERY time I got into it... along comes Mr. LeafBlowerNoise.
The absolute worst part was they apparently had contracts for houses on both sides of the street. So it literally didn't matter where I set up, they followed me. I swear the dude made eye contact with me while walking towards me blowing leaves...
But it's all good. i hope you enjoyed the rest of the video! :)
@AllCarswithJon I enjoyed the video very much! I have a leaf blower army down the street from me, they are so annoying lol. Have a great weekend 😀
Sears was the Amazon before internet. The problem with the rebadged Henry J. It was a very cheap car. Cheap as in quality as well as price. It had a trunk area, but had no opening trunk lid. Seats that ripped when still new from passenger weight. The same price got a buyer a much better slightly used car.
Early Nash metropolitans also had non opening boot/trunk
Considering the cars (the good basic vehicles) that were available back in 1952 I'm surprised these little Allstate's didn't sell. They looked as nice as any other car but the price was pretty much as any Chev or Ford.
My dad had an Allstate 350. I think it was a Zundapp
Take a good look at the chassis layout at 3:03 and it seems that the first Sears car was also the first car in history with dual exhaust.
Puch is pronounced "Poohk."
Sears had credit you could pay low amounts to get you to buy . They sold motorcycles to Bridgestone bikes . They sold Boy Scout uniforms and Girl Scout uniforms. Sears kept the poor alive . America is gone .
My uncle bought his maverick at sears and my Levi’s are from sears roebuck. They just demolish it
Sears was the Amazon. They just couldn’t change with the times
And along came K Mart and that's all it wrote
I admit I'd like to find one of those Sears Allstate cars & I KNOW it was a rebadged Henry J car
try to get it insured with Allstate Insurance!🤣🤣
Interesting Jon, while Tesla is similar, unfortunately regulations would hinder this type of sales. With low sales, rebranding as track car, rally or special registered car, i could see this happening in Australia at a profit. Gone is Ford Falcon n Holden Commodore but as the local as age, less of them to purchase because value clean examples maybe private equity firm could by either Ford or Holden factory line. PE buying old rolling line, with stamps n other parts proven, paid for original model, PE could offer chassis car with suspension, wheels this to avoid buying full rights off original manufacture. I could see heap Australians buying this rolling chassis at reasonable price then adding dash parts, engine LS1? transmission BTR 4speed auto (Australian made) i reckon these hybrid powertrain, rolling chassis would make cheap cars or utes, while limited for road use, Australians could service themselves, without dealerships. Future Mad Max cars?
Pe? The lines for the 10 year old VF Commodore and 15 year old FG Falcon were destroyed.. Maybe in 2017 they could have been saved. But Broadmeadows plant is stripped out and bring turned into industrial estates like Doveton was.
The Sears Allstate Indy Car is probably one of the most infamous racing cars ever to run the Indy 500...
They may have flopped at selling cars, because they limited their inventory to poor retail performers in the first place, but they succeeded at everything else and rebranded many popular firearms models most notably having Marlin make them 336’d but stamp them Sears and Winchester to add Sears or Ted Williams on their 94’s headed to Sears gun counters.
Sears sold guns and outboard motors motorcycles boat's and good clothing and combat boots and everything was made in USA that's why China and Amazon and computer buying killed it
My parents told me that I rode to the hospital to get born in 1959 in their Kaiser Henry J.
What is a depatment?
Different parts of a store selling different types of items. Pots and pans in one department and sheets and towels in another, sporting goods in yet another, etc.
@browngreen933 Oh, I see. So a depatment is similar to a department. Is it "department" with a Boston accent?
@@LucidDreamer54321 That's "Bastun" to you 😂
@P_RO_ Or "Bahstan"
Wal-Mart ventured into automotive sales (& failed) as well.u
Great content-!
->Please -->>Note:
The plural of Sears; is Sears; it is >>both: Singular; &, Plural-!
You do NOT add an extra "s" to the "s" at the end of their name!
I wonder if it would have been more successful if they’d rebadged a better vehicle such as the Nash .
$500 for a model a ford . they want 10 - 18 thousand for those . my dad showed horses for his . why could never get him to buy another . even when i said i'd help him pay for it .
Seems odd that they didn't just keep a couple cars in parking lots for demonstration purposes (a base option and a top trim option). Not like it would have been a big expense to keep a couple cars on hand and take them down to the car wash it once a week. Of course no one is going to want to buy a car they can't even test drive.
I suspect there may have been a few stores that did. The resources I could find said that "most" stores had none on hand, but I couldn't find any information about how many may have or anything else.
I have bought many brand new motorcycles I never test rode. I stopped buying new motorcycles when they became the flat black computerized abominations they are today.
Mom had a sears house built from a kit still standing the early car was junk the friction clutch didnt live long. Most catalouges ended in the outhouse before charmin the henry j allsh..t was another pffft ask someone ho owned one dad had one 😂❤. Was a contest to name the car dad said my carr henry j was in insside job 😮
The catalog model helped break the back of segregation, allowing them to bypass the local "WHITES ONLY" stores, the boxes and packages were delivered direct to the customer's homes. They were not bound by the "black laws" and sold guns as well as ammunition direct to the people. When I black family was not allowed to buy dress shirts, pants and suits , only work clothes, from the local merchant. The post office would show up with these items. it was that democratization of commerce that helped break the Jim Crow laws, as well as making segregation look as foolish as it really was, they helped open local markets up for all people.
Thanks for bringing this up in a comment. That fact was beyond the topic of the video so I didn't want to go down that rabbit-hole. :)
Looks like it has zero bumper protection.
The light blue car with the Keystone rims has been modified and its bumpers have been removed. The stock version cars had what looked to be fairly sturdy bumpers.
I wish amazon sold houses.
they do
Sears was bigger and more diversified than Mal*Wart. Sears was not just a store chain. They were a bank, real estate broker, stock broker, insurance company.....They only thing they didn't deal in was perhaps nuclear weapons. LOL.
I never saw a Sears selling groceries though.
@@dr.elvis.h.christ They DID actually sell groceries in 2 different eras: The late 19th and early 20th Centuries through their catalog. (Obviously food that did not require refrigeration) and believe it or not in the early 21st Century! their "Sears Grand" format stores sold items similar to those found in a 7-11 or a Circle K.
baseball cards too
i bet a car with no showroom to display,no test drives and no servicing,is thought as a risk....maybe even a scam...a price that is too cheap that would be thought of as too good to be true .. ,thats why people went to nash instead
No, im almost 60,and remember going to sears back in the early 70s for everything, they were the superstore of their day and trustworthy, if there was a problem, they took care of it. Basically, you got a popular item re badged in a sears brand name. It was a big loss in our town when the sears roebuck burned down
The Allstate was a rebadged Henry J. I think it was only offered for one year. An old friend of mine in his 90s had one of the "horseless carriage" Sears that his father bought. It arrived by train in pieces and you put it together. Can't remember what year it is.
They were offered for 2 years. Like the Henry J, the first year didn't have an opening trunk; access was by folding down the back seat. The Nash Metropolitan didn't have a trunk lid either.
Amazing how much bad management decisions kil sales. Also, many of these "lessons" are repeated even today, as if nobody reads history....
(Sounds of laughter.)
U could buy a tommy gun if u wanted to
It’s pronounced WILLEEZ, not Willis. 😖
sears stores are in business in Mexico big stores just like what we had here in the USA.