Imagine the excitement! You are notified that your new home has arrived at the train station. The whole family can’t wait to see the seal broken on your own boxcar. You now have several tons of building supplies and a 75-page instruction booklet just for you. There’s lumber, shingles, windows, doors, heating and electrical supplies and gallons of paint – not to mention hundreds of pounds of nails.

Sears issued the first specialty catalog for kit houses in 1908. It was the Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans, featuring 22 styles ranging in price from $650–2,500. These DIY houses were primarily assembled by the owners with the help of friends, relatives and other members of the community. According to Sears, “a man of average abilities” could easily assemble the house in approximately 90 days. 

In 1888, Richard Sears first used a printed mailer to advertise watches and jewelry under the banner “The R.W. Sears Watch Co.”  By 1906 the types of items sold had greatly expanded. Th including building supplies. That department was not making a profit. But then came along Frank W. Kushel. He took over the building supplies department and realized supplies could be shipped directly from the factory, thus saving storage costs. Of course, since Sears’s big general merchandise catalogs were already selling everything needed to furnish a house—from beds and chairs to toilets, sinks, and kitchen ranges—the sales of all these items would increase too! One in 5 homes in America already had a Sears catalog in their home.

This Perfection Bathroom Outfit cost $39.10. And shipping? The pieces were being shipped from Wisconsin and Illinois for a total of 450 lbs. I checked the costs for shipping these items to Savannah, GA. where I live. The cost would range from $.88 per 100 lbs. to $1.36 per 100 lbs. A total of $6.12.

Sears helped popularize new homes for newlyweds, which led to the demise of multigenerational family housing. These homes  ushered in gas and electric lighting, indoor plumbing and central heating.