Houses
Could you order a house in pieces?
Sears catalog houses. A true how-it-works story for kids 4–8.
The Sears Modern Homes story, read aloud
Look at all the houses on this street! Every house is made of lots of pieces. Wood, windows, doors, and a roof. So could you order a whole house in pieces? Long ago, you really could!
A big store called Sears had a catalog. A catalog is a book full of pictures of things to buy. A family picked a house from the book. Then a train brought all the house pieces. They rode in a boxcar, like a giant toy box on wheels.
Imagine the mail carrier saying, "Here is your house!" Then the family built it. Grandmas, uncles, friends, and neighbors all helped. They fit it together like a giant puzzle. Can you count three houses out the window?
Quiz the back seat
How did the house pieces travel to the family?
Show the answer
On a train!. On a train! And lots of these houses were made to have warm heat and lights inside.
Sears Modern Homes facts for kids
- Sears sold house kits from its mail-order catalog from 1908 to 1942.
- The kits were mostly shipped in railroad boxcars.
- Many kit houses were put together by the owners with help from family, friends and neighbors.
The Sears Modern Homes story, read aloud
Could you order a whole house by mail? Look out the window and pick a house. Imagine ordering the parts to build one from a shopping book! Sears once sold real houses through a catalog. Buyers picked a design, then ordered a giant building kit.
Most of these kits traveled in railroad boxcars. It was like an enormous construction toy, but you could live inside! Good thing nobody had to squeeze the whole house through a mail slot! The kit supplied most of the building materials. It still took real work and building skills.
Many owners built with help from family, friends, and neighbors. Can you spot a roof? Even a mail-order house needed people to put it together!
Quiz the back seat
How did most Sears house kits travel?
Show the answer
In railroad boxcars. Railroad boxcars! Trains carried most of the materials for these real homes.
Sears Modern Homes facts for kids
- Sears sold real houses through mail-order catalogs.
- The kit supplied most of the building materials for the house.
- Most kits were shipped in railroad boxcars.
Questions kids ask about Sears Modern Homes
Could you really buy a house from a catalog?
Yes, long ago the Sears store sold house kits from its catalog.
How did the house pieces get delivered?
The pieces mostly came by train, packed in big railroad boxcars.
Who built the catalog houses?
Often the family built it themselves, with help from relatives, friends and neighbors.
For grown-ups
Written with AI from public sources, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
- thecraftsmanblog.com/the-history-of-sears-kit-homes
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Modern_Homes
- sears-homes.com/2022/02/were-all-sears-houses-delivered-by-train.html
- trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2094619
- huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr-edge-housingat250-article-072425.html
- searshouses.com
- dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ModernHomessears1936.small_.pdf
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