During the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union it was said that instead of dropping bombs on Russia, Sears catalogues should be dropped instead. The population would riot and overturn the government overnight demanding what they saw was available to the west be made available to them.
The Sears catalog was required reading (ahem!) in every outhouse in my neighborhood . . .
Yep. Picked out our Xmas toys. They failed to embrace the future. Got away from retail by buying Dean Witter and creating Discover card.
Kenmore was actually made by Whirlpool. I built refrigerators there in Ft. Smith one summer.
I think they invented layaway.
They stupidly canceled their catalog just a few years before online ordering took off. No foresight.
Could have been Amazon.
BTW, I’ve had a Kenmore washer/dryer for 18 years.
you could get a chemistry set from Sears back in the day. had that and a microscope from there.
You could buy a HOUSE thru the Sears catalog in the 20’s or 30’s.
And for teenage boys the women’s lingerie sections were something to look forward to!