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Old Sears Catalog

linckeil

linckeil

Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2004
Going through some of my father’s old books and came across this. A Sears catalog for Jeep parts with a print date of 9-27-1963.

Internal engine parts (crank, cam, piston, rods, bearings, valves, springs, cylinder head, etc), carburetors, pedal assemblies, clutch parts, exhaust systems, air cleaners, fuel tanks, pumps, ignition systems, wiring, gauges, switches, light assemblies, transmissions / transfer case assemblies/parts, axle housings/parts, knuckles, spindles, hubs, brakes, steering, suspension components, body parts (fenders, tailgate, latches, windshield, etc), seats, canvas tops......

Basically, enough to come close to building an entire jeep, absent the frame.

Anyway, I thought this was interesting. Catalog is in near perfect shape except for the pen mark on the cover. I know Sears sold things like tops and aftermarket accessories, but no idea they sold so much OEM stuff. If I needed a new cylinder head back then I would think to go to the dealer. But Sears must have had some relationship with Jeep to sell these parts. The prices in here make me cry!
 

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linckeil said:
Going through some of my father’s old books and came across this. A Sears catalog for Jeep parts with a print date of 9-27-1963.

Internal engine parts (crank, cam, piston, rods, bearings, valves, springs, cylinder head, etc), carburetors, pedal assemblies, clutch parts, exhaust systems, air cleaners, fuel tanks, pumps, ignition systems, wiring, gauges, switches, light assemblies, transmissions / transfer case assemblies/parts, axle housings/parts, knuckles, spindles, hubs, brakes, steering, suspension components, body parts (fenders, tailgate, latches, windshield, etc), seats, canvas tops......

Basically, enough to come close to building an entire jeep, absent the frame.

Anyway, I thought this was interesting. Catalog is in near perfect shape except for the pen mark on the cover. I know Sears sold things like tops and aftermarket accessories, but no idea they sold so much OEM stuff. If I needed a new cylinder head back then I would think to go to the dealer. But Sears must have had some relationship with Jeep to sell these parts. The prices in here make me cry!
Click to expand...
It's fascinating that Sears blundered themselves out of business.
 
Sears was king in our family, they sold everything. Dad bought our 5-foot tall 250 chick chicken brooder from them, Sears had a full range of poultry products as well as all farm and ranch equipment. They sold fishing gear, guns and ammo, trapping gear and in the old days they even bought raw fur. The folks said they always knew what to get me for xmas because the Sears xmas catalog would fall open to the page of what i wanted because I looked at it so many times. My all time best purchase was in 1975 I bought a ten foot aluminum john boat for $99 delivered. Walked into Cabelas the other day and that same boat was $600. Sears even issued my first credit card, at 19 years old they said I had no credit history so they couldn't w/o my parents co-signing, I said I'm 19 old enough to die for my country and was planning on buying $300 worth of tools but now I won't. They called me back the next day and gave me a $300 limit credit card, used it until they folded. Still have all those USA made Craftsman tools including a 3 ton floor jack and four jack stands that are now 50 years old.
 
I too grew up going with my family to Sears - and my dad particularly gravitated toward the Craftsman tools. I followed suit as I got older, and visited Sears' Craftsman tool section frequently. I now have my own fairly significant collection of USA-manufactured Craftsman hand tools. Around 2009, Craftsman began to shift away from selling American-made tools, and that's when I started looking for the older Made-in-USA versions on eBay (which I still do) instead of going to Sears.

By the time Sears sold Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker several years later, it had lost much of its former quality. SB&D had planned to start manufacturing Craftsman hand tools in the US again around 2018, but to my knowledge, that plan never got off the ground.
 
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For a number of years you could order L134 engines from Sears. They sold the Kaiser "Henry J" car branded as an "Alstate", and the engines they lister were either the "Supersonic" or military surplus engines.
 
I still have a Sears Jeep and Scout parts catalog from around 1973 or 1974, as well as Acme Jeep Parts with a stainless bodied flat-fender CJ on the cover from the same era.
As far as tools, when I was 14 years old in 1974, I got $25 for Christmas and went to Sears for their New Years tool sale. A tray of 3/8” metric sockets, a tray of SAE 3/8” drive sockets, and the 3/8” ratchet were all $5.99 each. I think I also got a set of screwdrivers too. The socket sets are still in daily use, and I still have the ratchet, but its no longer my front-line one.
All my friends thought I was crazy “wasteing” my money of tools instead of playing PacMan and other games at the arcade. With these tools, I could repair old lawnmowers and sell them for my spending money.
 
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At one time Allstate Insurance was partnered with Sears, I had all my travel tools stolen out of my in-bed toolbox of my '77 Chevy. Called my agent and he said go down to Sears see "Charlie" in the tool department and give him your list of stolen tools and he'll send me the bill. Charlie grabbed a four-shelf rolling rack and said go shopping. We walked down every tool aisle and loaded her up like a shopping spree. They didn't seem to care that a lot of my tools weren't Craftsman. I still have those tools in two heavy Craftsman toolboxes ready to travel. Those tools and my old Chevy have been from the tip of Baja/Cabo San Lucas to north of the Arctic Circle on the haul road to Prudhoe Bay.
 
Kimball Knight said:
It's fascinating that Sears blundered themselves out of business.
Click to expand...

Incredible. They were basically the Amazon and Ebay of their time. (PornHub too, if you are old enough to recall their lingerie pages... :twist: )

Sears could have owned on-line shopping. Right up there with Kodak dismissing digital photography. ("Who?')
 
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I can remember going to Sears as a little kid; they had a "nut booth" in the middle of the store where they roasted peanuts and sold bags of hot cashews loaded with salt, along with freh popcorn dripping with real butter! The cashews were my Dad's favorite, and soon became mine.
IIRC, back in the 60's the catalog was about the size of a phone book. It was a rainy day favorite of mine, I could leaf through those pages looking at everything from tools to auto parts, and yes the lingerie section... Sorry for the old fart ramble but damn, I miss those days! And the JC Whitney catalog was a treasure trove of Jeep parts and accessories as well!
 
What's left of my first set of wrenches. Early 80s, 13 year birthday grandma took me shopping at Sears in Santa Monica, CA. Parents had no idea what I was buying but it was to work on my dirtbike. Didn't tell them we were having motocross races in the refinery in El Segundo in the field next to the Edelbrock plant. Can't believe I still have this many considering all the shops I've worked at.
 

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The old JC Whitney catalogs (mentioned above) also were full of Jeep items back in the '60s.
My grandparents would get them in the mail - I used to read and reread them when I visited.
Had not known that JC Penney offered car stuff ever.
Something to look for at garage sales and swap meets.
 
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