From 1908 until 1940, Sears sold a product that may seem unusual to us today. Many were bought by people living within a mile or so of railroad tracks. What was the product?

Mail Order Houses --- interesting, Dorian. This was one thing before my time -- and even yours.

Excellent link, Kelley.

Sears houses were often built in multiples, creating entire homogeneous neighborhoods. A number of these still exist, many in industrial towns. One of the best known Sears house locations is in Carlinville, Illinois, where Standard Oil of Indiana built a million-dollar development of 192 Honor Bilt houses for employees of Schoper coal mine (156 intended for miners and other workers, an additional 28 nearby and somewhat more deluxe meant for supervisors). The five- and six-room houses of what became known as the Standard Addition, which included many bungalows and Foursquares, cost roughly $3,600 to $4,600 and were regarded as unusually fine examples of worker housing - Old House Journal

Another city with a number of Sears homes is Woodriver, IL, about 15 miles north of me.

The reason that so many were built so close to RR tracks is that delivery came by rail, and the customer had to pick up his house at the station.

Another interesting fact about Sears:

Sears was the main outlet for WELLER POTTERY. Most pieces sold for 2-4 dollars each..Some as astronomically 10-15...
Today, those pieces go for a minumun of 100 bucks... Some of the larger pieces go for over a thousand...
One piece I had in the store a few years back had the orginal Sears price sticker on the bottom.. It was priced at 2.65... If I remember correctly, I sold it for about $125....
And thats your trivia for this morning....

Thanks, Fritzzs, for that information. One of the things I love about Trivia is that very often looking for one answer supplies other information just as interesting, often more so. A good vacation is one in which the journey is as interesting as the destination.