Sears Sold America a House by Mail. Then the Loans Came Due.

In 1918, a Sears catalog told Americans: "If you have got grit enough to want to own your home, then we will trust you for the money." More than 70,000 houses later, the loans nearly erased everything the company made on them. This is the story, told from the catalogs and the company's own numbers. Did anyone in your family ever order from the Sears catalog? Tell us what they bought, and where they lived. 0:00 The page with the wastebasket 1:35 The department nobody wanted 3:32 A house in a boxcar 6:11 We will trust you 8:34 The biggest check Sears ever saw 10:06 Skyscrapers are ready cut 12:11 The year Sears lent more than it sold 14:27 Properties reacquired 16:35 The number that doesn't add up 19:02 The ledger 21:11 The houses that outlived the company