Do you remember buying rifles and shotgun from the Sears catalogue? Shipped to your door!
I don't remember a large selection but lots of different military surplus rifles. The Winchester 94 was one rifle I remember. I seem to remember bolt actions, lever actions and various shotguns but I'm talking being young, like 8, 9 or 10. Trying to remember things from 65 years ago is difficult!! If some of you with better memories would like to add to the guns they sold please do.
I do remember you could order a Mexican burro or even a monkey from Sears and Roebuck. I wonder how many burros and monkeys Sears and Roebuck ever sold??
Can you imagine our parents wearing out our butts with belts or switches if we came walking home leading a burro or carrying a monkey?? LOL I still wouldn't be able to sit down 65 years later!!
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I still have my grampa's winchester model 62 he told me when he gave it to me years ago he got it out of the sears catalogue for $5.00 don't know what year though....
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I visited a hardware store in Yazoo City, MS while I was working on a project there back in 2010 and they had a pretty good selection of guns, ammo and reloading supplies. I hadn't seen anything like that in a long time. I miss the days when every dept. store and hardware store had guns for sale.
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You could even by a car from Sears back in the early 1950’s
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Allstate Henry J
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my first two guns I bought came from westernauto next several from Woolworth and even a couple from Rinks ( a old Walmart want to be dept store in the 19 70"s ) but dad had to sign for them as I was still 16 when I started buying them
a local family owned the western auto store good people
I got to know the family the two sons later on in life ( they there parents were the first to get me drunk and 1st time I drank at a Christmas party LOL ) and worked with one son later on many years later . they had a huge HO slot car track ( sponsored by aurora ) on the second floor I bought many a car and tons of hop up and replacement parts .
reason I bring it up I use to notice the new cars looked like they had been ran plating on the pick up shoes worn down a bit as a kid i thought factory testing wrong !
the two brothers told me after hours they and the family would race every car and pick out the fastest cars as they came in to the store 😣
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When America really was great!
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We used to get the "big book" from Sears, and I looked through it a good bit. By the time I was able to appreciate firearms much, Sears had stopped selling hand guns. According to one manager, the decision to stop selling handguns was prompted by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. But there were still long guns in the catalog.
Main one I remember was a Universal M-1 Carbine. It took up nearly a whole page, and the ad used a term strange to me, "gas-operated." GAS operated? Whoever heard of such? Anyway, it was a nifty looking little gun, and I thought it might be a good one to own. I asked my baseball coach about it, and he said the .30 M-1 cartridge was too light for deer.
I also remember seeing Mosin-Nagant rifles in the Sears book. There was the standard 1891 military rifle, and a cut-down "sporterized" version. I asked my coach about the sporter version, and he said it was a junky rifle, and would kick the crap out of me.
I was between dads at the time, and my coach was gun-savvy and the only male mentor I had.
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Nunn
one of the 1st rifles I bought ( I was 17 yrs old ) at "Woolworth" was a universal made m1 carbine had a 5 round plastic magazine 69.00 I think I still have the hang tag the gun long gone
I some how got a hold of a numrich (sp ) catalog maybe out of a add in a gun magazine not sure what they call the place now and ordered two 30 round GI mags for it on arrival they looked like they went thru WWII dragged behind a half track the mags were the most rusty beat up I have ever seen even until this day but I got them working .
I had nobody in the family or friends that knew squat about guns other than carrying one all the time in a pocket , My dad had a old 22 and had grew up with guns but as a tool his dad and him to feed the family when he was young basic load point shoot wipe down with 3in1 and good to go
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Back when America was great and kids knew where a $1 came from, no cell phones, respect for school teachers, and went to school to actually learn something useful.
Yep, Sear and Roebuck, Western Auto, Otasco just to name a few.
No toilet paper shortage when Sears and Roebuck catalog was around.
Could buy shotgun shells one at a time at the grocery store.
Tried to get more than one with one shot on ducks and quail and made every shot count.
I've got a Sheridan Silver Streak pellet gun purchased from a Sears and Roebuck catalog and also have the original owners manual that pellet gun was delivered by USPS to a POST OFFICE BOX ADDRESS. )OMG a post office box address out on a remote rural route) It still works good.
I worked picking peas and bought my own fishing and hunting stuff. Bought a Zebco 33 fishing reel, Revelation fiberglass casting rod and ABU spinners at Otasco.
If the Abu spinner got snagged in the pond or creek I went in after it, no breaking the line and tying on another. Creeks and Ponds were clear, lots of Goggle eyed perch, flaying fish was a waste of meat, scaled and fried them fish with the skin on, also the tail fins were good fried crisp,
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Roses department store also sold guns . I have a mosin nagent and an Isaphore Lee enfield from there . Think I paid about $70.00 a piece for them .
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I remember being 12, and walking solo up to the gun counter in my local department store. Asking to see a .22LR rifle, having it handed to me, and being asked by the clerk if I wanted to buy it, as he placed two boxes of ammo down on the counter.
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Warshawski JC Whitney I really liked that catalog in the day. Better than ebay or amazon.
Still have my Monky Wards rifle, for a 22 it is pretty darn good, even at 100 meters.
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