Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

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Dr. Rob
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Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Dr. Rob »

So, in pursuit of clues on a particular reel case I am looking into, I found myself reading all the Sears catalogs from the 1960s. (really neat; they are all online, and searchable!) But alas, no clues there for me.

Questions:
Did Sears put everything they offered in the catalog?

I noted mention of a special side-catalog called the Sears Fishing Equipment Catalog. Does anyone here have these, from the early 1960s? The first one I noticed was from 1968, but maybe there were earlier issues??

Thankful for info,
Rob
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by wrong99 »

I've never seen an earlier one, not that they don't exist. I have the 1969-1972 issues, showing all the Ted Williams-branded rods and reels.
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Jonathan P. Kring »

When in H.S. in the early 60's the in thing was to listen to W.L.S. Radio. Didn't learn till many years later that the radio station and W.L.S. reels were owned by Sears. World's Largest Store!
Cast your cares upon the Lord. Psalm 55:22
Then He said to them, "follow Me and I will Make you fishers of men". Matthew 4:19
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Mike N
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Mike N »

Jonathan P. Kring wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 7:52 pm When in H.S. in the early 60's the in thing was to listen to W.L.S. Radio. Didn't learn till many years later that the radio station and W.L.S. reels were owned by Sears. World's Largest Store!
That’s a cool piece of trivia, Jonathan. “WLS was one of the original 50,000-watt Class I-A clear-channel stations which did not share its original frequency of 870 kHz with any other station during nighttime hours, when AM radio signals can travel long distances via skywave”
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Dr. Rob »

Wow, Radio too… the Sears era was really something.

Okay, drawing a blank with Sears catalogs, except for possibly earlier editions of the Fishing Equipment Catalog, if there is such a thing.

What about the Ted Williams Co themselves, did they issue their own brochures or catalogs?

.
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Steve »

...the Sears era was really something
Yup. From 1896 for example:

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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by john elder »

Sadly, the last Sears store closed just the other day in Illinois, where it all began… sigh… is there nothing sacred?! Seems a sin to be buying Craftsman tools at Ace Hardware :(

PS: went to sleep most nights in the ‘60s, listening to Dick Biondi on WLS, playing the Top Ten…. For a kid in the bowels of Indiana, it was the equivalent of Radio Free Europe :)
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Jonathan P. Kring »




Most all of my hand tools are Craftsman from Sears days . Buy them everywhere these days but sears like John says. Don't know if the guarantee is as good as it used to be. Somewhere in the archives I have a copy of a WLS ad. I have a 33 1/3 Album from the 60's "From The Vault" with the disc jockeys of the day pictured on the front. Dick Biondi being the one I remember. And somewhere in my Homestead now in Tn. I may even have a WLS Casting Reel. (Amazing, even found the reel when I looked for it here in my cracker box homestead)
Cast your cares upon the Lord. Psalm 55:22
Then He said to them, "follow Me and I will Make you fishers of men". Matthew 4:19
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by kyreels »

Amazon is the new Sears, for better or worse. There is a good article in Fortune online on how Sears missed their chances, but it is a subscriber-only article.
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by David Lehmann »

Timing is everything. I'll be releasing a new version of my online tackle list this weekend and it includes a WLS reel. Here is my sale's pitch / history about the reel:
"This Shakespeare trade reel--essentially a Criterion levelwind--has a great and short history. Historically, Sears was the "Apple" of marketing. Remember, they became the largest retailer in the country through innovatively utilizing mail-order sales and strategic store placement. In the early 1920s, Sears realized that radio had become the most innovative and effective way to reach the masses and decided to start a radio station and wanted to tie a marketing campaign to the radio call letters. At the time, radio stations had three call letters, and all commercial stations east of the Mississippi River had to use "W" as the first letter. After much study and debate, Sears selected "WLS" and rebranded themselves as "Worlds Largest Store." The "WLS" trademarked logo used a zig-zag font to simulate lightning bolts. While they owned the station, Sears branded many items--including sporting goods--with the logo. In 1928, Sears divested of the station and abruptly ended the "WLS" marketing campaign. If you want a bit scarce, 90+ year old reel with a great story, snag this one!"
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Jonathan P. Kring »

So do you list prices or have to bid or what?
Cast your cares upon the Lord. Psalm 55:22
Then He said to them, "follow Me and I will Make you fishers of men". Matthew 4:19
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Mike N »

I copied the fishing tackle pages today of the 1965 Sears summer/spring catalog (which I picked up at a flea market) and Matt W. & David L. got it uploaded to the ORCA library this afternoon. Email me for a pdf copy.

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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by john elder »

Its all priced on David’s site, Jon! Great reels at very competitive prices!
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by RonG »

Back in the day, while going to college, I worked summer jobs in the engine rooms of dredge boats and sea-going tug boats. Craftsman tools were the only thing I used then and is still true today.
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by David Lehmann »

Craftsman tools are great. Unfortunately, Sears sold the brand some years back. I think Stanley owns them now. Craftsman no longer has a lifetime guarantee, like they did when Sears owned them. I remember going through the Sear's camping and fishing sections in my local store. All of the best equipment was "Ted Williams" brand.
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Dr. Rob »

Okay, I will try to reboot this thread with more specific info.
The pictured reel does NOT appear in any Sears Spring & Summer Catalog from 1960-1972.
It does however exist in real life, also in size 9/0, complete with Sears & Roebuck item number.

Do any of you have the Sears Fishing Equipment catalog from 1968? Is it in there, and to what price? Or in later years?

If not, is it possible that individual Sears stores sold items not listed in the catalogs? (This is a fairly specific item, maybe desireable in say, Boston or Miami, but not so much in say, Wisconsin or Oregon)

Anyone?





Reel courtesy of John T.
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by ANTIPES Italy reel »

Dr. Rob wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 1:33 pm So, in pursuit of clues on a particular reel case I am looking into, I found myself reading all the Sears catalogs from the 1960s. (really neat; they are all online, and searchable!) But alas, no clues there for me.
Dr. Rob,
I am constantly looking for more information regarding the dating of T.W. / SEARS spinning reels (for models made in Italy).
Can you kindly show me where to consult the 1960s catalogs you mentioned?
regards
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by Dr. Rob »

Yes, of course. I have been thinking to get in touch with you anyway; glad you asked.

The catalogs are here, and the Zangis are usually pictured in them.

The catalogs are searchable (read the instructions! Single search term only. No quotation marks.) Using Fishing as a search term works well, and it is good to click page by page so you don’t miss anything.

https://christmas.musetechnical.com/

Now, do you know when the Everol / Ted Williams reels were happening?

Rob
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Re: Sears & Roebuck Fishing Equipment Catalog, 1960s ?

Post by ANTIPES Italy reel »

Wow! ...
I found particularly interesting the news reported in the various archived catalogs and of which I had only fragmented information before.
I will study all the catalogs very carefully and I will store the most important information in my DataBase in order not to forget anything and to be able to use this research also in the future.
Too bad there are no Ted Williams catalogs prior to the acquisition of SEARS (if I remember correctly in 1962).
Thank you very much for showing me this "precious archive";
I also feel I have to thank those who have carried out this long and great digital archiving work.
Sergio
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