Sears & Roebuck, JC Penneys & Montgomery Wards

[Sam Miller III]

A little back ground ...

Yesterday I again I reviewed my file on Sears, Penny's and Wards,
I began my research and collection of data over 25 years ago.
The file titled Sears, Penny's and Wards is about 3 inches thick
It contains correspondence from officials of all the companies as well as copies of all their catalogs devoted to Skin & SCUBA diving.

Akimbo
The page you posted is NOT from a sears catalog -- it is from the Wards catalog "Spring & Summer 1961," page 121, Your post shows only the top half of the page. The bottom half is devoted to ordering .

As one who has been around for a while I find the variety of products listed on this page quite interesting ..manufactures possibly cherry picked for the lowest price many no longer in business -- the use of the word "Lung" rather that "SCUBA," which at that time was the copyright of Healthways ...
the wet suit which was made by a now defunct local California dive shop Ski N Dive...purchase the suit fully assembled or as a kit, and even ER Crosses instruction manual ...

This page as all old catalogs are a glimpse into the history of how it all began-- take a close look

For those of you residing in CenCal or SoCal...
I will make a presentation titled "The American retailer -Sears, Pennys and Wards and SCUBA "
At the 9th annual San Louis Obispo Underwater Search and Recovery Conference the second Saturday of March (March 17, St Pats Day) 2018 in Pismo Beach, California and possibly at the SCUBA show at Long Beach California in June 2018

Sam Miller, 111

 

[Akimbo]

So the question is:
Did any one on this board ever purchase mail order SCUBA and related items from Sears, & Penney's. or Wards? (or off the floor at a retail store)

I can understand why you probably never bought from them since you lived where the first dive shops and manufacturers started (in North America), but I have to wonder how much these catalogs helped spread Scuba diving to the rest of the US. I also have to wonder how many divers died trying to learn to use this gear the hard way.

 

[Akimbo]

Akimbo
The page you posted is NOT from a sears catalog -- it is from the Wards catalog "Spring & Summer 1961," page 121, Your post shows only the top half of the page. The bottom half is devoted to ordering .

Thanks for taking the time to look that up for me. I didn't (and still can't) remember that there was a Spring & Summer edition! I think it is hard for Europeans and Scandinavians to appreciate how important these catalog companies were in US history. I have a re-print of a Sears catalog from about 1900 (somewhere around here). You literally could buy full-size kit houses through it. They had everything from wedding bands to (snake-oil) electric medical devices.

For those of you residing in CenCal or SoCal...
I will make a presentation titled "The American retailer -Sears, Pennys and Wards and SCUBA "
At the 9th annual San Louis Obispo Underwater Search and Recovery Conference the second Saturday of March 2018 in Pismo Beach, California and possibly at the SCUBA show at Long Beach California in June 2018

I wish I could make it, but it takes about a day to drive that far from Mendocino. I would have to drive past the fires on Highway 101 to get there... those poor people don't need me making unnecessary trips through high-risk areas right now.

 

[Wookie]

I have a re-print of a Sears catalog from about 1900 (somewhere around here). You literally could buy full-size kit houses through it. The had everything from wedding bands to electric (snake-oil) electric medical devices.

I lived in a Craftsman Bungalow in Idaho. The barn was ordered from the 1918 Sears Roebuck catalog and the house was ordered from the same catalog, a year later. We had the catalog the barn and house was ordered from. They were delivered on a single railcar and were complete, everything pre-cut, all you had to do was get the correct pieces, place them on the studs in the marked spots, and drive a nail straight. Not a single cut was required to build the house, it even included the laths, plaster, and horse-hair.

 

[Akimbo]

I lived in a Craftsman Bungalow in Idaho. The barn was ordered from the 1918 Sears Roebuck catalog and the house was ordered from the same catalog, a year later. We had the catalog the barn and house was ordered from.

Having the actual catalog is a wonderful memento for you and future owners.

They must have sold a lot of them My wife enjoys a TV series on people buying homes. You see a lot of Sears kit homes, especially classic craftsman designs.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Akimbo stated
"I can understand why you probably never bought from them since you lived where the first dive shops and manufacturers started (in North America), but I have to wonder how much these catalogs helped spread Scuba diving to the rest of the US. I also have to wonder how many divers died trying to learn to use this gear the hard way."

I some how suspect the Sears, Penny's and Wards catalogs were responsible for spreading the word to the hinterlands of the US and Canada (via Simson Sears) At that time Skin Diver Magazine was being published but had very limited distribution therefore limited impact

I also suspect many who purchased the diving units were adventuresome but not water orientated. After one or two traumatic life changing events they went back to golfing in the good ole summer time.

SDM

 

[Akimbo]

At that time Skin Diver Magazine was being published but had very limited distribution therefore limited impact

There's also a chicken and egg dynamic to consider. Local magazine stores won't carry items until they have a sense if they will sell or not... especially if they never even heard of recreational divers.

(mostly for other readers) Busy/normal people would occasionally see print articles and segments on B&W TV news programs about "skin divers", but it wasn't until Sea Hunt in 1958 that the general public really became aware of diving for recreation. I think it is fair to say that most Americans right after World War II thought of heavy gear divers or the UDT (the origin of today's USN SEALs). Why would you ever consider diving for fun if that was your perspective?

 

[Sam Miller III]

I agree Sea Hunt apparently was the catalyst that universally exposed to the general public to diving

There were several "exposures" to diving and the underwater world prior to Sea Hunt

1)(Movie) "Under the Red Sea " by the late great Dr. Hans Hass, 1948 B&W. The divers all used rebreathers for which Dr. Hass coined the term "Swim Diving"
<<< After seeing the movie --My cousin, a recent grad in mining engineering and I made a "rebreather" from parts from a WW1 gasmask., MSA HP cylinder, an airplane tire , a (I recall) a muffler from a gas engine and baro lime dove it 2 X in a Swimming pool - some how our lungs were not damaged>>>

2) (Article) Science Illustrated, James Dugan December 1948 " The first of the men fish" about the adventures of Cousteau and his crew and introduced the US to the bubble machine... Cousteau called his self contained diving "Cousteau Diving" which the Californians changed to "Lung Diving" (as in Aqua Lung) <<< In 1948 a dear friend knew of my diving interest and cut out the pages of SI and presented me with a copy of the article which I still have - My friend didn't survive Korea- Memories !!)

3) (Article) National Geographic "Goggle fishing in California waters" May 1949. introduced the world to the San Diego Bottom Scratchers spear fishing club-- oldest dive club in the world

4) ( Magazine) ":Skin Diver Magazine; a magazine for skin divers and spear fishermen" first edition December 1951. The worlds first specialty magazine devoted to Skin diving (aka SCUBA) and Spearfishing (the absolute horror of it all) All the principals of the magazine are now in the big reef in the sky but the document they produced is a priceless document of the origin of recreational diving.
<>> I have every issue from December 19512 to its demise bound in library bindings >>>

5) (Article and Movie) "The Silent World" by J.Y. Cousteau. 1953, a full length color movie and numerous articles in National Geographic who was the sponsor of Cousteau's adventures.

6) (Certifying agency) LA County Underwater Instructors association, July 1954, worlds first and unquestionably the most demanding prestigious certifying agency in the world-- many apply, a few are accepted and only a precious few become certified . Always a regional agency located in Southern California

7) Numerous books by Dr. Hass Dr, Clarke and others-- too numerous to list

There was exposure to diving and under water world but it did not migrate to the hinterlands and not into the main steam until many years later in late 1950s. It required the comfort of an easy chair and a weekly TV program to become a recognized activity

Sam Miller, III

 

[Akimbo]

<<< After seeing the movie --My cousin, a recent grad in mining engineering and I made a "rebreather" from parts from a WW1 gasmask., MSA HP cylinder, an airplane tire , a (I recall) a muffler from a gas engine and baro lime dove it 2 X in a Swimming pool - some how our lungs were not damaged>>>

How cool! That story deserves more detail in a dedicated thread. I have some stories about a home-brew rebreather to augment it that would be waaaay too off-topic here.

 

[Bob DBF]

Those snorkels with the ping-pong ball valves were all the rage, weren't they?

Theoretically those ball valves sounded good, but after trying to use them for a while, my brother and I cut them off to make them into a straight snorkel. Having a snorkel full of water all the time was easier to deal with than a supprise mouth fill of water at an inopportune moment.


As an aside, I forgot to mention the Healthways bourdon tube depth gauge that was with the SCUBA kit from Sears. Did an accuracy check on it several years back against my computer and a newer depth gauge and it was spot on.


Bob