Classic Hifi Care

My sister and I laughed when going through Mom's receipts and cancelled checks--everything the Campbells bought came from Sears.

The old red truck lives outdoors. Twice a day I unlock it to push the garage door button to get the commuter bike in or out. This morning, no luck. The key would not turn--not on the driver's side or the other side. @#*&^$!!!! I had to shed the knapsack, dig out the house keys, unlock the shop door, open the garage door from there, then repeat the process to close the garage door. Problem was, yesterday was melty and today was frozen. The water got in and then turned solid. I was facing a weekend without truck access. The roads have cleared so technically I could drive the Mustang if I needed to... except that the truck was in front of that door, so no go.

I was hoping that maybe there had been enough warmth today from the sun to thaw things, but it was 24 deg. F when I got home and things were still stuck. Maybe call AAA tomorrow and get a locksmith out? Well, first I got out an old green electric heater, Kenmore by Sears, the one that sat in the bathroom when I was a kid. Everything came from Sears. I grabbed an extension cord and parked the heater against the truck door. By the time I had walked to the house and filled the bird feeders, about 3 min., the key worked in the lock. Wow, much faster than expected. So then I did the other door, same effect. Yay for good Sears stuff, and boo to the executives who managed to run a successful company into the ground.

Chris Campbell

My grandparents put indoor plumbing in the house in 1962. Grandma bought a new Kenmore automatic washer and dryer. They were still working in 2007 than I know of, maybe longer. They put in a Homart water heater, and used a Homart water pump. Those were Sears products as well.

Sears had all those house brand names. Kenmore for appliances, Allstate tires & batteries, J.C. Higgins for sporting goods, Craftsman for their tools. The one-wheel trailer that my parents used to move from NC to MI in about 1951 was an Allstate item. Maybe somebody remembers the other names, like Homart?

Here's a similar one to mine. I've got the hitches bolted on to the Ranger bumper supports but haven't actually pulled the trailer yet. It was last used to move the Wurlitzer 1100 juke box from where I bought it across town in about 1964 . We used the Chevy convertible with a strap-on bumper hitch from--guess where--Sears. Wait--my brother bolted in onto the bumper of his CJ5 to move to college once, too.
Love the yellow striping. Mine is a bit more weathered but still original, same colors.

Chris Campbell

By the way, I just noticed--the hitches in the photo are reversed. When these trailers were new, cars were high off the ground. You can bolt the extensions you see either looping down, as Dad did when hauling behind the '40s Plymouth, or upward, as in the photo. Depends on the way the car-side hitch portions are mounted.

Chris Campbell

There was an OLD VW Bug at the Florence car show that was connected to a trailer like that.