Sears Is Fading, But Memories Of Its Mail-Order Homes Endure

Thanks to the Internet, you can buy just about anything online and have it shipped to you in a few days or less.

The process is reminiscent of the early 1900s, when people turned to mail-order catalogs to find things to buy. And — amazingly, for the time — they could even order homes via catalog.

Sears, once America's largest retailer, was just one company that sold homes this way. Now that its parent company has filed for bankruptcy, owners of some of those homes are lamenting the end of the Sears era.