02 General View. Sears, Roebuck & Co.
This picture gives a general view of the great mercantile institution of Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago, Ill., as approached on Harvard Street from the East. The first building to the left js the great Printing Building1, with its numerous perfecting presses, great bindery, and the Advertising and Mailing Departments, where we handle every day more printing and more mailing than any other concern in the world. The second building is the Administration Building, where the clerical force performs its daily labor, handling the correspondence and orders received from our customers. The big building in the distance is the Merchandise Building and in this structure will be found almost every conceivable merchandise item and a stock valued in excess of $8,000,000.00. The distances in this picture are so great that the lens of the camera gets burl’a portion of the great buildings in which are more than fifty acres of floor space devoted to our business. This picture was taken in the morning just before the commencement of business.
These buildings are located in the residence section of the great City of Chicago and they are so large, towering so far above all other buildings in the immediate neighborhood that thev may be seen for miles from almost any direction. Many of the railroad lines running in and out of Chicago pass within five or six miles of this great plant and the buildings may be seen from the car windows. From the observation tower on the Merchandise Building a birdseye view of the whole City of Chicago may be had on a reasonably clear day.
1The Printing Building became the Merchandise and Laboratory (M&L) Building from 1950 till its closing in 1990. It housed the Sears Testing Labs, Store Displays and the Sears Photography Studio (SPS).
Though not pictured, the Sears Paint Factory was located just behind the Printing Building. Here is a spread from the 1910 Spring Catalog for Seroco Paints.
Sears in 1916
Our Wall Paper Mill
Capacity, 45,000 sixteen-yard rolls per day.
Leave a Reply