"Sears" brand 30-30 cases.

[deerwhacker444]

I received a box of misc. fired 30-30 shells from a friend. Most were Winchester or Remington, but in the mix were about a dozen or so cases stamped Sears. I was wondering if anybody had any info as to when these cases were manufactured and does the stamp stand for the obvious, Sears and Roebuck?

[J Miller]

I bought some Sears ammo in the 70s that was head stamped "SEARS". It does in deed stand for Sear Boruck and Co.

I have no idea who made it for them, but other Sears ammo I bought was made by Federal.

Joe

[jnyork]

I still have a brick of Montgomery Ward's .22 shells, must have had them since the 1970's at least. Wards and Sears not only had their own ammo brands but sold firearms with their name brands as well.

[66GTO]

I still have a brick of Montgomery Ward's .22 shells, must have had them since the 1970's at least. Wards and Sears not only had their own ammo brands but sold firearms with their name brands as well.

Remember J.C. Higgins store brand shotguns sold at Sears? I can't remember Monkey Wards store brand (my rememberer doesn't work as well as it used to). I'm sure somebody else will.

[1886]

66GTO(gas, tires, and oil) nice redfish. You reside in a fishing mecca. Pig hunting too. I am most jealous. 1886.

[jnyork]

I still have a brick of Montgomery Ward's .22 shells, must have had them since the 1970's at least. Wards and Sears not only had their own ammo brands but sold firearms with their name brands as well.

Remember J.C. Higgins store brand shotguns sold at Sears? I can't remember Monkey Wards store brand (my rememberer doesn't work as well as it used to). I'm sure somebody else will.

IIRC, the Wards stuff was sold under the "Ted Williams" name.

[66GTO]

I'm not sure about that. I thought Ted was affiliated with Sears, but I could be wrong.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Yes, T. Williams was Sears. But J.C. Higgens was Wards IIRC.

[irl104]

I thought it was JC Higgins 1930- 1940 then later it changed to Ted Williams 1950-1960 for Sears & Roebuck.

[jnyork]

OK, I finally looked it up the back of the Blue Book. Wards was Western Field. Almost all made by Mossberg, Savage & Stevens.

Other stores with "store brand" guns included Coast to Coast, Gambles, J.C. Penny.

[66GTO]

66GTO(gas, tires, and oil) nice redfish. You reside in a fishing mecca. Pig hunting too. I am most jealous. 1886.

Gas, tires, oil, along with transmissions, differentials, clutches, timing chains, water pumps, carbs, etc.

That was a slot red (18"-27" are keepers). Caught him on 6lb. test to give him a sporting chance. He walked me around the boat a few times before I landed him. I had to rub his nose on the deck to get him down to the 27" limit . At times it is hard to catch them small enough to keep. Thirty to forty pounders are common around the pass this time of year.

I'm still confused about J.C. Higgins though. Do we have a definitive answer as to whether this was a Sears store brand or a Montgomery Ward brand?

[old06]

Many people ask if there was a real "J.C. Higgins" who worked for Sears. There certainly was. John Higgins began working for Sears in 1898 as the manager of the headquarters' office bookkeepers and retired as company comptroller in 1930.
"John Higgins" the employee became "J.C. Higgins" the brand name during a discussion in 1908 among Sears' executives of possible names for a new line of sporting goods. At this point, the story gets a bit murky, but Higgins' name was suggested and John Higgins consented to Sears use his name. Since he did not have a middle initial, Sears added the "C."

In 1908, the Western Sporting Goods Company in Chicago began putting J.C. Higgins on baseballs and baseball gloves sold in Sears catalogs. By 1910, the J.C. Higgins trademark was extended to cover footballs and basketballs. Later, the popularity of the Higgins brand—combined with the wider participation of American youth in sports—led Sears to place tennis equipment, soccer balls, volleyballs, boxing equipment and baseball uniforms in the J.C. Higgins line.

By the 1940s, J.C. Higgins represented all Sears fishing, boating and camping equipment. After the Second World War, Sears consolidated all sporting goods under the J.C. Higgins brand name and added it to a line of luggage.

The J.C. Higgins brand disappeared shortly after Sears introduced the Ted Williams brand of sporting and recreation goods in 1961.

[66GTO]

Thanks. I'm not as brain dead as I thought. There must still a few memory cells bouncing around in there.