Sears
Sears, Roebuck & Company Mail Order Building in L.A. image by Mark Peacock (Image rights) |
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Tower 120 Flash Picture by John Kratz (Image rights) |
Tower 57 Picture by Jimmy Smith (Image rights) |
Tower Snappy Picture by Eduardo Urdangaray (Image rights) |
Tower Camflash 127 Picture by John Kratz (Image rights) |
Tower Flash 120 made by Bilora. Picture by Inspiredphotos (Image rights) |
Tower 44B Picture by rebollo_fr (Image rights) |
Tower Hide Away picture by Carrie Little (Image rights) |
Sears car picture by Uwe Kulick (Image rights) |
Sears is the most famous mail order house in the world since its Chicago building Sears Tower was the highest in the world for a certain period. In the U.S.A. it was the greatest mail-order and retail vendor of consumer goods. It was founded by Richard W. Sears in 1886, starting as a reseller of watches in North Redwood, Minnesota. In 1887 Sears moved to Chicago and employed Alvah C. Roebuck as watch- and toolmaker. In 1893 Roebuck became partner in the company which then was renamed Sears, Roebuck & Co.. Like other great mail-order houses Sears had a house-brand for cameras, the Tower cameras which were all OEM products, made by different renowned camera makers of several countries. Some cameras were sold branded Sears, and a few under their original manufacturers.
Several Tower cameras were also made by Bilora. Sears lenses for SLRs were made by Ricoh. Conley was a partner of Sears & Roebuck. In 1924 Conley was owned by Sears, and bought Seneca. But the Seneca brand disappeared in 1926. In 1980 Sears, Roebuck and Co. was restructured and rebranded to Sears Merchandise Group.
Distributed cameras
Sears name | Description | Original camera/manufacturer |
Ansco Marvel S-20 brownie type box | Made for and sold by Sears as an Ansco | Ansco |
Sears 3A | Kodak V122 film | Conley Kewpie No. 3A box camera 3.25x5.25 |
Sears 32B SLR | Rebadged Mamiya Prismat NP; Exakta-mount interchangeable lenses, c.1961 aka Tower 32B | |
Sears 35rf | 35mm rangefinder | Ricoh 500 RF |
Sears 35|RF | 35mm rangefinder | Ricoh 500 G |
Sears Auto 35TL | 35mm SLR | Mamiya 528TL |
Sears Auto CS 1000MX Sears Auto CS 1000MXB |
35mm SLR | Mamiya NC 1000 |
Sears Easi-Load FC 600 | 126 cartridges | Ricoh 126 C Automatic |
Sears FF35 | 35mm viewfinder | Haking Halina Speedy 33 |
Sears KS | 35mm SLR | Ricoh XR-2 |
Sears KS Auto | 35mm SLR | Ricoh XR-2s |
Sears KS-1 | 35mm SLR | Ricoh XR-6 |
Sears KS Super | 35mm SLR, KS-1 with slower speed (1/500s) | Ricoh XR-6 |
Sears KS Super II | 35mm SLR, KS Super without Bulb | Ricoh XR-6 |
Sears KS-2 | 35mm SLR | Ricoh XR-7 |
Sears KS-1000 | 35mm SLR | Ricoh XR-1s |
Sears KS-500 | 35mm SLR | Ricoh KR-5 / XR-500 |
Sears KSX-1000 | 35mm SLR | Ricoh KR-5 Super |
Sears KSX | 35mm SLR | Ricoh KR-10 / XR-1000s |
Sears KSX Super | 35mm SLR | Ricoh KR-10 Super / XR-2000 |
Sears Model 600 Easi load FC | flash cube Instamatic | ??? |
Sears Model 65 | 35mm viewfinder | Halina Paulette |
Sears Model 65 RF | Halinar 45mm f2.8 lens | Halina |
Sears RF 5 | Ricoh | |
Sears RF 7 | Ricoh | |
Sears TLS | 35mm SLR | Ricoh Singlex TLS |
Sears TLS 1000 MX | 35mm SLR | Mamiya MSX 1000 |
Seroco Junior | Conley Model VII | |
Tower No. 1 | Pseudo TLR | unknown |
Tower 5 | 127 film | Bilora Bella |
Tower 7 | 120 film | Brownie type box - Germany (Bilora) |
Tower 8 | box camera | Mfr? Germany |
Tower 10A | Mamiya RF 48mm f:2.8 coated | |
Tower 10B | 35mm range finder | Mamiya 4B RF |
Tower 14 | pseudo-TLR box | Bilora Bonita 66 |
Tower 16 | 16mm submini spy cam | Mamiya-16 |
Tower 18 | Olympus 35-S 4.2cm f2.8 | |
Tower 18A | Mamiya Ruby f/1.9 | |
Tower 18B | Mamiya Ruby Standard | |
Tower 19 | Olympus Ace E | |
Tower 20 | Olympus Wide-E? | |
Tower 20B | Mamiya RF 48mm f/1.7 | |
Tower 22 | SLR | Asahiflex IIA |
Tower 23 | SLR | Asahiflex IA and Asahiflex IIB |
Tower 24 | SLR | Asahiflex IIB |
Tower 25 TLR | Airesflex (Nikkor lens) | |
Tower 26 SLR | SLR | Asahi Pentax (original) and Pentax S |
Tower 29 SLR | Asahi Pentax K | |
Tower Reflex I or Tower 120 Flash | pseudo TLR | Ising Pucky I |
Tower Reflex II | pseudo TLR | Photina from Photavit-Werk GmbH, Nurnberg, Germany |
Tower Reflex III | pseudo TLR | Photina II from Photavit-Werk GmbH, Nurnberg, Germany |
Tower Reflex 30 | TLR | Photina Reflex IIIb from Photavit-Werk GmbH, Nurnberg, Germany |
Tower 33 Reflex | SLR | Braun Paxette Reflex |
Tower 34 | box camera (?) | Ansco |
Tower 34 Reflex | Braun | |
Tower 35 | Nicca III-S | |
Tower 37 | Mamiya SLR | |
Tower 37A | Mamiya | |
Tower 39 | (c.1961) odd horizontal design with flash reflector; autoexposure. Tower 41 similar. |
Mamiya Automatic 35 EEF |
Tower 41 | Mamiya, 1962 | |
Tower 42 | Nicca, 1954 | |
Tower 43 | Nicca, 1954 | |
Tower 44 | Toyoca-44 | |
Tower 44B Super Matic | TLR | Halma 44 |
Tower 45 | Nicca 5L f/2 | |
Tower 46 | Nicca f/1.4 | |
Tower 50 | Iloca Quick-L / Quick-R, Vero Shutter, Cassar lens | |
Tower 50 | and Tower 51? (120 folding) | Rollex 20 ca. 1950 USC |
Tower 51 | (120 folding) | Conley Camera Company 1955 |
Tower 51 | (not folding 120, but 35mm) LH film advance. Also RH film advance model, also knob advance version all called Tower 51 | Iloca Rapid B Steinheil Cassar lens 50mm f/2.8 made in Germany by Kamerawerke Wilhelm Witt, Hamburg, Germany |
Tower 52 | 35mm | Iloca Rapid IIL |
Tower 53 | Iloca, 1955 | |
Tower 53B | Iloca, 1955 | |
Tower 54 | Olympus | |
Tower 55 | 35mm | Rippa (Yamato; two versions, later one with bigger viewfinder) |
Tower 55B | Pax Jr (Yamato); Color Luna Lens 45mm f3.5 | |
Tower 57 | 35mm | Samoca 35 M-28 (AKA Hanimex A35) |
Tower 57A | 35mm | Samoca LE |
Tower 60 | 120 | Dacora I |
Tower Reflex 65 | Perhaps Tower Reflex 65 with meter - TLR also Tower 64, no meter | Walz |
Tower Flash 120 | 120 | Bilora box |
Tower 127 | Mamiya ?? | |
Tower 32B (c.1963) | Mamiya Prismat NP Mamiya-Sekor lens, Exakta/Topcon mnt? | |
Tower Press Camera | 4×5 | Busch 4x5 Pressman |
Tower Automatic 35 | Mamiya ??? | |
Tower Automatic 127 | 4×4 autoexposure | Electric Eye 127 from USC |
Tower 127 Automatic II | 4×4 autoexposure | USC |
Tower Camflash 127 | also Camflash II 127 | Comet 127 from USC |
Tower Colorette | Rangefinder | Braun Super Colorette |
Tower Companion 1960 | Imperial, similar to Debonair | |
Tower Hide Away | same as Imperial Mark 27 | |
Tower Pixie 127 | plastic 4×4 cm | same as Imperial Lark |
Tower Reflex 1 | box camera 120 | Probably Bilora |
Tower Skipper | 127 brownie box size, made in USA | (mfr?) |
Tower Snappy | Imperial Savoy | |
Tower Stereo | Iloca ?? | |
Tower Synchroflash | Bilora Bella | |
Tower Type 3 | Nicca III | |
Tower Type 3S | Nicca, Leotax? | |
Trumpfreflex | Reflecta (Richter Reflecta) |
Links
- Sears Cameras at www.collection-appareils.fr
- Sears camera manuals at www.orphancameras.com
- Tower Cameras at www.craigcamera.com
Companies of Chicago (Illinois) |
Adams & Westlake | Central Camera Co. | American Advertising and Research Co. | Bernard | Burke & James | Busch | Calumet | Candid | Chicago Aerial | Chicago Camera Co. | Chicago Ferrotype Company | Deardorff | De Vry | Drucker | Galter | Geiss | Herold | Imperial | Kemper | Lennor Engineering Co. | Metropolitan Industries | Monarch | Montgomery Ward | Pho-Tak | QRS Company | Rolls | Sans & Streiffe | Sears | Seymour | Spartus | The Camera Man | United States Camera Co. | Western Camera Manufacturing Co. | Yale | Zar | Zenith |
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