At one time, and until sometime in the 1980s or thereabouts, Sears Roebuck and Co. was the largest retailer in the United States, but we all know by now that those glory days for Sears are long gone.
Sears has a particular connection to my family beyond the near ubiquity of its famous catalogs back in the day. My father's adult career after WWII and service in the United States Merchant Marine was with Sears Roebuck and Co. for decades. He began as a management trainee in Norwich, Connecticut in May 1953 and worked his way up to Assistant Manager in Sears stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire before being transferred down to the Territorial Office staff (Eastern Territory Traffic Department) in Philadelphia in 1965. My father retired from Sears in 1981.
As the above images show, at one time Sears made refunds for under a dollar by issuing the refund checks depicted above. These were recently unearthed from a box of miscellaneous items collected and left behind by my late father. According to some sources, these refund checks were issued in the 1940s and were phased out by the early 1960s. I suspect these were probably from about 1957-1960, but I have no way of knowing for sure. As stated on the face of the checks, the funds could be used by applying them to future orders with Sears, or they could be cashed at Sears stores or at any bank. They were bearer paper and so anyone possessing them could use or cash them. In other words, as bearer paper, they could be used almost like cash–but only for less than a dollar. Notice that they are not dated and they have no "stale" or expiration date. I wonder what I could get at Sears for 93 cents today? I guess I would first have to fill the car's gas tank and then see if I could find a Sears store! 😀
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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew
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