Richard Warren Sears, Scarce ALS, October 20, 1888 

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American History: Live Salesroom Auction

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Jun 13, 2014 - Jun 14, 2014

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• Lot Description
  ALS, Richard Warren Sears, 1p, 8 x 10.5 in., Chicago, Oct. 20, 1888. To B.F. Coleman in Tiffin, Ohio, on R.W. Sears Watch Co. letterhead. Signed R.W. Sears, Mgr. Includes transmittal envelope. Both the letter and cover have extensive stamping with the names of cities (most likely rail stations).
  
  Sears informs Mr. Coleman that he has ...a few open face stem wing gold filled cases, warranted to wear 20 years, complete with full jeweled cut expansion balance, patent pinion quick train, nickle imported Swiss movements. Our regular price is $14.80 but will make you a disc. of 20% or $11.84 for the watch if you will endeavor to sell it.
  
  Richard Warren Sears (1863-1914) was born in the frontier territory of Minnesota. He learned telegraphy and began working for the railroad, eventually becoming a station agent in Redwood Falls, MN.
  
  In 1886 a shipment of watches was refused by Minnesota retailer, Edward Stegerson. A scam of the day was to send a shipment that had not been ordered, then, when the shipment was refused, the sender would offer a "deal" for the receiver, ostensibly to offset the cost of return shipment. When Stegerson, who knew the scam, flatly refused the shipment, Sears decided to try his hand at selling them, since he had easy access to the quickest shipping method of the day. Within six months he had netted $5000, so he decided to expand. He began targeting rural and small communities, placing ads in farm publications, and encouraging mail-order purchasing.
  
  Another factor entered into the Sears Watch Co. success. Prior to the middle of the century, each community set their own time, often using the sun (synchronized astronomical time). But as the railroads began reaching more communities, they could not change time dozens of times as they moved through each small town. By the 1860s there were 80 different timetables in use by the railroads, and connections became increasingly difficult. By the late 1860s, the first practical plan for time standardization in the U.S. had been developed. After consulting with the railroads to see if the plan was practical, the one hour time zone was proposed. However, a convention called to deal with the issue failed to act, even though the railroads recommended the plan. In the late 1870s a similar plan was recommended on an international scale, based on a 24-hour clock, but again, it was not widely adopted. The one-hour time zone was not universally adopted until twenty years after its first proposal, 1889. But most people knew it was coming, and some regions standardized their times.
  
  As the influence of the railroads grew, it became more important to operate on "railroad time." Even farmers on the Great Plains needed to know what time the trains would run. Hence, the increase in popularity of watches.
  
  Thus, part of Sears' success was timing. He began working for the railroad in 1880 - just as the issue of time was coming to the fore again. That shipment of watches was rejected by Stegerson in 1886. Time zones were standardized in 1889.
  
  Sears' experience with the railroad was also influential in the development of mail-order selling. As railroads reached everywhere, so could any goods one desired. Sears moved his company to Chicago, then becoming a hub of rail and shipping lines. His first employee was a watch repairman, Alvah Curtis Roebuck, who, of course, became his partner. 

  Condition

  Excellent.
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