I wore Toughskins Jeans with Winner II shoes. Tools were NOTHING but Craftsman...Appliances nothing but Kenmore.....Car batteries Die Hard. Dad being an Employee would get a 10% discount. Heck, we even had Allstate Insurance that used to go through SEARS. Dad used to pay for Maintenance Service with a fairly cheap yearly fee. Because back then, things LASTED! If a Craftsman tool broke, you simply returned it. Working there....Dad used to LOVE it! SEARS HAD a great Profit Sharing for their employees. In the mid 80s, Dad had $500,000 in his account. When he retired, just over $90,000. Dad would often cover for other workers in his Department if they wanted / needed a day off. Pay was decent and commission was very good.

THE quirk I loved as a kid.....Me and my Brother would get a Wish Book a month or two BEFORE anyone else could. By the time Dad would order anything we'd ask for for Christmas, he'd get his own Wish Book because we had worn out the other.

My one LAST quality SEARS item is still being used. My Dad passed in August 2013. Three years before, when he came for a visit, he brought me two sections of Craftsman black heavy duty garden hose. I started using them about 6 mo to a year after he passed. They are STILL attached to the faucet outside and going strong. I'm such a nostalgia weirdo, I can see myself having trouble trowing those hoses away when they go bad.