1980 Sears Builder Catalog

[Unimatic1140]

I was recently given this very interesting 30+ page Sears catalog from 1980 which I've never seen before. It is a 1980 Sears Builders Catalog, highlighting Kenmore appliances which builders can use to pick out new Kenmore appliances for their new residential construction. Very interesting to say the least. The BOL coin-op washer and dryer listed I've never ever seen before. Anyway its now in the Ephemera Library for anyone who would like to see.

Appliances included in this catalog:
Built-in Cooktops, Built-in Ovens, Electric Ranges, Drop-in Ranges, Gas Ranges, Range Hoods, Micro-Classic Microwave Range Combinations, Microwave Ovens
Side by Side Refrigerators, Top Freezer Refrigerators, Frostless Refrigerators-Freezers, Automatic Defrost Refrigerator-Freezers
Dishwashers
Garbage Disposers, Trash Compactor
Hot Water Sink Dispenser, Water Heaters
Coin-Operated Commercial Washers and Dryers, Automatic Washers and Dryers
Wood Burning Fireplaces, Central Heating Furnaces, Split System Heat Pumps, Wall Air-Conditioners
Central Vacuum Cleaner System

 

[kb0nes]

I remember that catalog! I saw it on the wall at the Burnsville Sears back in customer service back in the day. Remember when they used to have a catalog for every department?

I distinctly recall my adolescent brain being attracted to the homemaker's eyes on the cover. Oddly I bet I overlooked the appliances then lol

 

[bluejay]

My mom still has that covered casserole dish!  I think she still has the entire set of those.

 

[tennblondie78]

That dish is Corning Ware Spice O' Life. My mom got that pattern when she got married in 1977. She just gave me the percolator from her set a couple weeks ago. What is grossing me out is the shag carpet in the kitchen. That would be a nightmare.

 

[whirlcool]

There is something about that photo that just screams cheap, cheap, cheap! Even though TOL appliances are shown, it just looks cheap. Maybe it's the cheap wood paneling on the cabinets, or the flooring.

 

[combo52]

Cheap...Cheap...Cheap

Allen the thing that ruins it all is thinking about the soaking wet shag carpeting caused by the crappy D&M DW leaking.

Yes there are some very good appliances pictured, the ref for one, but the white smooth-top cook-tops just never were practical except the orignal Corning tops with thermostatically controlled burners that saved the tops from severe discoloration.

 

[whirlcool]

In the early 90's we had a Kenmore DW, it was a MOL product. After two and a half years one evening we had it running, washing dishes. All of a sudden and in a blaze of glory the tub rusted through and all the water poured into the motor! It was like the Fourth of July! Sparks,popping noises, arcing noises, bright flashes of light, etc. I never even seen the rust spot in the tub until after it happened. The hole was on the rear of the tub right near the center.

We replaced it was a near TOL Maytag DW, which I am sure is still running in that house. It was built like a tank and anything that went in there came out clean.

 

[tolivac]

The Vinyl laminate fronts on the cabinet doors-the grotestqe orange shag--don't miss that.Now look at that kitchen 10 years later-the "faux" vinyl is peeling off the cabinet doors.The carpet is all food and dirt stained.The cooktop has burn marks on it.The woman no longer has the nice eyes-they are now hidden behind bifocul glasses.The foam wood "beams" on the ceiling are starting to come loose and fall at any time.The fridge doors on the front door no longer work-and yes,the dishwasher leaks staining the hideous carpet even more.The hubby and kids are begging for a remodel job.That is one BUTT UGLY kitchen!!!!

 

[arbilab]

Dispensing with age-old conventional wisdom, I'm gay but I'm NOT an interior decorator. I had a 70s house FULL of that exact shag-- coral I think they called it-- and I didn't care. Except that they carpeted the bathrooms too, which I'd never seen before or since. Mildew farm. But who carpets KITCHENS??

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Tempted to purchase this catalog!

Looks like at least you could still buy a good REFRIGERATOR from Sears! (I like the "Tilt Ice" and through-door "Waterfall" Dispenser...)

Forget the D&M-made dishwashers and generic looking ranges--the name brands like GE and Magic Chef were making stuff to cook on better! And Kitchen Aid was the king--Queen, I mean!--of dishwashers...!

 

'Course, in addition to the Kenmore name going on fridges & freezers, (the Coldspot name, long-gone!) was the era of black-paneled washers & dryers being the leader of the laundry room...

 

And still "Sears Best" in appliance sales, though nothing being the same after the brief appearance, then discontinuation of the Hidden Control and Radio Dial-models, among the other Washer & Dryer novelties that helped buoy leads in laundry appliance sales...

 

 

-- Dave

 

[twintubdexter]

There's plenty to dislike in that kitchen. Carpeting, how unsanitary! Those beams on the ceiling scream "plasteek" and the popcorn finish doesn't help either. The laminate on those cabinets sort of reminds me of the worm wood paneling in Perry Mason's office although it looked fine there...Della must have picked it out. 

 

From a standpoint of attractiveness, the white appliances are very nice but I could do without that burl wood on the dishwasher. I even like the Mobile Maid kitchen in today's POD, but then I'm the oddball who hates stainless steel, old Foodaramas and loves Windows 8.

 

[firedome]

The 80s were a low point ...

in design, and in cars, for sure... disposable dreck with few exceptions.

 

[jeb]

Sears kitchen

In 1979 my mother did a complete kitchen remodel including all TOL Kenmore appliances (they had the Sears card). The stove and refrigerator were gone by year 15 but the dishwasher was still going strong at 30 years old and it was run almost daily.Jeb

 

[roto204]

Fridge

May be good, but that's a stupid design to have the handles so high.  That would be aggravating in no time flat.

 

We had a carpeted kitchen (and bathrooms!) in a rental home we had in college.  Ick!  Talk about impossible to keep clean!  At least the magma-orange countertops kept the ugly streak going strong.

 

This is like a picture that screams "everything lousy, all in one place."  It does capture the essence of late-seventies, early-eighties design.

 

 

 

[whirlcool]

In one of the houses we had the bathrooms had shag carpeting in them. When you walked in the room it smelled of ammonia! We ripped all that out and installed tile before we even moved in. When they ripped up the carpet, you should have seen what the slab looked like around the toilet! It was pee stained! No wonder it smelled.

 

[roto204]

Ew!

I always thought that those full-length urinals would be a great addition to any bathroom.

 

The tagline for this catalog should be:  "1980 Kenmore Appliances -- We eat out a lot."

 

[appnut]

My first house I bought July of 1980 was built in the spring of 1980.  Came with Kenmore appliances.  The gas range I had looks like the same one that's the least expensive gas range with a backsplash.  It just had a 4 hour timer and continuous clean oven.  It had pilot lights.  I had the builder upgrade to the same look, but it had pilotless ignition.   The builder decided to upgrade the dishwasher that was in the models.  What was in the models  looks like the one that's the least expensive of the 24" ones in the catalog.  What he chose to upgrade to, is not pictured here.  It had the big fat knob like the one that's the top of the 3 mechanical models.  It had 3 buttons  on the left (Pots & Pans, Normal, Rinse & Hold--then a bit of a space and then heat or cool dry buttons. 

 

[gansky1]

This was fun to see!

I started working at Sears in 1981 and some of these appliances were still available but probably tweaked a little here and there for "newness". Other than refrigeration products (yawn) the Sears offerings of cooking and cleanup product quality was pretty sad. It's curious that with their buying power at this point and high ranking reputation that they didn't source better.

I always thought this TOL Dishwasher was one of the best looking they made in this era, despite the woodgrain. The electronics were a marvel of the time and many were leery to buy an appliance with the newfangled, sure to fail, unnecessary hocus pocus. At the time, the woodgrain was all the rage and most appliances featured it. Within a couple of years after this, the dishwashers would all have the sloping panels as shown on the 18" models. I had no use for this design, I thought it was cheap looking and lacked any chrome. Yuck.

I never saw these home laundry models on the sales floors or general catalogs. These builder models were often found in manufactured housing and was the only place I'd ever seen them.

 

[jetcone]

I loved fake

rosewood paneling back then. It meant modern, it meant we were far away from Colonial !!

 

About this time for SHOP I made a rosewood & lucite lamp. The glues back then weren't strong enough it didn't survive. But it was cool.

 

From the catalog:

 

"Dramatic black glass oven doors"

I'll never look at my Thermador's the same way again ! 

 

Its amazing how the 'ham bomb" appears in several pictures lol !!!

 

Jenn-Aire must have built those modular ranges .

 

 

WOW my Mom had the same belt as the model with the microwave oven !! 

 

My heavens range hoods were ugly blocky affairs back then

 

 

[this post was last edited: 12/14/2014-02:36]