Sears & Roebuck 'Water Witch' Outboard

[V153]

Mom finally brought my Dads 1937 2 1/2hp Water Witch down from NC for me. This thing is too cool. Sorry no pics my camera took a dump, but I'll try to describe it. Has aluminum fuel tanks that look like airplane drop tanks port'n starboard of the flywheel. The cowl between them is aluminum as well. Monkeyed around with some nevrdull polish on one of the tanks, this baby's gonna clean up nice. Have her shinin' like one of Davids props in no time. Heh heh

I can remember using this motor on an 8' alum jon boat we had in Miami in '68. Me'n my little brother thought we were kings of the sea exploring Biscayne Bay. Thanks Dad! RIP

Any of you other old timers know anything about these motors? Believe Kissel was the name of the actual manufacturer. I'll try to get some pics up asap. SeeYa

   

[thedeuceman]

its so cool to have a few of "Dads things" around, helps keep them old memory's of being a kid intact.

[Rich_V174SS]

Ya mean one of these?

[V153]

Ha! Yup that's the one Rich. Thanks man!

'Member Granpappy Jack calling it a "Mae West" motor? Not sure what he meant by that, though she does resemble a "Fembot" from certain angles ...

This motor "ran great last time out" so we'll see. But knowing Dad it'll run. Located the spark plug'n was looking around for the lead. Found it hanging off to the side, and then I remembered that was the kill swtch.

Thanks again Rich.

 

[David CVX-16]

Sear sold the Ted Williams outboards, Cushman motor scooters, motor cycles, and even houses. How many hours did I spent pouring over the thick Sears catalog? - materialism at its worst. 

[V153]

Commonly referred to as the 'wish book' in earlier times. Yes Sears sold everything but they didn't actually make anything. It was all subbed out.  Kinda like Walmart.

As a teenager I could hardly wait to get my hands on a copy of the latest Sears catalog. Gimme that and a National Geographic, I might not come out of the bathroom for days ...     

[instep]

I still have my dads 1941 Champion 2.9 horse ,yes it does bring back memories of fishing in those old wooden boats that always leaked, but had a ride that aluminum or glass can't duplicate.

[Jerry]

Sears also sold the "Allstate" car in like '51. It was a Henry J.

[WetRaider]

I live in a community with a very high number of still-standing sears-roebuck homes.  These are all typically square or rectangular in plan, 4 bedroom with  a central fireplace/chimney and a hip roof.  There's a museum in town that shows you could have your house purchased and "installed" for $495 out of that catalog.  A lot of the coal miners would assemble the houses when they weren't in the mines.

[Jason]

I live in a community with a very high number of still-standing sears-roebuck homes.  These are all typically square or rectangular in plan, 4 bedroom with  a central fireplace/chimney and a hip roof.  There's a museum in town that shows you could have your house purchased and "installed" for $495 out of that catalog.  A lot of the coal miners would assemble the houses when they weren't in the mines.

Do you know what years these were made? $495 is a bargain!

[bellj]

Every-so-often our local paper runs a "hidden in plain sight" feature where they highlight some of these surviving old homes. There are quite a few around Marshfield and the area.

Here is a website I found that highlights a few: http://searshomesarlingtonheightsmtprospect.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-top-four-most-popular-sears-homes.html

In the 30's & 40's, $495 was just barely affordable to only a few - in fact I still have old pay slips my dad saved from when my parents went to Chicago and he worked for Sears repairing vacuum cleaner motors. I haven't looked at them for a while, but I remember the week's pay was under a dollar (if I remember correctly)! I heard the story that they recounted many times about how they only had an extra five cents extra the following Sunday after the bills were paid - and they went down to Midway airport to watch the planes come in (free entertainment) and shared an ice cream cone as their treat from that five cents! That particular day is when they learned after getting back to their apartment that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.

More than you asked for in this story and not related to the Sear's houses - but just including some other personal ironic twists - my parents came back from Chicago shortly after to take over my grandfather's farm during those war years (the one I eventually grew up on) and after my grandmother tragically died, my grandfather and a few of my uncles went down to Tennessee to work as steam fitters on what they later learned was the nuclear bomb project to bomb Japan.

[WetRaider]

I live in a community with a very high number of still-standing sears-roebuck homes.  These are all typically square or rectangular in plan, 4 bedroom with  a central fireplace/chimney and a hip roof.  There's a museum in town that shows you could have your house purchased and "installed" for $495 out of that catalog.  A lot of the coal miners would assemble the houses when they weren't in the mines.

Do you know what years these were made? $495 is a bargain!

The catalog page at the museum is identified as 1904.

It's amazing to look through my community and see these old houses that were 600-800 square feet, and $500 or so, and then, to look out my window at my next-door neighbor's house at 10,000 square feet, 26 total rooms (including a 3rd floor "ballroom"), that was finished in 1902.  It has the original carriage house (not many people driving cars in 1902) and big covered side entrance near the carriage house.  There's a photo at this museum of Al Capone sitting in the dining room at that house.  The owner was a prominent banker, supposedly called on by Al Capone to assist in some money laundering.

Iowa's governor Drake (1895-1898) offered Centerville (my town) their choice a public library or a university.  Centerville's mayor and city council chose the library.  Des Moines is the home of Drake University.  Interesting to think how different the town might be now if it had the university ... or how different the university might have been if it had been here.

[Jason]

I live in a community with a very high number of still-standing sears-roebuck homes.  These are all typically square or rectangular in plan, 4 bedroom with  a central fireplace/chimney and a hip roof.  There's a museum in town that shows you could have your house purchased and "installed" for $495 out of that catalog.  A lot of the coal miners would assemble the houses when they weren't in the mines.

Do you know what years these were made? $495 is a bargain!

The catalog page at the museum is identified as 1904.

It's amazing to look through my community and see these old houses that were 600-800 square feet, and $500 or so, and then, to look out my window at my next-door neighbor's house at 10,000 square feet, 26 total rooms (including a 3rd floor "ballroom"), that was finished in 1902.  It has the original carriage house (not many people driving cars in 1902) and big covered side entrance near the carriage house.  There's a photo at this museum of Al Capone sitting in the dining room at that house.  The owner was a prominent banker, supposedly called on by Al Capone to assist in some money laundering.

Iowa's governor Drake (1895-1898) offered Centerville (my town) their choice a public library or a university.  Centerville's mayor and city council chose the library.  Des Moines is the home of Drake University.  Interesting to think how different the town might be now if it had the university ... or how different the university might have been if it had been here.

Our old house in St. Paul was built in 1904 too. Was not a sears house but a custom built 1000 sq ft home. Was built in a months time for $900 according to the original building permit.

Very interesting. thanks for posting.

[Jerry]

Our house was a "Page and Hill" pre-fab that was built in Shakopee and bolted together in Bloomington in 1949 for the GI's coming home after the war. $10,000, nothing down 700 sq ft. We bought it in 1974 for $24,500.

[bambam]

When I go duck hunting I sleep in  1933 sears roebuck teardrop trailer.  It was given to me, along with several other old hunting items by one of my dad's friends when he stopped hunting.  He said that his Dad bought it in 1934 after it was sitting at sears and was last years model.  That trailer has been all over the country on countless hunting and fishing trips before we left it at the duck camp about 15 years ago. 

[V153]

Been doin a lil polishing. Well, not really. But it is good incentive ...?

[David CVX-16]

Looks like a million dollars. A keepsake for sure.

[thedeuceman]

That is in amazing condition... vary cool

[V153]

Hey guys, wasn't trying to be misleading. That pic came from the Antique Outboard Motor Club. www.aomci.org  Mine is nice but it ain't near as shiny as that, though it will be. Been workin on one of the tanks with some Nevrdull & she's gonna polish right up.

Soon as the weather cools off a lil I'm gonna get serious about cleanin her up'n getting her running, but the heat's just been brutal down here. Phew! And lemme tell ya when you work in this sauna all day the last thing you wanna do is come home & spend another minute outside. S'posed to cool down end of the week but I ain't holdin my (panting) breath ...