Sears Labels: History and How to Date Them
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Sears, Roebuck and Co. began as a Chicago mail-order business in the 1890s and opened its first stores in 1925. A Sears label only dates a garment to the long span the company traded, but its own brands, such as Hercules workwear, and its catalogs give more specific clues.
Company history
Wikipedia records that Richard Warren Sears established a new mail-order firm in Chicago in 1892 with Alvah Curtis Roebuck, renamed Sears, Roebuck and Co. on September 16, 1893. By 1894 the catalog ran to 322 pages. The company began as a catalog business and opened its first retail locations in 1925.
Label timeline
| Label or clue | Approximate dates | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Sears, Roebuck and Co. | From 1893 | The company name |
| Sears retail stores | From 1925 | In-store as well as catalog sales |
| Hercules (Sears) workwear | Collected for 1930s outerwear and horsehide leather | Sears's own workwear brand |
| 1937 catalog sizing (32-inch bust = size 14) | 1937 | Older size numbers run large for the body |
What it helps date
- A store label only dates a garment to the years the store traded: date by labels.
- Our vintage sizing guide cites a comparison in which a 32-inch bust was a size 14 in Sears' 1937 catalog, a size 8 in 1967 and a size 0 in 2011.
- Use RN numbers and care labels to narrow the date: RN and WPL numbers, care labels.
Values
Our vintage workwear values guide puts Hercules (Sears) pieces at $75 to $500, a volatile market led by 1930s outerwear and horsehide leather (California Vintage Buyers). Prices are estimates as of 2026.
check sold prices for sears hercules vintage jacket on eBay
Sources
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Guides that mention Sears
- Vintage Clothing Sizes Explained: Why a Vintage 14 Fits Like a Modern 6How US women's clothing and pattern sizes changed from the 1930s to today, with measurement tables, and how to tell if a vintage garment will fit.
- Vintage Workwear Values: Carhartt, Filson, Stifel and More2026 sold-price ranges for vintage Carhartt, Filson, Stifel, Sweet-Orr, Big Mac, Pendleton, Woolrich and WWII Navy denim, and what moves each.
Related
- Dating Vintage Clothing by the Care LabelHow US, Canadian and European care labels date a garment: the 1971 FTC rule, the 1983 rewrite, 1997 symbols, and the clues that fool people.
- How to Date Vintage Clothing by the LabelUse the laws, postcodes, fiber names and country names printed on a garment label to work out the earliest year it could have been made.
- RN and WPL Numbers: What They Tell You About Vintage ClothingWhat RN and WPL numbers on clothing labels mean, the earliest dates they prove, how to look one up, and why RN-to-year charts are unreliable.
- Vintage Clothing Sizes Explained: Why a Vintage 14 Fits Like a Modern 6How US women's clothing and pattern sizes changed from the 1930s to today, with measurement tables, and how to tell if a vintage garment will fit.