9. Sears sold privately owned electrical generation and distribution plants
During the early years of the twentieth century, the push to electrify America’s towns and cities was on, with Tesla and Edison having emerged from the War of the Currents with the AC system supported by Tesla and Westinghouse the clear winner. The cities were of course the first to benefit from the emerging power distribution grids, followed by nearby communities which eventually became part of the metropolitan areas as the suburbs pushed out to absorb them. In many cases, the rural areas lagged behind, as it was not yet profitable to stretch the existing grids out that far, to the more remote farming, ranching, logging, and mining communities, even in the eastern states of Appalachia. The marketing gurus at Sears recognized the lapse as an opportunity for the company.
Sears had always kept an eye on the rural communities since they were often not supported by stores other than small general stores (which were good customers in most cases) and occasional implement suppliers and dealers, another strong customer base. In 1914 Sears began selling through their catalog of private electrical generating plants. Sold as Electric Lighting Plants, they were designed to provide electricity to isolated rural homes and farms. The Sears Electric Lighting Plants were the precursors of modern-day portable generators, which are used to provide emergency electrical power when regular power is disrupted by weather or some other extraordinary event. Before America entered World War I farmers in the most remote areas had the option of providing their homes’ electricity on their own.