Sears Hunting Ad – Oct. 29, 1953

As a shopper, you're no doubt familiar with the concept of a house brand.  Dictionary.com defines it as "a brand name used by a retailer for a product or product line made specifically for, or by, the retailer.

One example would be Ann Page, one of A&P's house brands, found on products like preserves and peanut butter. Jane Parker was another A&P house brand, used for bread, cookies and other items.

Today, there are house brands like Clover Valley (for Dollar General) and Great Value (for Walmart).

But did you know that Sears had a house brand that it used for hunting rifles and other sporting goods?

You can see it mentioned in the ad above, which ran in the Lorain Journal back on October 29, 1953. There's a J. C. Higgins .22 Caliber Semi-Automatic Rifle, a J. C. Higgins Bolt Action 6-Shot Repeating Shotgun and (Sears' best seller) a J. C. Higgins Deluxe Model 20 6-Shot Pump Shotgun.

But unlike Ann Page and Jane Parker, there really was a J. C. Higgins. Sort of.

J. C. Higgins Deluxe Model 20
6-Shot Pump Shotgun for sale on proxibid.com

The Wiki entry for J. C. Higgins notes, "From 1908 until 1962, Sears, Roebuck & Company sold a wide variety of sporting goods and recreational equipment, including bicycles, golf clubs, rifles, shotguns, and revolvers under the brand name "J. C. Higgins." These products were well made and were popular with the company's historical core of rural and working-class consumers.

"Like many other Sears products, the Sears firearms were originally made by major firearm manufacturers. The Model 20 was produced by High Standard Arms, as was the Model 88 revolver.

"The J.C. Higgins brand for Sears sporting goods was replaced with the Ted Williams brand. Many of the more durable J.C. Higgins products are still available as secondhand items.

"The brand name, J. C. Higgins, was based on a real person, John Higgins, who was a Sears employee. He moved from his birth country of Ireland to the United States in his late teens and began working for Sears in 1898. He spent his entire working career with Sears and was Vice President for the company for a period of time. He was actually born with no middle name but the Sears Co. presented the idea of labeling their sporting good line with his name and saw it more presentable labeling the brand as J.C. Higgins. He worked with the company until his retirement as head bookkeeper in 1930. Higgins died in 1950. His expertise in sporting goods or sports is unknown."

It's interesting that Sears preferred 'J. C. Higgins' as a brand instead of 'John Higgins.' Could it have been a subtle swipe at J. C. Penney, who was just beginning to expand about that time?