In December, 1921, the mail order house of Sears, Roebuck & Co., that proud, old firm "founded on a fair profit, a fine organization and the faith of the customer," was in a bad, bad way. The post-War depression and readjustment had nibbled away at inventories and surplus so that earlier that year dividends on common stock had to be suspended. It seemed to President Julius Rosenwald and his associates that, to balance on the year, they would have to write off inventories hugely, pass dividends and even levy on holders of common...
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