JC Higgins and Sears Austrian Lightweight Information
Sears like many other companies, imported
their three-speed lightweight bikes.
In the early 1950's, JC Higgin lightweights were
English-made and sold under the "J.C. Higgins" name. JC Higgins
was the
name of Sear's first accountant, so his name was given to the bicycle
line. Good thing his name wasn't Dewy Cheetum...
Sears switched
to an Austrian supplier in the late '50s/early '60s, initially
retaining the J.C.Higgins name. In the mid-'60s. They switched
over to the "Sears" name. The hubs on these bikes were
Austrian-made Steyr units
which were copies of Sturmey-Archer AWs. As a side note,
Steyr was part of Steyr-Daimler-Puch. Puch made bicycles and
mopeds. Bianchi, owned by CycleEurope, bought the Puch bicycle
line is the late 80's.
In the very Early 70's, Ted Williams took over and they came out with
the Ted Williams line of bikes. He knew his stuff, being a former
biker, so he made sure that the bikes they were having produced in
Austria were top of the line.
The very old Higgins bikes have "J C
HIGGINS" cut out of the front sprocket. 
They also had a one-of-a-kind,
chrome-plated shift lever.
The later Sears
models had a
unique shift lever; but this one, a "Torpedo" copy, did not adapt well
to the use of Sturmey-Archer parts for repairs.
Some of Sears Austrian-made ten-speeds came with a crankset
which was unique. It was impossible to replace with anything
else that was available in the US. The crank looked like a regular,
cottered 3-pc. crank, but the crank spindle was actually attached to
the right arm. The crank housing would not accept any other type of
3-pc. crank.