Montgomery Ward made lenses?

[domenico Foschi]

it looks like a Ross cabinet lens

[Jim Chinn]

Rebadging was pretty common among Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Wards (as well as many other large regional retailers) with everything from tires to televisions. When I was kid my first telescope was a "monkey wards" 6" reflector that was a rebadged Mead. When I hit photo swap meets I still see lots of 35mm lenses with Sears branded on the barrel.