Catalogs to Wish Books

J. Burns

Remember?

Mail Order in the US

• First catalog-er in US who solicited orders through the mail?

• Montgomery Ward?• Sears?• LL Bean?• Of course, who else

could it be?

• In 1744, Franklin created the first catalog, which sold scientific and academic books.

• Hammacher Schlemmer is the oldest surviving mail order business, founded in 1848, but didn’t produce a catalog until 1881.

• Aaron Montgomery Ward produced his first catalog in 1872.

• Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck founded Sears and Roebuck, publishing first catalog in 1888.

• Because they could buy large quantities directly from manufacturers and eliminate the middle men, Ward and Sears could offer many more products at much cheaper prices.

• Rural people now had access to a whole new world of goods, for home and farm, everything from clothes and books to medicines and veterinary supplies.

From the 1870s to 1950s and beyond,

• Rural families depended on catalogs to supplement what they bought from peddlers and general stores.

Starting in the Mid 1800s, urban went from General to Department

• Stores were large, multi-floors with different goods on each floor

• Each department had clerks, and customers could handle and sect merchandise

• The first in US was The Marble Palace in NYC

• 1846 Marble Palace, NYC

• 1852 Marshall Field’s, Chicago

• 1858 Macy’s, NYC• 1867, Rich’s, Atlanta• 1877 Wannamaker’s,

Philadelphia• 1881 Hudson’s, Detroit

Mr. Bean Goes Shopping