Sears Catalog?

Question

Any history buff please give me the historical significance of the Sears catalog with the advantages and disadvantages in the late 19th century.

Answer 1

Sear and Roebuck were the first to have a catalog!!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Catalog

Answer 2

From its mail order beginnings, the company grew to become the largest retailer in the United States by the mid-20th century, and its catalogs became famous. Competition and changes in the demographics of its customer base challenged the company after World War II as its rural and inner city strongholds shrank and the suburban markets grew. Eventually its catalog program was largely discontinued. Sears merged with Kmart in early 2005, creating the Sears Holdings Corporation.

Answer 3

Sears Catalog
... at the turn of the century the Sears Catalog had become one of the two books ... Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck began producing a catalog-type mailing ...www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/sears/sears4.html

Answer 4

The catalog reached thousands of consumers who otherwise would have had to pay higher costs by ordering products through local merchants. At the time, your only choice outside of the big cities or the East Coast was to get your products from the local store. The catalog also allowed people to discover objects they didn't know existed. There's a brief history in my sources which explains why this was profitable.

Answer 5

The Sears & Roebuck catalogs were a way for isolated families to acquire products that they couldn't get near where they lived. You could order everything from clothes to shoes to buggies for your horses to implements to use on your farm / homestead ... all through the mail and at reasonible prices. I've also heard tell that the catalogs could then be "recycled" as wall paper, insulation for the walls and/or toliet paper.

Answer 6

It was used in the outhouse, and the lingerie pages were the only pornography available in those days.