Sears, Roebuck and Co. 1908

 
Looking through this replica of the Sears catalog from over 100 years ago is almost like going on an archeological dig.  Discovering what people used, needed, and coveted in these pages is like putting yourself in their stylish $1.39 leather oxfords for just a little while.  

Listed in the first pages of the catalog are several pages of cream separators, guaranteed to lead to sure prosperity.  After all, separator butter always takes the prizes.  

Next come the sewing machines.  What I now have as a conversation piece in my living room was once sold for $13.85 as a very important time-saver for the woman who makes her family’s clothing.  

Manure spreaders, beehives, rifles and ammunition, roller skates and ice skates, a mouse-proof piano, and the latest in clothing styles.  This is just a sampling of the merchandise available by mail-order.

Just make sure that if you live in a city of 25,000 or more that you give your street address.  If you have an order blank, use it.  Otherwise, use any plain paper.  Use any language, “no matter whether good or poor writing”. 

This catalog must have been so convenient to those living in 1908.  Imagine the time and money saved from not traveling by wagon many miles to the store to get these needed items.  I can picture a family sitting at their table in the evening, pouring over the catalog, making a wish list of items they need.  I also imagine that seeing all these goods in the catalog could lead them to many items that they now think they need.  The wording in this catalog is very convincing.  And if the neighbors are buying these items, why shouldn’t they?

What looking through this catalog brings to mind is that stuff is getting easier and easier to buy – too easy, in fact.  If people thought the mail order catalog was convenient back in 1908, imagine what they would think of Amazon’s one-click ordering with free 2-day shipping.  And the easier things are to buy, the less time we take to ponder whether or not a purchase is wise or necessary. 

Lesson for today:  Think before you buy.  Is it a need, or a want?  Will it really make your life better or easier?  Will it just be something that takes up space or requires time and money to keep up?  If you had to fill out a mail order form, get a money order from the bank and wait many weeks for your shipment, would you still make the purchase?   

On page 208 is one item I would have no problem passing on.  For just 80 cents, one could order a Magneto Electric Thriller.  It "affords great amusement as well as instruction.  The current can be so regulated that it will make a strongman tremble, or so mild as not to injure a child."  Obviously, toy regulations were a little lax in 1908!