A true record of an era, this unabridged facsimile of the retail giant's 1895 catalogue showcases some 25,000 items, from the necessities of life to products whose time has passed. Illustrated.

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Faithful reprint of the retailer's Christmas catalog offers a nostalgia-inducing look at consumer goods of the 1940s, from toys to housewares, clothing, furniture, candy, and a selection of gifts for servicemen.

This stylish collection offers hundreds of sepia-tone illustrations and captions that depict the fashions of the '20s — from women's chemise dresses and hats to men's suits and work clothes, plus kids' apparel.

A fascinating piece of history and a window to turn-of-the-century America. The Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog was the Amazon.com of its day, giving American families across the country access to thousands of items from clothing and furniture to buggies and hair tonic. Whether they could buy it or not, people would pour over the massive volume that represented an icon in American retail. The 1908 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalogue offers an amazing look at life in early twentieth-century America. Sears, Roebuck & Co. have defined and innovated American retail for years, As the company grew from humble beginnings, it’s catalog selection exploded to include all sorts of categories and encompassed almost everything imaginable. With merchandise ranging from ordinary to fantastical (and almost all of it priced at the pennies-on-the-dollar rate of the time), browsing through this vintage collection is sure to be an enjoyable experience.

Proudly advertising its enormous inventory shipped from "Cheapest Supply House on Earth," in 1894, the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog offered substantial savings for rural dwellers on almost everything. And everything means everything. From pianos and firearms to clothing, watches, and jewelry, this well-known American superstore had it all. Need a sewing machine guaranteed to last ten years? Just $17.55 from Sears, Roebuck and Co. And why not buy solid gold? Solid gold watches, that is, for just thirty to fifty dollars. In the musical goods department, guitars came with free instruction books, mandolins were becoming so popular that sales had more than doubled in a year, and violins were imported and plentiful. The guns and sporting goods department boasted a wide range of weaponry, including the Colt's Army Double Action Revolver (which, if ordered with an accompaniment of cash payment in full, came with a "FREE nice present" . . . the likes of which are left to the gun enthusiast's imagination). Hundreds of illustrations accompany the fascinating product descriptions and hard-to-fathom prices of over a century ago in this rerelease of the Sears, Roebuck and Co. Consumer’s Guide for 1894. Nostalgic for some, fun for all--this book is perfect for anyone interested in collectibles.

A facsimile edition of the 1902 catalog for the retail chain displays the manners, customs, necessities, luxuries, and cost of living of an America at the turn of the century through the products Americans bought.

Since 1872 when traveling salesman Aaron Montgomery Ward realized he could eliminate the middleman and sell goods directly to his customers, Americans have had an ongoing love affair with the mail-order catalog, which continues undiminished even in today's online-driven world. The practical can find deals on furniture and clothing in L.L.Bean and Sears, the extravagant can consider his and hers matching helicopters, windmills, hot-air balloons, and submarines in the Neiman Marcus Fantasy Catalog; those looking to get their pulses racing can browse Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch; while our inner swashbuckler can travel the world through the pages of the J. Peterman Owner's Manual where Moroccan caftans, Russian Navy t-shirts, and wooden water buckets from rural China entice the imagination. In Catalog: The Illustrated History of Mail Order Shopping, Robin Cherry traces the timeline of these snapshots from American history and discovers along the way how we dressed, decorated our houses, worked, played, and got around. From corsets to bell-bottoms, from baby-doll dresses and Doc Martens all the way to iPods, the history of these catalogs is the history of our lives and our culture. GIs during World War II were kept company by the models in the pages of lingerie catalogs; hockey goalies fashioned makeshift shin guards out of them during the Great Depression, and creative children across the country still play with homemade paper dolls cut from clothing catalogs. A number of celebrities got their start modeling for catalogs: Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, Katherine Heigl, Matthew Fox, and Angelina Jolie. Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan both got their first guitars from the Sears catalog. Organized into categories such as clothing, food, animals, and houses, author Robin Cherry explores the vivid stories behind Sears, Montgomery Ward, Lillian Vernon, Harry & David, Jackson & Perkins, and of course, 45 years of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. Insightful historical commentary places these catalogs in their social context, making this book a visual pleasure and a historically important piece of Americana.