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The
Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Consumer's Guide for 1894....
Newspapers all over devoted special columns to the loss of this great catalog.
Gone is the Wish Book which had also been named the Dream Book, Farmer's Bible,
and the Big Book. Gone is the last
link to the Good Old Days, that incredible period of the late 1890's through the
roaring 1920's.
Richard Warren Sears had started his wondrous company with the sale of engraved
pocket watches, and later with the start of his Watch Company mail order catalog
with his partner Alvah Curtis Roebuck. The
business did so well
they moved to Chicago, IL
in 1893 and issued their first catalog later that year that featured
watches and other goods. However, their
first major catalog was to change the shape of mail order business for all time.
In 1894 the self proclaimed "Cheapest Supply House on Earth" catalog
was issued. It had more than 300
pages of illustrated, and detailed items
ranging from pianos to organs, bicycles to buggies, guns to revolvers, and
silverware to farm equipment.
The quality was high, prices low, and all sold with a money back guarantee.
A 23 year old Sears and 24 year old Roebuck had made more than history, they had
made wishes come true.
Of course with the release of the catalog, the small store owners who had
monopolized on their situation were aghast at the low prices.
In truth the store owners were willing to pay a nickel for each
undelivered catalog!
Though these were hard times, the catalog continued to grow.
By 1896 the catalog had grown to over 732 pages -- containing thousands of
items. Each was illustrated, and
again detailed in description.
Roebuck had resigned and sold out for $25,000.
A new company continued to rise from the old on August 23, 1895.
In 1908 Sears resigned, exhausted from the lifestyle that he had enjoyed.
He died on September 28, 1914.
The Wish Book was more than a catalog. It
was used as an encyclopedia, Schoolteachers used it for reading and spelling,
and as a source of entertainment on long nights.
The book had sold everything from cradles to tombstones, hairpins to houses.
Of the 100,000 houses sold, most are still standing!
So to the reenactor of the Wild West to the people of W.W.II, and on up to now
remember this big book of wishes.
It was a driving force for many of the periods.
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