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The 1920s was the most exciting time for mail-order catalog sales in the United States. Catalogs were distributed in large quantities throughout the U.S., and people would return order forms and receive products from the catalogs. In those days, catalogs were called "Great Wish Books," "Farmer's Bibles," "a department store in a book," and so on.
It was also a picture book for children and a textbook for learning to read and write and to learn about the world. This Sears Roebuck catalog has 1056 pages.
During this era, the United States was an agricultural-based country with many farmers living on vast lands. Railroads and cars were just beginning to spread, transportation was not developed, and the main means of transportation was horses and carriages. Therefore, farmers living in rural areas had a hard time getting to the cities, and they had to buy reluctantly even if the local retailers charged unreasonably high prices. They were frustrated.
The U.S. is a very large country, so the sense of rural areas in the U.S. is many times more remote than the sense of rural areas in Japan. That is where the mail order companies took notice. Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, and others built huge warehouses and post offices in Chicago, the distribution center of the time, and mailed catalogs to people.
By purchasing goods in bulk, they were able to deliver goods to consumers at low prices. Mail order companies "protect the interests of the farmers from merchants and other intermediaries who have no rivals and can do whatever they want!" (Mail-order businesses are also intermediaries, though.) It is true that consumers were able to buy at a lower price than from rip-off merchants because they were not charged more than the price written in the catalog. The catalog also said, "If you are not satisfied with the product, we will refund your money. So there was a money-back guarantee from this era. These mail-order sales allowed people from the countryside to experience urban culture.
In the early 1900s, Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward expanded into the retail business, including department stores and supermarkets, in addition to mail-order sales. Sears at one time became one of the leading retail chains in the U.S. along with Wal-Mart, but with the spread of online shopping and the increase in cheap stores, the company fell into financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Montgomery Ward Inc. also went bankrupt and was dismantled in 2000. Did the company that dominated and succeeded not keep up with the rapid changes of the times? Or perhaps they were so successful that they feared change and were left behind by the currents of the times.
『朝日百科 世界の歴史 11 ー 20 世紀の世界ー』 1991 年 朝日新聞社
『20 世紀アメリカの生活デザイン : シアーズ・ローバックの通信販売カタログを事例として』 田村 沙織, 坪井 善昭, 伊藤 紀之
『20 世紀後半における米国シアーズ・ローバック社の多角化経営の展開』江幡、真史
Montgomery Ward - Wikipedia
File:Consumers guide no. 107.pdf
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