The Story of the Mail-order Catalogue
Mail-order Origins in European and American Department Stores
Industrialization made mass production and distribution possible. In
the late
19th century, large department stores introduced mail-order operations to
extend
their markets beyond the stores themselves into smaller cities and rural
areas.
The French and the Americans were leaders in this field.
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1871
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Au Bon Marché, a Paris department store since 1852, introduces
its
mail-order
service. There are two divisions, one for France, the other for foreign
countries,
and mail orders are delivered throughout Europe and Africa. One-and-a-half
million
catalogues are distributed in 1894 alone.
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1872
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Montgomery Ward, a Chicago retailer, produces the first American
catalogue,
a price list sent to members of the Grange, a farmer's movement in
nearby
states. The company, based in a city with excellent rail connections,
becomes
the giant of the mail-order business in the United States.
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1874
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Rowland Macy establishes a special mail-order department in his New
York City
store on 14th Street West. From 1879 to its closure in 1912, Macy's
produces
seasonal catalogues twice a year. The catalogue is 300 pages long by the
early
1890s.
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1876
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John Wanamaker of Philadelphia introduces a mail-order service. By the
early
1880s the firm receives more than 1000 letters a day. Wanamaker is among
the
first to hire commercial artists to decorate his catalogues and
advertising literature.
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1886
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Richard Sears issues a modest catalogue for selling watches. The
catalogue
grows to 110 pages in 1892, 786 pages in 1897. Unlike most companies,
Sears starts
in mail order and later branches into retailing. By 1888, Canadians are
purchasing
so many goods through Sears that the company opens an office in Toronto.
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1880-1914: Early
Beginnings
of Department Store Catalogues in Canada
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