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Mail Box Before E-commerce: A History of Canadian Mail-order Catalogues image
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Fashion to Furnishings
Capturing Customers
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From Order to Delivery
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Catalogues (1880-1975)
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Timeline
Mail Order Origins 1880-1914 1914-1929 The 1930s 1939-1945 1945-2003

The Story of the Mail-order Catalogue

The 1930s: Corporate Expansion, Customer Cash Shortages

As a result of the optimism of the 1920s, a number of mail-order operations committed to further expansions. However, as the Depression deepened across the country, many were forced to reduce the size of their catalogues, cease sales of some items, and limit or cancel expansion plans. Hundreds of mail order staff employees were laid off. The Depression also deepened the anger of local storeowners towards mail-order companies.

       

1930

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  Woodward's Spring Summer 1936, cover.  
  

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Woodward's expands its mail-order business to serve customers throughout British Columbia, Yukon, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.


       

1930

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  Simpson's Fall Winter 1930-31, cover.  
  

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Simpson's opens a new store in Montreal and a new printing and catalogue building in Toronto.
       

1931

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  Prairie mansion, Eaton's Home Building Book, 1929, p. 6.  
  

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Eaton's stops selling houses and barns through the catalogue.
       

1933

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Eaton's Winnipeg mail-order office handles 47 735 transactions a day, but average mail orders drop from $1.93 in 1924 to $1.26 in 1933.
       

1934

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  Army and Navy Mid-winter 1933-34, cover.  
  

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Opposition to mail-order catalogues from retail merchants across Canada leads the government to establish the Royal Commission on Price Spreads and Mass Buying. The Army and Navy catalogue specifically states that merchants cannot purchase through the catalogues, suggesting that their prices are so low that stores would want to purchase from them.
       

1934

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  Eaton's 50th Anniversary, Fall Winter 1934-35, cover.  
  

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Eaton's catalogue celebrates its 50th anniversary: "The EATON Catalogue is now a Canadian institution in the West, as in the East."
       

1935

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  Red Horner endorsement, Eaton's Fall Winter 1937-38, p. 337.  
  

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Hockey greats King Clancy, Lorne Chabot, and Red Horner of the Toronto Maple Leafs begin endorsing equipment in the Eaton's catalogue. Across the country, interest in hockey is fostered through radio and mail-order catalogues.
       

1936

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  P. T. Legaré Motors, nd.  
  

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The firm of P. T. Legaré declares bankruptcy, less than ten years after the founder passes away.
       

1936

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  Mail-order centre, Brewster Street, Montréal, Dupuis Frères Automne hiver 1936-37.  
  

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The new mail-order building of Dupuis Frères in Saint-Henri, south of downtown Montréal, opens.
       

1939

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Anticipating an upturn in consumer demand, Simpson's expands its mail-order plant capacity in Toronto, Halifax, and Regina. War intervenes and the renovations are not completed until its end.

1939-1945: The Catalogue at War

 
   
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