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

The Story of the Mail-order Catalogue

1939-1945: The Catalogue at War

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, mail-order companies demonstrate their support for the Canadian war effort by sending troops overseas, selling patriotic goods through the catalogues, by working with the government on its rationing program, and by sending parcels overseas to citizens in Britain impacted by restricted goods and to prisoners-of-war in Germany.
  Raising money for the Red Cross, Eaton Printemps été 1941.  
  

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1943

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  Shipping receipts for parcels sent by Simpson's to Canadian POW in Germany.  
  

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Freddy Scythes, a Canadian prisoner-of-war behind German lines, receives parcels from Simpson's through the mail.


       

 

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  Women in Eaton's mail order, 1943.  
  

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Before and during the Second World War women dominate the mail-order department at Eaton.
       

1945

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  Dupuis Frères Automne hiver 1944-45, cover.  
  

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Throughout the war, Dupuis Frères sends gifts of cigarettes to former employees serving in the military. The Tobacco Depot serving the army postal service is, for many Dupuis employees and customers, conveniently located in Montréal.


1946-2003: Simpsons-Sears, then Sears, eventually emerges as the most successful department store catalogue in Canada

 

 
   
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