Sears, Roebuck and Co.: Consumers Guide Fall 1900

by Sears Roebuck and Co. (Publisher), Joseph J. Schroeder Jr. (Editor)

This digest-sized book reprints selected pages from the giant 1900 Sears catalog.

Genres: History, Reference, Nonfiction

251 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

See author Sears for product manuals (i.e. Kenmore) and cookery books.

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

From mighty Chicago, home of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, comes the printed repository of the world's greatest discount supply concern, whose "trade reaches around the world," and whose various goods and sundries -- were they to be lined up end to end would reach all the way to Uranus (no, it doesn't say that), and which holds in its multi-storied facility "capital and surplus [of] over one million dollars"! (yes, it does say that; and take that, Dr. Evil...)

Perusing this delightful 1970 pocket-book-sized reprint of Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s four-pound 1900 Consumers Guide (originally available to the public for a nominal 15 cents to defer shipping costs), I come across the finest selection of multitudinous goods ever made available to the mass of humanity, priced to undersell all other concerns due to volume contracts with suppliers and manufacturers ... we see the corollary of Walmart in American retail might of more than 100 years ago, and find the catalog to have been the portable internet of its day.

A quick perusal intrigues with goods as varying as Hausemann's Spaying Emasculator ("the simplest, safest and quickest instrument made for castrating.." p. 33); Dr. Barkley's Blood Builder ("nature's most wonderful remedy for destroying poisons in the blood...or germs in blood or some derangement of that life-giving and sustaining fluid...") (p. 18); Our Celery Malt Compound ("absolutely pure and unadulterated...a nerve builder, brain tonic and stimulant both for the young and old..."); the Heidelberg Electric Belt (producing an alternating electric current and worn around the waist to somehow "penetrate every nerve in the body" and cure or prevent "chronic nervous diseases, weaknesses of all kinds, no matter how longstanding or from what cause" (!) (pp. 38-39); Princess Hair Restorer (which among its many restorative powers to the mane "arrests falling hair... and allays all scalp irritations") (p.43); "A Large and extremely jaunty hat" of the fulsome variety, sporting what looks like cornucopious vegetation piled atop the female head... (p 679).

I've only scratched the surface of this thing and will add other products as I go along.

Demerited for being reprinted so small that it requires a magnifying glass to read; but the illustrations are magnificent...

KR@KY 2017

[Ms. Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the turn of the 20th century, you couldn't just go online and buy whatever you were looking for. Unless you lived in a city, getting certain things you'd need could be difficult. Cue Sears and the mail-order catalog, a huge book bursting with pictures and descriptions for items of all kinds. This little reprint of the Fall 1900 catalog is abridged, meaning there's only about 300 pages instead of the full 1200 of the original, but it gives a broad sampling of the kinds of things people were after at the time. You could buy parts for your buggy, a fancy new hat, or even a piano to be delivered by rail from Sears.

I've collected Sears catalogs since I was 10, and I love flipping through the pages and imagining the lives of the people for whom this was the original "Amazon." Recommended for anyone who likes history, loves shopping, or is curious to see how much prices have changed in 125 years.

[Maki ⌒☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this going through a box of my mom's books from about 15 years ago. And it's just so on-brand of her to have a copy of a 70's reprint of the 1900 Sears Roebuck catalogue.

[Pepper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of amazing things that I wish were still made from 1900. From household items to clothing, tools, and everything else you could imagine the Sears and Roebuck catalog doesn't disappoint. I remember as a child, traveling to Albuquerque from our little town of Eagle Nest just to pick things up that we had ordered and to peruse the giant catalogue for more. Well worth the read to gain perspective on how our world has changed.