The Internet of the 19th Century

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	• 1897 Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalogue Skyhorse Publishing, 2007 - 736 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Internet of the 19th Century

Imagine having an invention which would allow you to review various products from the comfort of your own home. An invention which would enable you to purchase food, clothing, books, tools, medicines, transportation, furniture and virtually any other consumer need. An invention which would permit you to choose various delivery options which varied by cost and speed. Oh and by the way the year is 1897. After reading this book I have to say that the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue was truly the Internet of its day. The book lists literally thousands of items which could all be purchased from the Sears Roebuck Company. Many of the items are farming equipment and provide a look at what was needed to raise food in the small family ran farms of the day as opposed to our world of largely corporate farming. The drawings of the home entertainment options available show how much easier we have it today. The product descriptions, especially of the medical products are eye opening (you could actually buy opium) and the overall feel is that a person in the late 1800s, even if stuck in a small rural town, truly had access to the world provided he had a copy of the Sears Roebuck Catalogue.

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Sears

This is such a great look into turn of century catalogue shopping. You'll be shocked at cheap things like violins and three piece suits used to be. For history or shopping buffs, this is a really, really neat buy.

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A portal to another time

This book is utterly fascinating for those who hold any sort of interest in bygone times. While not a step-by-step guide, it inadvertantly thrusts the reader into the role of a home owner of limited means in the late 1800s. You find yourself shopping, suckered in by the richly worded item desciptions and enticed by the promises of "best on the market," "guaranteed for a lifetime," and "will cure all diseases of the nervous system."

Unconsciously, you create your own little shopping list and envision a home where the husband builds everything from the buggy to the bathrooms while the wife prepares all the meals and pretties herself with skin whiteners and hair lotions.

I am so glad to have bought this catalogue. I use it as a writing prompt for my high school students, to encourage creative and analytical thought, and they delight in it. I implore everyone to investigate this book.

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Everything From the Past

The Sears and Roebuck catalog has been a huge help in writing my historical romance set in the 1890s. There are saddles, surreys, and patent medicines. This visual aid has made it so much easier for me to give an accurate depiction of the times.

1897 Sears Catalogue

I love it! It is fun to look at the the prices of the items that were sold back at the turn of the century.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Imagine it?s the end of the nineteenth century, and, with one catalog, you can buy everything from beds and tools to clothing and opium. (Yes, opium.) Not to mention ear trumpets, horse buggies, and Bibles. The 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalogue is both a wonderfully fascinating collector?s item and a valuable piece of American history. For every recognizable item included, there are plenty of others guaranteed to confuse or interest 21st century readers?like Bust Cream or Food and Sweet Spirits of Nitre. What was once standard household fare is today a sometimes strange, often funny look at what life was once like for the average American family. It?s amazing to see that a Princely Shirt for Princely Men cost $0.95 or three for $2.75 or that a Complete Violin Outfit (with bow and case) cost only $2.00.

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