Catalogs

Long before shopping online was part of our life, and long before department stores and speciality stores were an option, many Americans, especially those in rural places, did much of their shopping through catalogs. While many known the renowned (and thick!) Sears-Robuck catalog, specific products of all kinds were made available through mail oder catalogs, used both by direct consumers, and by storekeepers,. If the internet killed the catalog, it was the catalog that slowly pushed the door-to-door peddler, once a fixture across the United States, into extinction.