- Shopping catalogs were a popular way to buy goods and have them shipped directly to your home in the 20th century.
- At the forefront of the mail-order industry was Richard Sears with his now-famous Sears catalog.
- The Sears catalog sold women's hats, suits, underwear, musical instruments, paint, and even Christmas gifts.
- Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.
These days, many turn to Amazon when they need to make a simple purchase.
While Amazon is a relatively new business changing the way we consume products, the model itself isn't necessarily new. People have been buying and shipping merchandise to their homes for decades. Instead of scrolling through products on a website, they would flip through the pages of a hefty shopping catalog.
At the forefront of this industry was the Sears catalog that would often be several pages long, offering a wide array of merchandise to choose from.
From musical instruments to men's underwear, this is what the pages of the famous Sears catalog looked like throughout the 20th century.
Although Benjamin Franklin invented the mail-order business in America in 1744, it wasn't until the first Montgomery Ward catalog was published in 1872 that the mail-order industry really took off.
The mail-order business in American started with the Founding Fathers. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson often bought wine and furniture through catalogs, and Benjamin Franklin created the first book catalog in the states.
It wasn't until Aaron Montgomery Ward created his catalog company in 1872, though, that the industry really boomed. The Montgomery Ward & Co. catalog quickly became popular among consumers all across the country, sparking many to follow in Ward's footsteps.
Richard Sears was one of the people who followed Ward's success when he created the first Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog in 1888, selling just watches and jewelry.
Richard Sears illustrated the cover himself and wrote some famous slogans including "Book of Bargains: A Money Saver for Everyone" and the "Cheapest Supply House on Earth."
By 1894, Sears expanded the book to offer a wide range of merchandise.
Sears' main goal was to ensure every customer would come back. In fact, he included the words "We Can't Afford to Lose a Customer" on the front page of several catalogs. In 1903, one catalog even read, "Your money back if you are not satisfied." This mission led Sears to offer a more diverse selection of goods that appealed to a broader audience.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider