The Sears Catalog was an American institution for more than 100 years. In 1888, the first printing of the Sears Roebuck Catalog listed nothing but jewelry and watches. By the mid-20th century, what started as a simple mailer became a catalog that was hundreds of pages long and listed all the products an American family could need or want. Generations of American families grew up with the Sears Catalog, and today the back editions act as a window into the hopes and dreams of the people who made the world we live in today.

Did your ancestors get your family heirlooms from the old Sears Catalog issues they received in the mail? Browse through the Sears catalog archive at Ancestry®, and get a glimpse at the things your ancestors saved their money to buy.   

History of the Sears Catalog

In 1869, the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad linked the country’s coasts. The railroad spurred massive economic growth, as cargo and people could move through the country faster and more cost-effectively. Settlements and towns developed around railroad tracks, which increased western expansion and created new employment opportunities. But the railroad did more than change the socio-economic reality of the country, it also led to the development of four continental time zones in the United States. The goal was to create a more uniform time-keeping system, as most towns in the United States had their own local time based on the position of the sun.

The story of the Sears catalog begins in earnest in 1886, when Minneapolis-based railroad agent Richard Sears started a small business by selling gold watches to railway customers. Unsurprisingly, Sears’ watches were a perfect way for consumers to keep track of local time.

The following year, he teamed up with Alvah Roebuck, a watchmaker, and the duo set up shop on Dearborn and Randolph Streets in Chicago. In 1888, the first edition of the Sears Catalog appeared as a simple mailer to advertise the watches they sold. 

The late-1800s era of the Sears Catalog also had some of the earliest known listings for magic lanterns, which were one of the earliest motion picture devices. This was also when the catalog inventory started to expand, including first-time listings for: 

• Bicycles
• Books
• Clothing
• Sewing machines
• Pianos and organs
• Some groceries

From Mail Order to Iconic: Tracing the Growth of the Sears Catalog, From Early Days to Its End

The Sears Catalog went through several changes as it expanded and grew. Color was added in 1897, with hand-tinted lithographs for men’s shoes. Cloth-bound books, a forerunner of modern paperbacks, also appeared around this time, as did Thomas Edison’s new Graphophone Talking Machine. This was also the era when Sears first started marketing building materials that grew into whole-house kits that contained everything a builder needed to construct an entire house from scratch. Sears Catalogs from this era were also the first to offer a “big and tall” selection of men’s shirts.

In 1899, the catalog started marketing kits for setting up mobile movie theaters where customers could charge a nickel for showing motion pictures to the public. These systems were powered by an odd mechanism that included actual limes to produce luminescent gas as lighting. The famous money-back guarantee Sears offered was first included in the 1903 edition, along with a handwritten note from Sears himself that the company now had order processors who could “read and write in all languages.”

In 1905, the catalog moved toward a multimedia presentation, with wallpaper samples glued into the pages, along with swatches of fabric used in men’s suits. Around this time, the pictures in the catalog became more glitzy and glamorous. Models were presented in aspirational settings and wearing the most elegant evening wear the company had in stock.

By the early 1930s, the so-called “Big Book Catalog” had grown to a behemoth of over 600 pages that cost a small fortune to ship out to millions of American homes. It was in 1933, close to the nadir of the Great Depression, that the company published its first Christmas Wish Book, a compendium of gift ideas for the whole family. 

Unveiling the Past: Rediscovering Everyday Items From the “Wish Book”

The Wish Book, originally intended as a supplement to the seasonal main catalog, presented a picture of the perfect Christmas. It was irresistible for parents and kids who spent hours pouring over its pages. 

At its peak, the Wish Book seemed to be a list of all that was good in the world. Children could fantasize about getting the biggest Lionel train set, model fire trucks, flowery dresses for their dolls, realistic toy guns, new bicycles, Davy Crockett coonskin caps, record players with optional Hi-Fi sound, and Brownie handheld cameras for taking pictures.

Despite popular belief that the Wish Book was mainly for children to pick out toys, most of the pages in every edition were full of items targeted toward the adults who made the purchasing decisions. Sears appealed to suburban dads of the ’50s with tools, car parts, cardigan sweaters, leather shoes, and watches. Moms were enticed with the latest in kitchen gadgets, electric vacuum cleaners, high-heel pumps, fashionable hats and gloves, and high-quality stationery for keeping in touch.

Families could plan their entire holiday around the Christmas Wish Book. Always looking to sell kits for every occasion, Sears offered Christmas trees for delivery by December 1. It also offered cheery ornaments, candles, wrapping paper, gift cards, thank you cards, and pens and ink to fill them out. Customers could buy platters for turkey, the turkeys themselves, and special place settings with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s themes. For the 60 years the Wish Book was landing on people’s doorsteps, it would have been hard to imagine something you needed that couldn’t be found in its pages.

The End of the Sears Catalog Era

Sears maintained a strong hold on the retail industry throughout the 20th century. Following World War II, the company continued to expand throughout North America. By the mid-1950s, the number of stores surpassed 700. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the company faced challenges from competitors such as Walmart. By the early 1990s, a time when most Americans were close enough to simply drive to a store, Sears was still paying nearly 50,000 workers to process mail orders from the catalogs, which were also costing money to ship. By the 1980s, Sears was adding non-retail assets to its corporate umbrella, which drew resources away from the main brand.

At this point, Sears had split the main catalog up into a number of more manageable circulars, each for a different line of products. These included catalogs for:

• Tools
• Automobile accessories
• Home improvement supplies
• Soft lines that included clothing for men, women, and children
• Toys and games
• Electronics

However, as they say, all good things must end, and that was certainly true for the Sears Catalog. In 1991, Walmart became the largest retailer in the U.S., taking the title from Sears. From the end of the 20th century and throughout the first decades of the 21st century, Sears faced mounting pressure and competition from big box retailers and the rise of e-commerce giants like Amazon. Despite operating more than 3,500 Sears and Kmart stores by 2010, Sears officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018. As of May 2023, only 11 Sears retail outlets remained open.

The decision to end the catalog couldn’t have been an easy one, but it was inevitable. In 1993, the last Big Book Sears Catalog went out, although the smaller department mailers and Christmas Wish Book continued through 2011. This holiday favorite made one subsequent appearance, in 2017, before disappearing completely..

Reconstructing the Past: Discovering Ancestors’ Lives Through the Sears Catalog

For over 100 years, the Sears Catalog occupied a special place in people’s lives during some of the most eventful times in American history. Flipping between editions, a modern reader can see the changing technology and fashions, as stiff collars gave way to bat-wing lapels and cinematographs passed in favor of Betamax and VHS. 

These catalogs remind us of a world that no longer exists. If you want to feel what it was like for your great-grandfather during the runup to Christmas in the ’20s or for his mother to shop for her father’s birthday in 1899, you have to see what they saw and experience the thrill of looking at all of the wonderful things they hoped they could someday afford. 

You can visit the world of your ancestors by looking through the online Sears Catalog archives at Ancestry. By joining now with a free trial, you’ll also get access to countless records that can help you imagine the world of generations long past.

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Image 1: https://www.loc.gov/item/2023630286/
Image 2: https://www.loc.gov/item/2017787115/
Image 3: https://www.loc.gov/item/2017801865/