Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue No. 13, Spring and Summer, 1875 [reprint, 1975]

Ward, Aaron Montgomery

Edité par Montgomery Ward & Co, Chicago, 1975

A propos de cet article

MONTGOMERY WARD & CO. CATALOGUE NO. 13, SPRING AND SUMMER, 1875 [reprint, 1975], softcover, illustrated with a few items. BOOK CONDITION: very good. The text block and illustrations are in fine condition, with no tears or dog-ears. There are faint smudges on some of the pages, but I have looked at four copies of this book, and they all have the same smudges in the same place, so I feel sure they were purposely printed that way to give an aged look. These smudges have no effect on the text. There is no bookplate nor signature of previous owner. The wraps are in very good condition (very lightly faded; nick in lower right hand corner of front cover). 5 x 3 ¼, 72 pages, 4 ounces XX [Wikipedia] Montgomery Ward was founded by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872. Ward had conceived of the idea of a dry goods mail-order business in Chicago, Illinois, after several years of working as a traveling salesman among rural customers. He observed that rural customers often wanted "city" goods, but their only access to them was through rural retailers who had little competition and did not offer any guarantee of quality. Ward also believed that by eliminating intermediaries, he could cut costs and make a wide variety of goods available to rural customers, who could purchase goods by mail and pick them up at the nearest train station. Ward started his business at his first office, either in a single room at 825 North Clark Street or in a loft above a livery stable on Kinzie Street, between Rush and State Streets. He and two partners raised $1,600 and issued their first catalog in August 1872. It consisted of an 8 in × 12 in (20 cm × 30 cm) single-sheet price list, listing 163 items for sale with ordering instructions for which Ward had written the copy. His two partners left the following year, but he continued the struggling business and was joined by his future brother-in-law, George Robinson Thorne. In the first few years, the business was poorly received by rural retailers. Considering Ward a threat, they sometimes publicly burned his catalog. Despite the opposition, the business grew at a fast pace over the next several decades. This was fueled by demand primarily from rural customers who were inspired by the wide selection of items that were locally unavailable. Customers were also inspired by the innovative company policy of "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back", which Ward began in 1875. Ward turned the copywriting over to department heads but continued poring over every detail in the catalog for accuracy. In 1883, the company's catalog, which became popularly known as the "Wish Book", had grown to 240 pages and 10,000 items. In 1896, Wards encountered its first serious competition in the mail order business, when Richard Warren Sears introduced his first general catalog. In 1900, Wards had total sales of $8.7 million, compared to $10 million for Sears, and both companies struggled for dominance during much of the 20th century. By 1904, Wards had expanded such that it mailed three million catalogs, weighing 4 lb (1.8 kg) each, to customers.

N° de réf. du vendeur 003345

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue No. 13, Spring and Summer, 1875 [reprint, 1975]
• Éditeur: Montgomery Ward & Co, Chicago
• Date de parution: 1975
• Langue: anglais
• Reliure: Soft cover
• État de l'article: Very Good
• État de la jaquette: No Jacket
• Poids: 4 onces
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Mail-Order
  • Department Stores
  • Catalogs
  • Merchandise