Catalog: The Illustrated History of Mail Order Shopping

By Robin Cherry. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, December 2008. Cloth: ISBN 978-1-56898-739-2, $35.00. 272 pages.

Review by Crystal Z. Campbell, University of California-San Diego

In Catalog: The Illustrated History of Mail Order Shopping, Robin Cherry takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of capitalist desires. Cherry’s eighteen years of direct marketing experience for Dow Jones, Rodale, and Time, coupled with written contributions to such periodicals as Travel + Leisure, inform this hardcover text, which includes color advertisements that spill off the page, some reproduced large enough to be read in full. Useful for the budding entrepreneur who seeks to carve a niche market and modernize Aaron Montgomery Ward’s initiatives, the pop culture junkie, art enthusiast, or historian who wants to trace the connections between trends, desire, and culture, or one who has stumbled upon a mail-order catalog in the mailbox, Catalog offers an accessible introduction to mail-order history. Catalog can be read in one of three ways: as a text outline of mail-order catalog history, as a visual essay of carefully selected catalog excerpts where color, font, captions, product, design, and targeted audiences can be observed in detail, or as an illustrated text where Cherry narrates the reader’s journey through the visual essay. Catalog begins with a brief chronology outlining political, demographic, leisure, economic, and industrial changes to America’s landscape from 1865 to 2000(+). With this timeline, Cherry swiftly reminds readers of historical events, such as: the jazz-induced Roaring Twenties and an increase in leisurely activities; the classic film The Wizard of Oz, which led to a surge in posable Judy Garland dolls; and finally the beloved glowing television, which invaded mail-order catalogs as early as 1949. Mail-order catalogs swept the American consumers in the late 1800’s when most lived in rural areas and had limited options for buying goods. For savvy businessmen such as Aaron Montgomery Ward, the mail-order catalog was an invitation for consumers to buy directly from him and eliminate the middleman. Some catalogs were used creatively as pin-up girls for deployed soldiers, makeshift goalie pads for resourceful hockey players, paper dolls for imaginative young ladies, and even toilet paper. According to Cherry, both need and desire have sustained the mail-order industry over time, while the catalog itself is an historical archive of American culture. In Chapter 1, Cherry traces the origins of major retailers such as Montgomery Ward’s, Sears, and J.C. Penny, and some niche markets such as Frederick’s of Hollywood and The Vermont Country Store. Consumers can thank Montgomery Ward’s for spearheading money-back guarantees and the creation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for a Christmas marketing campaign. Chapter 2 reveals changes in fashion and a growing obsession with beauty and image with classic “Members Only” bomber jackets, Nudit facial-hair remover, and python-printed undershirts complete with matching boxers. Toys are introduced in Chapter 3, replete with material changes from wood to plastic and miniature gender training for future housewives and engineers. The prefabricated construct-it-yourself home, authentic Egyptian mummy cases, and his and her camels have cameos in Chapters 4 and 5. Submarines, flying dirigibles, and Victorian velocipedes dot Chapter 6, followed by an edible Chocolate Monopoly board in Chapter 7. Hobbyists and gardeners find a haven in Chapter 8, while Chapter 9 relates the history of book of the month clubs and the missed opportunity of a private concert with Elton John courtesy of Neiman Marcus. Chapter 10 is the final chapter of the book and focuses on Christmas-related goods: Christmas trees, chocolate petit fours, and Christmas soap. While Catalog provides a highly accessible and visually generous introduction to the history of mail-order shopping, the text also paves the way for future research. Cherry’s images rely heavily on Sears and Neiman Marcus, which leaves room for thorough investigations of niche markets. In the latter part of the introduction, Cherry discusses the advent of online shopping, and a whole text could easily be devoted to the shift from printed to online catalogs. The author also mentions the intersections of art and the mail-order catalog with artist-designed covers, Vincent Price’s painting reproductions in Sears catalogs, personalized portraits in chocolate syrup by Vik Muniz, and the meticulously drawn walnut and zebra veneer bedroom sets in a 1934 Sears catalog. Subsequent texts could focus on catalog covers designed by artists, shifts in graphic design standards for catalogs, or single texts devoted to catalog representations of toys, holidays, patriotism, lingerie, or technology. Nevertheless, one closes this book knowing that anything can be ordered via Catalog.