i remember many bathroom trips spent with the bass pro shops catalogs when i was a kid, those were great !!!....or remember the little small sized tv guides ....and if you didn't have anything to read then you read the shampoo & conditioner bottles.....and then you're like - who the heck does rinse and repeat ?!?!
How did people use pre-Internet catalogs?
- Thread starter pangaea
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Do not forget to allow 6-8 weeks for delivery!
simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
We just took them to the outhouse.
This was my first thought when I saw the title of the thread. Mat...did you have a two holer or a three holer?
Sears and the local phone book were popular outhouse reading and...well, they also had other uses.
As for the Columbia Records Club...before CDs they had vinyl records. I got hooked into that once. Did get some good records though.
Like Jason said...Cabela's, BassPro, and others still include order forms in the catalogs. Now, besides check or money order, you can include your credit card number. Send it snail mail.
columbia house hooked you in with the 12 records/cassettes/cds for a penny,....but then you were caught up in their music mafia where you had to buy from them at their regular prices , which were insanely high compared to a store
simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
Ain't that the truth.
Speaking of Montgomery Ward's...I recently acquired a Monkey Ward's straight. It shaves well.
Montgomery Ward & Co. 5/8 Half Hollow "Our Alliance" Restored - German Made Straight Razor - Shave Ready
I also have Grandma's foot powered Monkey Ward's sewing machine.
Up until Sears recently packed it in, there had been "catalog order centres" for them dotted throughout the country in smaller towns. Typically it would be co-located with some other Mom & Pop business. You'd go in, pick something out from an online catalog, and they'd ship it to the order centre where you could pay for it.
They had a few items there already, which was how we bought our new washer and dryer at a discount.
I suspect this is how so many households ended up with Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream & Other Delights".
Also the original Broadway cast recording of "Camelot"...
... which was not nearly so fascinating to me as a 12-year old boy.
They had a few items there already, which was how we bought our new washer and dryer at a discount.
My parents subscribed to them for vinyl albums. If you did not select something else ahead of time, they'd send you a default album of the month.
I suspect this is how so many households ended up with Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream & Other Delights".
Also the original Broadway cast recording of "Camelot"...
... which was not nearly so fascinating to me as a 12-year old boy.
Hey what's wrong with herb alpert ?!? that's great ol' classy time stuff !!! 
Call to order. I remember getting the computer shopper magazine by mail to order parts to build computers. Bass pro for fishing stuff. Ordered guitar parts from the carvin catalog. All by phone.
Going to the post office for a money order to send with it, a lot cheaper than COD fees.
The x-ray glasses, spy radio, throw your voice, etc.
The x-ray glasses, spy radio, throw your voice, etc.
simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
Let's not forget Simmons Hardware out of St. Louis. Scroll down to the straight razors...I have one of the Keen Kutter Royal spike points. $1.75 then in the 1939 catalog...the year they sold the business. It's my favorite straight.
http://manah.strazors.com/Keen_Kutter.pdf
Not a thing wrong with it, Jay. I played trumpet in high school but never was and never will be as good as him or Al Hirt.
http://manah.strazors.com/Keen_Kutter.pdf
Hey what's wrong with herb alpert ?!? that's great ol' classy time stuff !!!
Not a thing wrong with it, Jay. I played trumpet in high school but never was and never will be as good as him or Al Hirt.
This. Me and my buddy used to order from a shop near Chicago (we were near the Twin Cities). Small orders, simple stuff.... wait times were unbelievable. None of this "I just ordered it... why wasn't it here yesterday!" complaining you here from today's shoppers. Today, when we're together, if we see a UPS truck anywhere we tell each other, "there's your Lowry's order!".
Someone else mentioned it, and I'll reiterate; ordering was done through the mail. Stamps, envelopes, order forms or handwritten notes, the works. A LOT of ads were run in the backs of magazines or comics, urging people to spend their money. I bought a lot of things from a company near New Jersey, I think, and I remember sending CASH in an envelope with my order. I ALWAYS got my stuff. While it may seem petty, these orders were honest business exchanges; people came through when they said they'd deliver their goods. Even if it was just sea monkeys or X-ray specs!
Don
I have fairly recent (been away from the hobby for a bit) paper Electronics catalogues that are 2000 - 3000 pages long. Often times it's easier to find what you're looking for with them then it is to find an item on their website.
Digikey 2988 pages
Mouser 2326 pages
dave
Digikey 2988 pages
Mouser 2326 pages
dave
Anybody gotten a Grainger Catalog lately? There's a catalog...
At this very moment I am lounging on a bed that was listed in the 1929 Eaton's catalogue. The shop that sold it to me (some years after 1929) showed me the page. You could order all kinds of great stuff.
Eaton's was the big mail order house in Canada.
Eaton's was the big mail order house in Canada.
Lee Valley print catalogues are gorgeous, glossy full colour pages!
2018 Fine Woodworking Tools - 516pg, new ones for tools and hardware for the next year released in the fall
2018 Hardware - 316pg
2018 Home & Garden - 280pg
They stopped mailing these big ones out to their customer mailing list only a few years ago, now you can include one with an order or pick one up in a store when available.
Supplemental catalogues still sent out throughout the year.
And again often easier to find what you want in the print catalogues then it is on the website.
Give me a paper catalogue anytime. Another one is Stewart McDonald, StewMac.
dave
2018 Fine Woodworking Tools - 516pg, new ones for tools and hardware for the next year released in the fall
2018 Hardware - 316pg
2018 Home & Garden - 280pg
They stopped mailing these big ones out to their customer mailing list only a few years ago, now you can include one with an order or pick one up in a store when available.
Supplemental catalogues still sent out throughout the year.
And again often easier to find what you want in the print catalogues then it is on the website.
Give me a paper catalogue anytime. Another one is Stewart McDonald, StewMac.
dave
Pre internet the underwear section of the Sears catalog was very important to many young men. It was as close to pictures of nekkid ladies that most of us could get.
I remember those tan, supportive and sensible braziers very fondly.
I remember those tan, supportive and sensible braziers very fondly.
I think that must have changed over time...being insanely high. The offers changed as well. If you signed up with them and made it though to the end...pretty soon you would get an even better offer in the mail!
The prices that they charged, as I recall, were only a couple of dollars higher than the local in-store prices. The catch was that the free or 1 penny CD's had to come from a list. It was a long list but it rarely included the very latest groups.
Eventually they were offering me something like 20 CD's and I only had to buy 4 or 5 over two years at regular prices.
It actually worked out for me because I did it at an older age. I had moved around a lot and didn't own any music. I bought a house and then bought an expensive "stereo" set-up (which I still have). The CD's on the list were all popular CD's but they were a little old but I had no music so I got tons of good, essentially free CD's and just had a buy a few regular priced CD, which was easy enough to do.
The catch for most people is that by the time they get the Columbia House offer, they already own a lot of CD's and only need the latest CD's. You rarely got that with the free stuff and then you had to pay a little more to get the modern stuff.
For me it was like hitting the lottery but it wouldn't have worked out that well for everyone. I also think it was more of a scam in the early years (before me). I think they used to really go after people and sue them and make life miserable for them until the consumer laws changed.
When I was buying them, I don't think they even hassled you if you didn't buy all the CD's you were supposed to.
Rhody
I'm a Lumberjack.
Tons of companies still mail catalogs
they still print order forms one could fill in and mail back
MY friends andi joined that record club over and over and over
they still print order forms one could fill in and mail back
MY friends andi joined that record club over and over and over
Yeah but the sea monkeys and X-ray specs were never what they were cut out to be...
Catalogs included a form similar to a spreadsheet, with columns for item number, description, quantity, cost per item, and amount. You filled this out; added up the amount; added sales tax, if applicable; added shipping and handling, and came up with the total amount due. You made sure your shipping address was on the form, wrote a check or used a money order (bad idea to send cash, and credit cards came later); sealed it in the included envelope; put a stamp on it; and dropped it in the mail box. After six to eight weeks, you got your order.
Some order forms doubled as envelopes. You just folded them; sealed them; stamped them; and mailed them.
If you had already used, or had lost, the order form, you could make your own by following the standard format; calculating tax and shipping and handling from info in the catalog; addressing the envelope to the orders department (info also included in the catalog); put a stamp on it; and send it off.
Sears was our dominate mail order company in those days. Not only did you get a Christmas Wishbook in the mail, but a thick Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer catalogs. During the year, Sears would issue smaller supplemental catalogs, especially for sales. Sears also had specialty catalogs for all sorts of things. We were more familiar with the tool catalog, but they also had some for farming; outdoors; automotive; etc.
There were also smaller mail order companies with knick-knacks. Some are still with us. We never ordered from them, but my grandparents liked them for small items for grandkids.
I also ordered from Johnson Smith, a novelty company. They had more than gags. Can't remember if I ordered from Edmunds, which was more of a scientific supply in those days.
Some order forms doubled as envelopes. You just folded them; sealed them; stamped them; and mailed them.
If you had already used, or had lost, the order form, you could make your own by following the standard format; calculating tax and shipping and handling from info in the catalog; addressing the envelope to the orders department (info also included in the catalog); put a stamp on it; and send it off.
Sears was our dominate mail order company in those days. Not only did you get a Christmas Wishbook in the mail, but a thick Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer catalogs. During the year, Sears would issue smaller supplemental catalogs, especially for sales. Sears also had specialty catalogs for all sorts of things. We were more familiar with the tool catalog, but they also had some for farming; outdoors; automotive; etc.
There were also smaller mail order companies with knick-knacks. Some are still with us. We never ordered from them, but my grandparents liked them for small items for grandkids.
I also ordered from Johnson Smith, a novelty company. They had more than gags. Can't remember if I ordered from Edmunds, which was more of a scientific supply in those days.
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