Good Old Days: A History of American Morals and Manners as Seen through the Sears, Roebuck Catalogs, 1905 to the Present [Hardcover]

David Lewis Cohn (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 597 pages
• Publisher: Ayer Co Pub (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0405076800
• ISBN-13: 978-0405076800
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,203,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites!, January 15, 2006

By 

Rosemary Thornton "Niece of Addie Hoyt Fargo ... (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good Old Days: A History of American Morals and Manners as Seen through the Sears, Roebuck Catalogs, 1905 to the Present (Hardcover)

It's an older book and a bit dry in places, but stick with it. You'll be glad you did. This book is so chocked-full of interesting tidbits and fascinating history. For instance, "Good Old Days" has quite a bit of info on the "cure" that Sears sold for the morphine habit and a good background, too, explaining why morphine addiction was such a problem.

Seems Civil War veterans got addicted during the war and couldn't shake the addiction.

It's also in this book that the author shares an amazing fact that I've quoted in my book (The Houses That Sears Built) and frequently share at lectures.

During World War I, when our American Sammies (American soldiers, dubbed "sammies" by the Brits) were recovering in overseas hospitals, the NUMBER ONE most-requested book was....

The Sears Roebuck Catalog.

While these dear, wounded soldiers were so far from home, frightened, sick, disabled, the book they most wanted to see was the Sears catalog. They ached for a taste of the familiar, for a memory of home. So in the midst of the Great War, Julius Rosenwald (then CEO) set sail for Europe, toting wooden crates, filled with copies of the 1000+ page catalog to our boys in uniform.

Cohn's book is filled with such wonderful details. I highly recommend it.

Rose Thornton

author, The Houses That Sears Built