Montgomery Ward Catalogue of 1895 (Dover Pictorial Archive) [Facsimile] [Paperback]

Boris Emmet (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Dover Pictorial Archive | Publication Date: August 1, 1969

Tea gowns, yards of flannel and pillow-case lace, stereoscopes, books of gospel hymns, the New Improved Singer Sewing Machine, side saddles, milk skimmers, straight-edged razors, high-button shoes, spittoons — some 25,000 items in all, most illustrated. "A priceless resource." — History in Review.

Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Facsimile edition edition (August 1, 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486223779
• ISBN-13: 978-0486223773
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #567,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Treasure Trove of Late Victorian Culture, October 9, 2002

By 

Chrijeff (Scranton, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Montgomery Ward Catalogue of 1895 (Dover Pictorial Archive) (Paperback)

Like the Sears Roebuck catalogue, which sits beside it on my shelf, this unabridged reprint is an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to know the kinds of items that might have been found in a typical middle-class home a hundred-odd years ago. In some ways it's even superior: the illustrations have reproduced more clearly, with their details better visible, and the type, though you may still want a magnifier to read it, is also more easily made out. Prices are of course included, though you'll want to allow for the fact that MW was at that time not a conventional retail house, but confined to mail-order, which allowed it to undercut the "traditional" merchants just as Net sellers can today! There's a full index right at the front, where you can easily look up whatever you may be interested in at the moment; or you can simply open the volume at random and start browsing. And, unlike Sears, it even has a toy section! Like all Dover books, its paper and binding are superior in quality, and will doubtless last very well. Since the items listed don't duplicate exactly, I strongly suggest purchasing both catalogues. As a writer of historical fiction, I use both frequently. Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A time capsule of what they wanted out on the farm in 1895, November 8, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Montgomery Ward Catalogue of 1895 (Dover Pictorial Archive) (Paperback)

This "Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue and Buyer's Guide" from Spring/Summer 1895 is better than a time capsule. Most of my ancestors were still on the far side of the Atlantic that year, but for my maternal grandfather's ancestors here are 25,000 items (most of which are illustrated by woodcut) that they could have either had in their homes or dreamed about owning. From straight-edged razors and high buttoned shoes to tea gowns and the New Improved Singer Sewing Machine. Historically, Montgomery Ward prided itself on being the friend of farmers and the official supplier to the Grange. Ward was the first to offer a product guarantee that became the key to earning the respect of rural consumers and building the business. However, in 1887 Ward's main competetior Sears put out his first catalog and upped the ante by showing the customer what they would be buying before they bought it (okay, he also offered lower prices). By the time this 600-page catalogue came out in 1895 Ward was following suit. Flip through it and see what sort of amenities were making their way out to the farms at the end of the 19th-century. You could buy a buggy for $60 or spend $200 on a piano. Here you can get a bathtub, chairs, watches, hats, and even a Star Raisin Seeder. How about a solid-gold eighteen-karat wedding band for only $5? Looking through these pages will give you a sense what it was like in 1895, when the average worker had to put in 16 hours to earn enough money to buy a hair brush or 260 hours for a one-speed bicycle. Just looking through the pages of books you could order was enlightening. Actually, this is more like a time machine than a time capsule.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Also makes a great gift for the over 60 crowd..., January 26, 2006

By 

Rosemary Thornton "Niece of Addie Hoyt Fargo ... (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Montgomery Ward Catalogue of 1895 (Dover Pictorial Archive) (Paperback)

I've given away several of these reproduction catalogs as gifts and they're always a big hit. Instantly, the recipients open the book and start studying its pages, remarking at the prices and oohing and ahhing over the more curious items of the day.

This book gives a detailed and accurate picture of a typical "day in the life" 110+ years ago. Think about that for a moment. Can you really imagine someone looking at a 2005 newspaper in the year 2,110?!

Buggy whips and patent medicines and cook stoves (fired by kerosene, wood or coal!) and portable bathtubs and cream separaters and more were featured in this catalog.

This is a wonderful resource and a fun read. You can lose yourself for hours reading about life "back in the day."

A little trivia: There's a story (as told on PBS's documentary, "Mr. Sears' Catalog") that the Sears Roebuck catalog was a tiny bit smaller than the mail order catalog offered by his competitor, Mr. Aaron Montgomery Ward.

Sears (a marketing genius) knew that the farm wife would probably have both the Sears and Ward's catalog in her home. Sears made his catalog a little narrower and shorter than the Ward's catalog, so that when the little lady was tidying up the house, the Sears catalog, being smaller, would end up stacked on TOP of the Ward's catalog!

Rose Thornton
author, The Houses That Sears Built