The Rise and Fall of the Mail Order Giants - A Chicago Stories Documentary

[@milissasilks2174]

My mom worked at a Sears catalog store location in Downers Grove in the 70's. When the catalog department got shut down she got a job in the young girls department at the Oak Brook location where she worked until she retired in the early 2000's. Most of my clothes growing up came from Sears. Our family cars were all serviced at Sears. All my dad's tools were Craftsman and all our appliances were Kenmore.

[@nancydemoss2945]

We grew up with Sears (my parents first credit card) with one exception. My father worked at GE so our appliances were GE until my sister went to work for Sears after graduation. Then we had Kenmore products. She worked in the catalog department and made announcements on the loud speaker. Sales and what the special was in the cafeteria. She had a wonderful voice!

[@PlatinumIrishrose]

Sears carried "Quality" clothes, tools, shoes, purses, etc

[@jimsquirrel8944]

Craftsman is the best!!

[@michelehood8837]

In the 1960s, Sears would give mothers of twins an additional set of a purchased layette for free. My twin and I wore Sears exclusively throughout elementary school. Kids didn’t care - all of our friends wore “Toughskins” everything! 😂

[@DJN881]

I have a 20-year-old Kenmore dryer that still works well.

[@michelehood8837]

I even remember how the Sears catalog smelled - the ink and paper had a distinctive scent ❤ As a kid, it smelled like Christmas hopes and dreams!

[@cocoaorange1]

So do I.

[@meedwards5]

❤

[@lynnfisher3037]

Beautifully penned. Thank you

[@jalivengood3740]

Deep Deep level memory unlocked. omG!

[@whyarepeoplecrazy]

I remember it too!!!

[@avissmith6782]

I was a Sears catalog phone operator. I remember taking phone calls from customers and using an old style computer with a fill in the blank template, taking orders. It was so much fun. There were 10 of us!

[@PatrickBaptist]

RESPECT! Ma'am I've been working call centers for the last 10 years now, I really feel for y'all, headsets, desks, and chairs must have been beyond terrible then. But really I'd take those old simple computers compared to all the apps and crap I have to deal with to do a simple jobby of finding people tow trucks when they are broke down on the side of the road cussing their insurance (me) because they have been waiting so long... My position is supervisor, I don't sup agents, just irate customers..... I'm on night shift, working right now, there isn't 10 of us here, well one 1 HERE, I'm at home THANK GOD. I can't stand working on site lol.

[@AlvaSudden]

You're amazing. What a wonderful job, I'm so jealous.

[@amyschmidt1113]

I did that same job! Yes it was fun! Some people bought a LOT too!

[@LetArtsLive]

That's an interesting story

[@KirkandRA]

I love this series. The Sears catalog used to be our Christmas list. We would circle what we wanted ❤

[@smartmarketing173]

I’m one of 4 children, my mom had us circle what we wanted in the Sears and JCPenney catalogs- it was the perfect way to track all of our wish lists😊

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

And, us boys used to look at the ladies underwear models... "Puberty Porn"... ;-P

[@ninademci1500]

@KirklandRA, I’m glad my daughter had the opportunity, but am sad my grandsons won’t have the same experience. A long distance friend gave me an idea to tell my daughter.

[@SapiophileGoddess]

Yes. The Toy section was in the back. My brother and I went straight to it, circling our favorites.

[@KMF3]

Yes me too

[@bryn494]

What's sad is that Sears 'invented' distance shopping and totally failed to embrace online shopping early enough to remain competitive :(

[@Ponchoed]

"Kodaking"

[@yuckyool]

They also owned a credit-card/banking company (Discover) An early internet / bulletin-board (Prodigy) An insurance company (AllState) but never found the synergies to help them add value for an integrated customer.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

Yeah, the smaller towns only had "Sears Catalog Stores" where you could pick up your orders. I recall that you could actually order a house from the Sears catalog at one time...

[@GlenFair]

Exactly, they had all that knowledge and infrastructure ready to go and could easily have become the Amazon of today.

[@baylorsailor]

​@@igorschmidlapp6987 my parents live in a 1915 Sears kit home. The quality and craftsmanship is something you just don't find in today's products. The wood used in 1915 alone will last longer than the average stick home today.

[@Tina06019]

I continue sewing on my 38 year old Kenmore sewing machine. (We did get a major repair/servicing done on it 10 years ago.)

[@chanceDdog2009]

My grandma had one. It was the kind you step on the bottom for power. I miss her so much

[@leahcim38]

I have a 1912 singer that paid $150 to fix. The gentleman who repaired it said the repair should last another 100 years.

[@penny8579]

I got one too.

[@baylorsailor]

My parents live in a 1915 Sears kit home. The quality and craftsmanship are hard to find in todays world.

[@angelamaryquitecontrary4609]

That sounds absolutely brilliant! I'm going to find a picture of one - I've always been partial to the German Hufhaus buildings, too. I wonder if the look is similar.

[@daltondea4214]

I live in one in Iowa model 115 it was 725 dollars for the kit

[@angelamaryquitecontrary4609]

@@daltondea4214 Ooh, how lovely! I hope it keeps going for many more years.

[@wicket042]

Amazing

[@cattycorner8]

So true, @baylorsailor! I was recently thinking about how many of the homes from the Sears catalog are still being lived in today! It really puts Amazon's Chinese junk to shame.

[@TheHoppesl]

I miss the JC Penny catalog! As a young newly married woman, I would go through the catalog and put bookmarks where there was something I hoped to buy during the year. I marked curtains, bedspreads, sheets, household items and clothes! I would buy them throughout the year as I could afford them. It was my goal to have everything marked in the fall catalog bought before the spring catalog came out. It was fun to a have a plan. Everything in my house was from the JC Penny catalog!

[@calendarpage]

When my son was in school, we'd go through the Penney's catalog for school clothes, which he loved to pick out. Over the years, I bought almost all my curtains from them - including some I have now, which came from their online catalog. They also have some great fashion jewelry sales.

[@baylorsailor]

Penney's and Dillard's was considered peak sophistication in my childhood 😁

[@retroredo9850]

I ordered my bridesmade dresses in 1983 from Penny's catalog!

[@thraciangrapes]

We used to pick out clothes we liked and marked the pages too. Many times we ended up making outfits on our sewing machine instead of buying.

[@thraciangrapes]

​@@retroredo9850 Yes, all the stores had a bridal salon back in the day! What a wonderful era!

[@JerryFisher]

I am old enough to remember watching cartoons where the coyote would order something from Acme. He’d stand impatiently at the mailbox and seconds later his latest tool to destroy the roadrunner would arrive. As a kid I thought it would be fantastic to get things that fast. Little did I know I only had to wait 30 years for this to almost come to pass.

[@MarkTurner-u8v]

Invisible paint, rocket powered roller skates, giant horseshoe magnets, miles of railroad track with rocket powered sled, giant springs, the list goes on forever.

[@turtleanton6539]

Yee😊

[@shaaronie]

@@MarkTurner-u8v Wow! This took me back to a nice place and a hearty chuckle! Thanks!

[@edryba4867]

Chuck Jones, who created and Directed the REAL Road Runner cartoons (as opposed to former animator Rudy Larriva’s crummy ones, made when Warner Bros. re-opened their animation department in the later 1960’s) always loved the idea that there was this company called “Acme” that made all this stuff for coyotes to order for catching road runners, and that these items NEVER worked!

[@marycanary]

I remember that 😆

[@mattkaustickomments]

We had a local pizza restaurant that used a genius idea for entertaining customers who were waiting for tables… they put old Sears, Ward, and Penney’s catalogues from the 60’s and 70’s in the lobby. It was a real hoot to look up things you had in your house in the past or toys you had wanted for Xmas. 😊

[@soniatriana9091]

Matt - that is definitely a great idea!! I’m sure everyone was laughing & having a good time before they even sat down to enjoy their pizza!!

[@mattkaustickomments]

@@soniatriana9091 Yes, and it was a good pop culture history lesson for kids, too.

[@pamelaadam9207]

Makes me regret mum letting us cut up the clubby books, as we called them, to paste into scrapbooks

[@mattkaustickomments]

@@pamelaadam9207 Why “Clubby Books”? What does that mean?

[@pamelaadam9207]

@mattkaustickomments it's a Scottish term for the catalogues we has here. You had your agents who got a commission from sales and people could join a wee circle or club to pay in instalments hence the clubby books

[@davidk8457]

I loved Sears ... my mom worked at a Sears catalog dept outlet in our only mall in the 1960's. She absolutely loved it and loved going to work when most gals didn't have a job ... she stayed with Sears thru the 70's when they built a huge store at the new huge shopping mall in the burbs. Thank you Sears and all her wonderful friends ... you have no idea how much my mom loved you and never forgot you !

[@zyxw2000]

Sears' downfall was in not getting into online shopping.

[@Suzanne-f4x]

@@zyxw2000 Maybe they didn't want to go Chinese.

[@zyxw2000]

@@Suzanne-f4x They were already selling Chinese merchandise.

[@delana2842]

Outstanding documentary! Yes, Amazon, Zappo, Walmart, etc. would be nothing without Sears, Wards, Woolworths and Kresge, giants of Anerican retail history and sorely missed.

[@Mrbfgray]

More forgotten than missed but we always had that old reproduction Sears catalog from, wanna say--1880's, to look at for fun.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

Anybody else remember going to the "Five and Dime" store? The ancestor of the dollar stores, where things were priced for five and ten cents...

[@Mrbfgray]

@@igorschmidlapp6987 Sure do, just barely, didn't quite live up to the name by then tho. Thanks for reminder, I'd nearly forgotten.

[@baylorsailor]

Don't forget the Golden Rule Store, aka J.C. Penney.

[@baylorsailor]

​@@Mrbfgray many old catalogs are online for viewing. It is a lot of fun to look through the old catalogs. My favorite products are the kit homes.

[@pathader4839]

I miss Sears, stove and refrigerator, washer and dryer, hot water tank, furnaces, automotive, and they lasted 25 yr.😢😢😢😢 So horrible that they are gone. Quality merchandise that lasted for years not like today, toss out like a Kleenex.

[@leahcim38]

You can still find those old products and RESTORE them!

[@pianomanhere]

Kenmore refrigerators used to be reasonably reliable for years. Now, if you want a refrigerator that will enable you to get to know your repairmen, then buy a Kenmore (or any other brand that is actually manufactured by LG or Samsung...the parties primarily responsible for so many crap fridges in the past decade).

[@annalouisaross]

Kenmore, made to last! If they went out, they were fixable. Today, appliances are as much to fix as it is to buy a new one. Everything today is made to be disposable. Sad.

[@andreaberryhill6654]

Kenmore made the best washers! A perfect & truly Delicate cycle.

[@dem7615]

My Kenmore stuff lasted forever.. . Miss that store

[@jimsquirrel8944]

I am so glad I fell into this series! Always looking for new historical documentaries since History channel isn’t the same anymore!

[@richardszablewski1420]

Very well said

[@diane9247]

Isn't that the truth! Who even watches it, now?

[@zyxw2000]

History Channel is on KZbin, and all it has is sleazy videos about interplanetary aliens. I keep reporting it to YT, but it has a huge viewership.

[@RijackiTorment]

History Hit is UK based but it's that real history the "History Channel" has been missing for so long.

[@edryba4867]

Yes, sadly. The History Channel as we knew it, is history.

[@thomsinefrye6134]

JC Penney was also a Christmas catalog in our house.

[@alanaadams7440]

I bought my boys clothes at Penny's bc they were durable and kept their color and shape. My mother worked for Penneys for 25 years and got a pension you don't see that anymore

[@johnbecker2151]

I am a proud owner of a Sears cement block house. It is 110 years old and going strong.

[@OneDullMan]

Eatons and Sears were the major catalogue players here in Canada. Remember spending lots of my free time in December drooling over the Sears Wish Book. Ahhh the memories.

[@LM-sc8lu]

When I interviewed as a salesman at Sears in the late 1980s, the Sales Manager asked, "Why do you want to work for Sears?" I replied, "Because the sign on the front of the store says Sears. People already trust the place; you give me the customers, I'll give you the sales." I got the job. Sears (at least my store) was so concerned with customer service that an old er gentleman dropped a window air conditioner from his second-story window and brought it back for a replacement before his wife found out. I tried to explain our guarantee didn't cover preventable accidents (negligence), but he insisted on talking to my manager, who gave the man a new A/C!! Sears should have kept up with the times and might still be in business. I tried to explain.

[@ramblerdave1339]

My niece owns a Sears house, built in 1928. They found the blueprints in the attic, and framed them, and hung them in the hallway.

[@Roger-vz7ol]

I still see Sears houses in a lot of places and they are still better quality than the new overpriced ticky-tacky houses of today.

[@marysonderegger2426]

that is freaking amazing !!!!!!

[@kimthomas8717]

I love that ! How cool

[@thraciangrapes]

My father ran Spencer's Gifts mail order house for 30 years. We kids grew up working parttime in mail order during our school years. My mom loved shopping at the Sears department stores. Thank you for this wonderful documentary!

[@pinrod1]

My grandmother owned/operated a wards catalog store as a franchise. Remember Service Merchandise stores and their catalogs?

[@rjlaxvespa1742]

I bought all my Oneida silverware from Service Merchandise, they had a store near Playa del Rey, kind of across the way from the Hughes aircraft plant... my father worked for Hughes he was recruited out of college to come to California, my mom ever the planner towed -the Airstream trailer out here to live in in Culver City...😍 they finally bought a house in West Chester, very near the airport, that was removed by eminent domain LAX..LAXVESPA-LOSANGELES

[@JessicaHawks-gc7fv]

I grew up in one of those homes my great grandparents built…it was giant and beautiful and still standing

[@stevengill1736]

Part of it was that they used full dimension lumber, not the trimmed down stuff we use these days....(it is kiln dried and a lot easier to work with these days though, for sure!)

[@velaphitshabalala2912]

Nothing lasts forever, no matter what it is. Shine when it is your chance to shine and do it well.

[@dcasper8514]

Good advice. 😊

[@lynnfisher3037]

So so true. Thanks for the shot of reality

[@luisreyes1963]

And to think Walmart & Target outlived Sears & Montgomery Ward. 🏢

[@edryba4867]

If you were a guitar player as a kid, you waited for the Sears Catalog to arrive, and went directly to the guitar section. Did you know that the Silvertone electric guitars were built by the GUY (yes, one man) who built every Danelectro guitar? And at Ward’s, those Airline electric guitars looked suspiciously like the Silvertone electrics in the Sears catalog! At the Danelectro factory, the railroad would drop off a boxcar. At the end of the month, they would pick up that boxcar, which had been filled with guitars (and EVERY one of them had been built by the Danelectro guy!). After Sears had done this for a while, Montgomery Ward made a similar deal with Danelectro. So ONE GUY built ALL the electric guitars sold by BOTH major mail-order catalog companies in Chicago.

[@cattycorner8]

That is a fantastic story! I wonder how many he made and how long he produced them?

[@milosterwheeler2520]

Really interesting. The Sears Christmas catalog toy section was a yearly wonderland to me as a child in the 1950's.

[@mickieswendsen1302]

Us, too, on into the early 60's.

[@texaswunderkind]

I miss American-made quality products. Had I known, I would have bought every Craftsman tool set I could have afforded before they switched to cheap overseas manufacture. Viewing this documentary, it was clear that these 19th Century entrepreneurs took immense pride in the United States, not just money. Big corporations are the exact opposite today.

[@robertschemonia5617]

I am a 3rd generation mechanic. I can say with confidence that early Craftsman tools were and are FAR better than they were even in the 90s and early 2000s. On that note, I found that Craftsman tools wear out entirely too fast in a commercial setting where you depend on them 10 hours a day, 5 and 6 days a week. When I started as a mechanic, thats all I had, was Craftsman tools. But the local Sears refused to warranty them when I went in wearing a uniform shirt from a shop I worked at. They said they were not warranted for commercial use, and refused to exchange them for me permanently. So I started buying Cornwell tools. And that is now 95% of the tools I own. Having a good tool truck driver is half the battle of buying any tools from a tool truck. I still have S-K socket sets that were my grandfather's when he ran a shop in my old town. I still use them, 60 years old or not. He'd be mad if I didn't. He'd tell me they are tools, not decorations! What's the point in having them if you aren't going to use them!?! And something that makes my eyes roll os teachers that say they have to spend their money to do their jobs. "Welcome to the club." Is my my response.

[@yellowtomato]

Craftsman hand tools before the 1990's were excellent

[@shortchanged.]

Then china didn't have the factories like america did .

[@Here4TheHeckOfIt]

​@@robertschemonia5617 I think teachers get a tax credit for out-of-pocket school expenses, but it's capped at $300. Probably as a small business, you get a bigger write-off for your expenses.

[@robertschemonia5617]

@@Here4TheHeckOfIt nope. Not even close. I'd have to spend $15k out of pocket per year to be able to have a tax deduction. I do not own my own business, so that kind of stuff is just itemized if I spend enough, not a tax deduction expense.

[@thefibergoddess6771]

As a pre-teen, Sears was the only store where I could get clothes that fit my tall, lanky frame. Decades later, going to Sears with my savings from babysitting and buying my own clothes is a cherished memory.

[@tcuplvr]

Yup!! The Lemon Frog Shop!!!

[@krmccarrell]

Me too! To think we could possibly have enough to buy things! My first purchase - my parents took me to Sears and I bought a sewing machine!! Then I could make my own clothing! I remember like it was yesterday!

[@alanaadams7440]

Yes I would babysit and make my own clothes since 7th grade. I made curtains bedspreads sew for my grandmother eventually sewed for a bridal shop

[@SusanCox-pl9qp]

Amazon, while their products are delivered quickly, NOTHING can match the Sears catalog!

[@bks6000]

But there's so much more variety!

[@Naynay1969]

I grew up in the 70's and 80's. I remember shopping in every store mentioned here. If people and industry don't don't learn from the past, they'll meet the same demise.

[@cocoaorange1]

Same age here. I miss the stores.

[@Jody-kt9ev]

Very good video. When I was growing up there was a 4 story(including the basement) Sears store in Shawnee, Oklahoma where we went shopping. As expected the building is now empty and at one time it could have been purchased for $1.00. Sears moved to a mall in the north of Shawnee, but that is closed now also. Where we live now there was a great Sears store in the local mall-it is now gone and the space empty. We bought Craftsman tools and Sears appliances for years with no problems. Sad to see them fall. Recently, I went to Lowe's to buy a pair of pliers. There were two identical looking pliers for sale. One was the Craftsman brand, made in China. The other brand was made in Vietnam. The price was the same. As Vietnam is now a US ally, I bought the pliers made there.

[@tomhutt2913]

L

[@shelleyhewett3293]

One of my happiest memories was when my Grandma would call and say “The Christmas Wish book came in the mail today!”….

[@meedwards5]

❤

[@goldgeologist5320]

I miss the Seats of my childhood! Great Christmas memories. But Marshal Fields was the real deal. Those Christmas windows!

[@chinookwynds3206]

@ 52:42 in 2005 Kmart bought out Sears... and shortly thereafter the BIG drop in quality began. The clothing was always above average until that time, and a somewhat worthy hardware section became nada. Was something to deal with in this household, I spent a lot there and had to find replacement brands and stores.

[@mickieswendsen1302]

I know, I miss these stores!!

[@adamtrombino106]

The thing was K Mart stores were always a mess, with very low quality items. My mother used to call them 'throw away clothes'. SO when they bought out Sears, that reputation hurt Sears. When they got rid of the Sears Hardware stores which was a treat to spend the better part of day in with my dad, he and I knew the writing was on the wall. Suddenly you couldn't get certain tools exchanged anymore, because Sears no longer supplied them. That in turn made people leery of buying appliances from them, because if 1 got an extended warranty and Sears went out of business, who would service the units under warranty? That actually happened to me in 2013 when I bought a fridge from a store that was closing. They wouldn't sell an extended service contract to me, but the price was so low, I decided to gamble. It is still running ok, but I've been told that if the electronic board ever does go out, it's n/a...

[@shawandabonner9681]

I was told by Kmart employees that Sears took over Kmart and some Kmarts were renamed Sears Essentials, including the Kmart at which I shopped. The Martha Stewart line in Kmart went away and Sears items like washers, dryers, and stoves showed up in the store. Sears was trying to compete with Walmart and Target with Sears Essentials, but the Kmart prices went up and they got rid of the layaway plan, which is one reason I shopped at Kmart during Christmas time. Eventually, they changed it back to Kmart, but it was too late.

[@cattycorner8]

I remember when that happened.

[@kingforaday8725]

My dad worked at Sears my mom worked at Penneys. Each Christmas they would each bring me and my four siblings a Christmas catalog. We would each go through our catalogs and mark what we wanted. Naturally we didnt get everything but usually one big item and several small ones. After Christmas I would go through my catalog and fanaticize about the ones I didnt get!

[@mickieswendsen1302]

My family (4 kids) too, 50's, early 60's.

[@DavidParker-i8o]

Born and raised about a mile away from the NE Philadelphia Sears store. We always shopped there. So many great memories. The clock tower was a landmark on the Roosevelt Blvd. It was so sad to watch the building demolished with explosives in late 1994. Gone was a historic icon forever😞

[@Kimberly-dt4ko]

We used to shop at that Sears for my sister's shoes. She had a wide foot as a kid and they were the only Sears that carried the wide shoes. I could get my sneakers at the Montgomeryville store.

[@velaphitshabalala2912]

If this was a book it would be called unputdownable but because it's visual I call it unblinkable. Awesome.

[@rockchildofthe60s69]

We use to make Christmas decorations with both Sears and Monkey Wards big catalogs. Just fold the page diagonally and use a little bit of glue so the page would stay folded then let it dry for a few days. When the glue was dried you bind 2 catalogs together and spray paint them green or red or both colors and was Christmas tree. Decorative for table tops.

[@mickieswendsen1302]

My older sister did that, folding each page until you could stand it up sorta' like a silo/barn.

[@ruththompson9369]

My daughter work for Sears for years … I have some old wish books, of the 1950’s I love looking at them.

[@cocoaorange1]

I still get mail order catalogs. I am from Chicago, but I still miss the catalogs from Wards and Sears. JC Penney as well. Memories man.

[@mickieswendsen1302]

Anyone remember Spiegal's

[@charq52]

My very first sewing machine more than 60 years ago was a Sears. I paid $100, a lot of money as a new bride. I used that machine for more than 40 years….I wish I still had it.

[@PlatinumIrishrose]

Better than you could buy today!

[@Tina06019]

My Kenmore sewing machine is 38 years old; still using it.

[@angelamaryquitecontrary4609]

I remember my mum's old machine; it was controlled by a sort of knee operated handle, to which we referred as the 'knee-er'. I also remember it conking out after years of almost industrial use. My mother regarded her new machine as you would a device landing from hundreds of years in the future...

[@Norm100ful]

Montgomery Ward was supposed to be the premier catalog department store. However, when we lived in Germany, I could not place an order for Christmas gifts to be delivered to friends in the United States, because they only used a 1-800 number. until I lived there, I didn’t realize that I could not place a call through a 1-800 number from Germany. That was the only way you could order from them because I did not have their catalog to mail in an order form. These companies were very complacent. They did not understand their business model. Sears was well over 100 years as a mail order powerhouse, but couldn’t get it together right when online ordering was just taking off. That’s what happens when you have entrenched management without the current skills necessary to compete.

[@diane9247]

I have a wonderful curly maple dresser ordered by my great-grandmother from Montgomery Ward. This was in the 1930s on a ranch in South Dakota. She saved up for many months from her own little income selling cream and butter. 😊 Much later, she saved enough to buy my mother her prom dress from the Wards catalog. (Sadly, the prom was cancelled due to gas rationing. This was in about 1942.)

[@vedales8670]

Worked at, shopped at virtually everyone of those retailers. Started early and still going strong. Great Story!

[@benjamintaylor4402]

This documentary brought back sweet memories of my entry into the workforce after college in the 70s. I got my first corporate job as a systems analyst at Allstate's corporate headquarters in Northbrook, Il. The required dress code for male employees was a suit and tie. Three- piece suits were popular back then. Allstate automatically issued all corporate employees a Sears (Checklist Charge) credit card. I built up my wardrobe from suits that I purchased on credit from sears. They were manufactured from polyester material, but they were awesome at the time. Those were great times!!!

[@NondescriptMammal]

I am not from Chicago, but I am old enough to remember when Sears was the biggest retailer by far, and Wards was also very well established in our Midwestern city. Interesting documentary about how they started and grew... Always glad to find a channel worth subscribing to, with good old simple straightforward interesting content available! 🦋

[@gandydancer823]

This is an excellent episode. I have watched it numerous times. I will watch many more. Way to go WTTW.

[@WLBarton4466]

S&H Green Stamps was how my mother was able to get her 8 kids birthday presents. The grocer made money off a family of 10 and she got Green Stamps to take to the Green Stamp store and trade for a transitor radio, walkue talkie, etc.

[@llamalady8700]

I remember those! My mother used to collect Green Stamps, too!

[@mlstroh7]

That is I got Christmas gifts ... I still have some of my grandmothers s&s green stamps !

[@PM3121]

Going to the store was an event!

[@curtislowe4577]

Julius Rosenwald's observation on wealthy men at 40:14 is priceless. In short, he asserted that intelligence and money are not linked only luck and money.

[@fokkerd3red618]

He was spot on with that statement.

[@DavidUrban-y3c]

OMG do i remember the Sears catalogs and the way they ilistrated the toys. And i worked for Montgomery Wards for a time. Thanks for posting this. Have a blessed Christmas everyone

[@PlatinumIrishrose]

Happy NEW YEAR!!🎉

[@Beepinsqueekin]

My kids waited anxiously for the Sears toy catalog. They looked carefully through each page. We luckily had 2 Sears department stores in our city, we shopped there often!

[@Danger-Dave]

The End of these onetime giants of American made commerce came as US manufacturing was sold out to cheap labor in Tiwan & Japan and then China. I know because I lived it when I worked for Emmerson Electric Co. in Paris Tn. who made all of the Sears Craftsman line of tools which bit by bit, division by division, lost their contracts and jobs to Taiwanese MFG by the mid 80's. There really was something to be said back then when you bought products that had that "Made in the USA" printed on it because all of the quality parts were also made in the states as well as assembled here!

[@cattycorner8]

@Danger-Dave I grew up in West Tennessee. I did not know that Craftsman tools were made there! I remember very well when they sold all the good jobs out to Japan and Taiwan and Mexico. We lost so many factories.

[@iowndvc]

I still use my Montgomery Ward stove, and portable microwave. And my Great-Grandparents had a mail order house from Sears on their farm. It is still standing and in use today.

[@paulakpacente]

I LOVE this. I bought MANY items by mail order, and I miss these companies. Thanks for this presentation!

[@Jody-kt9ev]

Have you made any videos about the Chicago Electronics companies? Zenith was a large manufacturer of quality TVs and Radios for decades. Motorola, whom I used to work, for was also a large Chicago area electronics company. They still exist, but are a shell of their former self. They invented the cellphone, but all of the Motorola branded phones now are from China. Admiral is another electronics company that had operations in Chicago. They are still operating.

[@martinemjt]

these geniuses provided us , even those born in the nineteen sixties many joyful evenings going through the christmas catalogues!!!

[@UKBornin1971]

Watched this when it aired on TV, brought back aloooooooot of memories. Definitely could relate when they talked about kids grabbing the catalog and circling items they wanted.

[@RijackiTorment]

In the mid-70s, we lived in a small town in California. The Sears catalog was our primary shopping experience for most things since the shops in town were expensive and the bigger city was a 30 min drive away. There was a very small Sears store in town that was mostly a pickup counter to save on the shipping chargers for home delivery. The x-mas catalog was eagerly awaited each year, too. It was fun looking at all the stuff and dreaming about the possibility of getting any.

[@mikepalucci1381]

Anyone remember the Spiegel catalog?

[@angelagoodwin5758]

Our family ordered from Spiegel's frequently.

[@Kimberly-dt4ko]

I remember it. I don't remember ordering from it. I did spend time looking through it.

[@mickieswendsen1302]

ME! As a 50's/60's kid!!

[@hebneh]

I don’t think I ever saw an actual Speigel catalogue but I remember it often being mentioned as supplying prizes on TV game shows.

[@vmaultsby]

Omg Yes

[@PlatinumIrishrose]

Later on in years, like in the 1980's, we used to get the "Christmas In July" catalogs!! Does anyone remember these!! It was wonderful to start singing "Jingle Bells," Silent Night" and "Frosty the Snowman" throughout June and July and driving my mom crazy!😂😂❤❤

[@mickieswendsen1302]

I remember

[@Red_Queens_Jubilee_Club]

Very well done documentary. I lived about 20 miles from the big Montgomery Ward catalog store in Baltimore. I loved being able to call in an order and have it ready by the time I had driven to the store. When other stores came along offering the same service I thought… big deal. I’ve shopped this way for years. I loved the convenience of that catalog store.

[@herrunsinn774]

And for automotive fans, there was J.C. Whitney (also a Chicago company, I think). Many a young car-crazy young guy would wait eagerly for each new catalogue to come out.

[@kelvintorrence5994]

I got alot of car parts from them while I was in thre us navy,miss that catalog

[@ginaroberts2964]

Fantastic documentary! I learned many things I did not know. Makes me even prouder to be from Chicago. The Sears Catalog and Montgomery Ward "Wish Book" were a part of my life, and so many lives. Those were the days.

[@getoffmydarnlawn]

I grew up with, "Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery." Now I get what I want in 1 or 2 days, occasionally same day. I'm officially an old.

[@johnedgren8502]

Me too

[@Ponchoed]

That was like the wait for the toy out of the cereal box, send 3 UPC codes and a self addressed stamped envelope the wait 4-6 weeks.

[@pupawupagus]

if i can’t get it same day i essentially throw a temper tantrum. i’m 54 so i know the 4-6 week concept; i got super spoiled, super fast

[@aspensulphate]

An old what? THAT is the question.

[@jenniferlpga]

So do I. In the 50 and 60s three to four weeks would have astounded us. It was usually 6 weeks. We looked forward to the wish books each year.

[@jayalexander3356]

I'm not from Chicago, but this channel has great documentaries. I've watched 3 so far and they've all been excellent!

[@lorettawatkins5024]

Thanks for this presentation. I have enjoyed learning about the stores i grew up knowing. Im 78. This was so much fun to see.

[@fleetfoot27]

Sears, Roebuck Co, in 1917 offered the frist Diesel engine, for farm and home use. Sears brand called them THERMOIL "T" engines.

[@debrabaral4873]

The best and longest lasting washing machine was purchased from Montgomery Ward and lasted well beyond my children’s growing up years. When I sold my house, I left it behind. It still looked great and was in good working order.

[@awalker8371]

Ugh I miss these type of stores. We need these old school department stores back. Ugh miss them immensely

[@tomcharter4127]

Learning the story is amazing but also very sad as these companies no longer exist. Things change times change maybe that’s how it supposed to be. What a great American story, the only place in the world where you can do this day labor to tycoon.

[@jonawesolowski-thecommunit9968]

I so enjoy this series. My brother and sister and I always waited with rapted attention foe the wish book delivery in the 70s. Pages earmarked and items circled. It was so much fun to see the offerings. I remember some years nack when wuick ordering was big i would think, "No i like the experience of going to the store to shop." Lol. Now, if i can find what i want online, I am thrilled not to leave home to get it. Myyyy, how the times change

[@cruisepaige]

Rapt

[@Dovietail]

I never knew there was a civil rights aspect to mail order catalogues. How fascinating, wonderful, and AMERICAN!

[@gravityboy79]

Surely that was added later to make this story Hollywood ish. At that time the government was given land & $ to new white settlers while stealing ideas and pattens from so called emancipated black slaves. All of this time period is still full of lies. For example where are the slave ships & why make the Musium African Americans into the shape of a slave ship? At that time they were sending native black Americans to Africa Liberia! Why?! Bcuz they were building lies for their false history. We natives showed all of them YT’s folk how to survive here in America. Don’t believe the HYPE!

[@tomdonovan4842]

Excellent well done historical review. Thank you.

[@DJN881]

I was confined to my bed during the weeks prior to Christmas in 1968 and did all of my shopping from the Sears catalog.

[@ralphlozano9177]

Growing up in Chicago in the 60's & 70's, I remember these great department stores but there were others, like Wieboldts, Goldblatts, and Zayres to name a few.

[@LatitudeSky]

The Zayre name is gone but the company legacy lives on as TJ Maxx, Home Goods and other chains. They also founded and spun off the BJs Wholesale Club.

[@cruisepaige]

@@LatitudeSkyI was visiting my cousin last week and she had yarn from ZAYRE!

[@cocoaorange1]

I do, 70's child here.

[@Diesel3356]

Marshall Field’s at Christmas! They had an entire floor for toys!

[@tonyrichards254]

We had Sears and Montgomery Ward EVERYTHING when I was a kid. It was quality stuff and the prices were fair. I hate that cheap crap from Walmart and simple bad decisions caused both of these to disappear.

[@juelzm149]

What a fantastic documentary! I grew up ordering from and shopping at both of these companies but learned so many things about them here. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip back in time!

[@yourseatatthetable]

When I was a kid in the 70s we were always excited to see a new Sears catalog come in the mail.

[@LetArtsLive]

And the Sports Illustrated swimsuit

[@irenethomas4073]

My dad designed all of the displays and windows for the Sears stores from the late 40s to around 1970 from his Chicago office. My brother occasionally was in the Catalog. As renters we bought a roomful of furniture for around $300 in the 60s.

[@orientopportunities]

This documentary was amazing and very insightful thank you 🙏🏿

[@theatreorganman]

Outstanding! One of the finest documentaries on American consumerism!

[@JohnAdorjan]

I’ve heard about mail order brides but a mail order giant would be great to have for yard work and home security.

[@lukespector5550]

Steven Wright once dated a mail-order bridesmaid.........

[@MichaelLasotaMusic]

I loved my Buffalo, NY "Brand Names" catalog. I got a few devices from there. It was like Christmas any time of the year I could save up. They'd go in the warehouse and grab my item in ~20-30 minutes and I just waited around and looked at the products on display. You could also mail-order from them.

[@talpark8796]

here in🇨🇦, it was much more so the *Eaton's* and *Hudson's Bay* catalogues, with *Sear's* being a postwar player

[@OvertheGarage-wv1wn]

My mom and her best friend worked at Sears right after graduating high school for a while. Somewhere along the line, I think it was in the 70s, we noticed at least with boys cloths, they didn't last very long. I started getting Levis and Sears didn't sell those so we started going to Macys and never looked back.

[@chadsimmons6347]

In KCMO we still have the huge Old Montgomery Ward at St John & Belmont built in 1902 & a sears retail off Front St with Mo River Levy behind it

[@jimp6542]

I remember my early childhood when my brothers and I would wait for the Sears Christmas catalog. When it finally came we immediately turned to the huge toy section. Sadly, my kids, grandkids and great grandkids will never know that joyful anticipation. Although Sears is gone, Montgomery Wards still has a pretty strong internet presence.

[@RobertStricklandinKorea]

Miss Sears & Roebuck catalog, it was my way out of the rural South with my imagination and dreams.

[@williamprice3929]

When Sears was around in the 90's and 2000's I three times was told to go to a hiring interview. All 3 times the person hiring never showed up. This was at 2 different Sears stores. I don't know how anyone ever got a job there.

[@h.mandelene3279]

Maybe they were not big enough but there were some other catalog businesses. Speigle was like Sears and Ward, they even sold motorboats along with tools. There was also another catalog company on the south side of Chicago but I don't remember the name of it.

[@HumansMakeAIArt]

I was born in 1988 so i was too young for Sears to really be a big player anymore, but I have equally fond memories of circling in the Lands End and LL Bean catalogs! Glad it's a fond memory so many former kids share

[@LetArtsLive]

I'm sure they still have L.L.Bean

[@MojoMama7]

I must say, I'm really impressed with how innovative these men were for their time. I've been around awhile and remember Sears fondly. I never knew the history of these giants. I wish the "giants" of today had the character and some care, like these men seemed to have, especially when it comes to their employees. And the houses that are still standing blew my mind.

[@russellmakar579]

I worked at sears in the sixties in the tire department on North and Harlem in Chicago, my sister worked at S.S. Kresge at the soda fountain. Good memories.

[@Imissyoulou]

They tore that building down. They are building a part of Rush Hospital on that site.

[@ramblerdave1339]

And from S.S. Kresge, came K mart, who built a giant new World Headquarters in the early seventies, in Troy, MI. My sister worked there in the payroll department, and my high school buddies worked in collections, for their new at the time, Credit Card department, even before the new headquarters was built. That building was closed about 30 years after being built, and was vacant for about a decade, before the space was leased out.

[@mattiemathis9549]

I definitely left my brain in bed today. It took a minute and a half into the video for me to realize this wasn’t about ordering giants through the mail. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@kayfitzgerald309]

Now THAT'S Fun-🦵!!! After your comment, I had to go back & read the into!! Thnx for the 😂

[@tomwesley7884]

LOL

[@NaveDelAmor]

I remember drooling over a Sears catalog which we received from the US while we lived in Brasil. That's how i got my fashion design sense-- from looking at the fashion sections.

[@twalatka]

My Mom had a set of Kenworth washer and dryer. She bought them in 1974. She used them until yr 2000 when she gave them to my sister.

[@KMF3]

When I was growing up we did our Christmas wish list each year with the Sears catalogue.

[@christinamarie3598]

Omg .. I remember the Christmas catalog and it was the time of collecting green stamps .. so fond memories of this as a child! I do miss the sears service center .. miss the professionalism and all the services!

[@catholiccrusader5328]

When I was a kid I worked at Sears. Not one for retail I grew bored and decided to get into an action job; inner city school teaching where there's never a dull moment as the saying goes.

[@kevinc8387]

Lived for years on a usafb in Germany. The wish was fought over by three brothers . Took a month or more to get your order but was very happy memories.

[@susanholbrook4185]

I miss those years of these many stores. Those were big catalogs.