Catalogues To Blackout Poetry

Once upon a time long before e-commerce there was the department store catalog. It was a Hermione’s handbag in book form. It had anything you could ever want, and you could bet your bottom dollar that it would empty your purse at the end of the day.
In my world growing up in the suburbs of Chicago I remember many popular catalogues; Montgomery Ward (first general mail order company in America launched in 1872), J.C. Penney, and Marshall Fields to name a few. However, none became as legendary as the Sears Catalogue.
Richard Sears began flogging his watches and jewellry through a printed mailer in 1888, the historic catalogue’s humble beginnings. Sears formed a partnership with Alvah Curtis Roebuck and together they nurtured and grew Sears, Roebuck & Co. They diversified the mail order business to general merchandise and by 1894 the catalog was a lengthy 322 pages. Eight years later, the company was serving over two million customers worldwide!

1902 Sears, Roebuck & Co Catalogue
Crown Publishers Inc (1969)

The catalog was not a freebie. In 1902, one would have parted with 50 cents for the privilege to peruse; a whopping $17.74 USD/£13.53 GBP in today’s money. Quite pricey, but what the company offered was a wide variety of much cheaper goods than its competitors.

Fun fact, when the catalog became out of date it was often upcycled behind closed doors in the outhouse. Using the pages as toilet paper went into decline in the 1930s when the company changed to a glossy, clay coated catalog paper. Interestingly at that time Sears, Roebuck and Co. was inundated with complaints.I recently got my hands on a reprint of a 1902 Edition of the Sears, Roebuck Catalogue thanks to Boz Phillips, an avid collector of many things including vintage catalogues. Her collection includes a Dandy Été 1960 (men’s and women’s clothing), Moda Y Arte Revista Españole de Calzado Winter 1934 (shoe catalog reprint), Tower List 53 (scientific apparatus and chemicals) and Morris Conveyors Number 187 (conveyor belts and mechanical items).Boz also has a reprint of the 1907 Army & Navy Stores Catalogue which is a mammoth size hardback book nine centimetres thick. I was not familiar with this and she says it is a British version of the Sears’ Catalogue.

Yesterday's Shopping, Army & Navy Stores Catalogue 1907
David & Charles Reprints (1969)

The Army & Navy Stores Catalogue was the brainchild of a group of army and naval officers who formed an Army & Navy Co-operative Society in 1871 offering goods (wine being the very first on offer) and services at reduced prices to its members. Stores were opened in London and in 1901 other branches were opened in Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Karachi.The company also manufactured many of their own products i.e. groceries, cigars, shirts, leather goods, watches, cutlery and fishing tackle. This brought their prices down even further. Services on offer included house removals, estate agency, house repairs and catering. One could even buy tickets to the opera, theater or musical concerts. The original massive cloth-bound catalog kept those stationed abroad in touch with home.In exploring these two fascinating catalogues, I decided to use digital copies of a few of the pages for creative inspiration and do some blackout poetry. Recently I’ve been really enjoying doing this with National Geographic magazines. Blackout poetry I find even more challenging than collage poetry as one is not only restricted to the words at hand but also their placement. It has forced me to construct poems using words and structures I wouldn’t necessarily choose when coming straight out of my head. I also like the visual element. Here are three of my favourites.

Sears, Roebuck& Co. 1902 - page 1008

book of us
ice storm heavy
seams great
exceptional wear
lasting pair
special
keep our hands warm
in the coldest weather

Sears, Roebuck & Co. 1902 - page 915

Anybody can fly
like a bird in a moderate breeze,
no wind short of a gale
is too strong.
This is success.

Army & Navy Stores Catalogue. 1907 - page 313

see insideupon frozen roads
the animal slipping
covering up
run
Thank you for reading.Kate JSources
Transform SR Brands, LLC, 2023. History of the Sears Catalogue. http://www.searsarchives.com/catalogs/history.htm (Accessed 16 July 2023).
The Plumber.com, 2023. Toilet Paper – The History ‘Behind’ It. https://theplumber.com/toiletpapershortagefun/ (Accessed 16 July 2023).
Starmens, B.J., 2017. Sears, Roebuck Mail Order Catalogue. https://www.thesocialhistorian.com/sears-roebuck-mail-order-catalogue/ (Accessed 16 July 2023).
Adburgham A., 1969. Yesterday’s Shopping The Army & Navy Stores Catalogue 1907. David & Charles Reprints, Devon.
Amory, C., 1969. 1902 Edition of The Sears, Roebuck Catalogue. Crown Publishers Inc., U.S.A. Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook