An Ode to the Sears Big Book

When Sears dropped its famous catalog last week, it closed the books on an era of innocence and optimism

IT WAS AN ANNUAL AND UNFAILingly upbeat report on the American horn of plenty. All this stuff for sale, more in heaven and earth than was dreamt of in even the maddest consumer's philosophy: buggy whips and barbering aids, covered wagons and canaries, tires and trousseaux, countless doodads that seemed unnecessary until they popped up on the page. From the Sears catalog, known affectionately as the "big book," customers could order everything necessary to equip a house: furniture, appliances, rugs, cooking and eating utensils and paint. Between 1908 and 1937, they could also order the house itself. All told, Sears sold...

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