Shopping the 1908 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalog

In this day of online shopping, we can order anything we need and have it delivered to our homes in a matter of days, but that wasn't the case for those living in the early 20th century. Big cities had plenty of places for people to shop, from large department stores to small specialty shops, but in smaller towns, where stores were often located in tiny buildings with a small variety of merchandise, people would turn to catalogs to find the special things they needed. Today, I'm showing you a few items from the 1908 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog.

How would you like to wear one of these fancy concoctions? The description on the lower middle hat says: Beautiful shepherdess shape, which we guarantee to be becoming to any face. This hat is handmade on a wireframe of good quality materials. Overlying the upper brim and edge of the crown are rows of imported hair braid. A full drape of brown milliner's mull is laid around the crown and extends to nearly the edge of the brim. The mull is gathered in a large rosette effect directly on the left side front of the crown, and a large crushed rose in pink with buds and natural foilage give beauty and height to the trimming. --So that's only about half of the description. How would you like to buy something so frilly that you've only seen in black and white? It was quite a deal, though, for just $1.98.

If you needed a veil for your fancy hat, they had those too. This is just a small sampling of all the veils in the catalog. 

I'm guessing the smart thing would be to buy a hat and then make a dress to match it, since you wouldn't know the exact shade of the colors in the hat until you received it. Need some lace for your new gown?--the catalog has pages of it.

I thought these diaper drawers were interesting. Description: These diaper drawers designed to be worn over the diaper are very lightweight, are absolutely acid and waterproof and can be washed and ironed. They are odorless. Have loop in back to hang them up.

If you were in the market for a special birthday gift for your daughter, you might buy one of these cute dolls for less than 50 cents. What a deal!

If you wanted extra lighting for your parlor, you could purchase one of these lovely parlor lamps for just $3.59.

The lamp on the right is called a Romeo shape and bosts hand-painted painted lilacs with light green and dark green leaves. The burner is the highest grade central draft type that produces one hundred candle power. It is 27 1/2 inches tall with a ten-inch globe. It is adorned with heavy brass crown and base and is highly lacquered in gold. It weighs 30 pounds.  

How about some entertainment? The stereoscope was just the thing. It has a varnished cherry frame, engraved aluminum hood, and a patent lens lock. If you're not familiar with a stereoscope, it is an optical instrument with two eyepieces used to impart a three-dimensional effect to two photographs of the same scene taken at slightly different angles. You could buy "views" or slides to insert in the stereoscope that showed scenes from all over the world. 

And last but now least, you could order a kitchen sink from the catalog.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into a 1908 catalog.

History of Mother's Day by Donna Schlachter

Photo by Simon Berger from Pexels

Mother’s Day, although past for this year, has a long and varied history. Attributed to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the celebration of their mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele is believed to be the first references to setting aside a specific day to remember and honor the contributions of not only goddesses but also of the women in our lives.

Photo by Javier Cruz from Pexels

Early Christians, wanting to reach these pagan cultures, initiated their own festival called “Mothering Sunday”, designed to draw believers and seekers alike into local churches or ‘mother church’, and was held on the fourth Sunday in Lent.

Photo by Sharefaith from Pexels

As with most religious celebrations, eventually secularism took hold. In the 1860s, Ann Reeves Jarvis started “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs”, where women were taught the skills needed to maintain their households, including cooking, cleaning, sewing, needlework, child-rearing, and so more. Following the Civil War, the group changed its name to “Mothers Friendship Day”, where women from both sides of the conflict were encouraged to befriend each other in hopes of aiding the country to reunite.


By 1870, Julia Ward Howe, with an eye on world peace, instituted her Mothers Day Proclamation and set June 2nd as the date for the celebration of the work of the women in her group.

Photo by Eva Elijas from Pexels

In 1905, Ann Jarvis died, and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, who never married, worked tirelessly to set aside a day each year to honor the sacrifices made by women for their children and their families. By 1908, the day was being celebrated in many towns and states, often with the support of a local department store. In 1912, the government officially set aside the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day.

However, by 1920, Ann Jarvis was disgruntled at the commercialization of the holiday, and spent the rest of her life (she died in 1948) trying to undo all her hard work.

Photo by Giftpundits.com from Pexels

Today we celebrate Mother’s Day with cards, flowers, gifts, and oftentimes a day off from cooking and other household chores.


Celebrating Around the World

In Thailand, the day is celebrated on the birthday of the current queen, which currently is in August.

In Ethiopia, a multi-day celebration is held in early Fall.



No matter its source or how you celebrate, mothers are certainly important. None of us would be here without a mother. And regardless of the number of children borne, mothers are molders, those tireless individuals who fashion us into the productive adults we all strive to become. As women, we all have an important job to do—setting the example for the next generation, and teaching other women how to fulfill their God-given calling to impact and change lives.



Resources:

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day

https://www.shutterfly.com/ideas/mothers-day-bible-verses/

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas, full-length novels, devotional books, and books on the writing craft.





 

 

 

 

 

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