1896 Sears catalog Amazon of its day

Detail of a page from the 1896 Sears catalog

I stumbled across the 1896 Sears Roebuck catalog on—of all places—Ancestry.com. Of course I proceeded to spend too much time there. 

My main interest lies in how old catalogs depict items used in everyday life. Another reason is the time period. Paging through the catalog digitally reminded me that characters in my novels would have thumbed through the real thing. The 600-plus-page catalog was the Amazon of its day.

My novels are in my mind because I’ve just re-released the Kindle version of Books 1 and 2 in the Persimmon Hollow series. I got the rights back from the publisher, who no longer sells the books. Now I’m scrambling to get them reprinted with new covers. So far, the Kindle versions are available on Amazon. Paperback is coming soon, as well as versions for other ebook platforms.

The characters in my novels live in a late 19th century world. They would have received the Sears catalog in the mail. And even ordered groceries from it. The 1896 catalog included an entire grocery section, much to my surprise. 

It’s like the “everything old is new again” adage. People 125 years ago ordered groceries from home just like people do today. On paper, not online, true. And who knows how the shipments arrived in areas outside regular mail delivery back then. It’s fun to think about.

In addition to groceries and household items, the catalog featured a sizable pharmacy section. All kinds of tinctures, potions, lotions, oils and other ingredients were offered, enough to stock a  pharmaceutical factory. You could even buy laudanum (23 cents for a 2-oz. bottle). 

The pharmacy section’s offerings were a cross between a modern drugstore’s selections and the homeopathic remedies found at health food stores. Except it’s now illegal to purchase some of the ingredients that old catalog sold.

I noticed another indication of the same-but-different mantra. Customers in 1896 could order tea that came from Japan, China, Formosa and Ceylon. People living in the time of my novels would have recognized all four locations. Today, we’re most familiar with Japan and China. Formosa back then was a name associated with the island of Taiwan. Ceylon was the British colonial name of the now-independent country of Sri Lanka. 

Sears particularly touted its Golden Tips Ceylon and Ungalora Ceylon teas as the healthiest, best flavored and most economical of all teas. But customers could choose from among several types of teas. Prices ranged from 19 cents to 51 cents per pound, depending on grade and quantity.

There was no popping a cup of water in the microwave to heat up tea water in those days. If you want to brew tea the way they did in 1896, the catalog shared the following instructions:

“Make it at the table; heat the pot, then pour in water that has just come to a boil (not water that has been boiling for some time), put the tea on top of water, let stand from 2 to 7 minutes and pour into cups or other pot; do not let it stand on leaves as that destroys the delicate flavor so much desired.”

I think I’ll go make myself a cup of tea. With some help from the microwave.

Here are the new covers for my novels.