Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Ironically, despite fighting FDRs New Deal tooth and nail, Averys company was among the big beneficiaries of the program, as profits returned in 1935 and 36, and Ward leaped from just 25% of Sears volume back up to 82%. [Top Left: Some of the messenger boys at the sprawling Montgomery Ward building on the river used to famously roll through the long hallways on roller skates. The Factor's Almanac, by James Talcott, Inc. In 1968 Montgomery Ward merged with Container Corporation of America to form Marcor Inc. Mobil Oil Corporation gained a controlling interest in Marcor in 1974, and Wards became a subsidiary of Mobil. For Sale Rare Selections from Old Gun Catalogs 1880-1920, edited by J Schroeder and the editors of Gun Digest. It just happens to be the case. Sewell L. Avery, Montgomery Ward president, 1944. It seemed Id always been a loser.. Shop now to see the latest selection of electronics, furniture, housewares, bed and bath, shoes, appliances and more. By following the easy-to-read instructions, farmers could build their barns on their own. As an important distinction, Wards was essentially a master distributor, and never manufactured goods of its own on the considerable scale that Sears did during the height of the two companies rivalry. I wanted them to be an important part of the company. Sales Catalog, Fall & Winter, 1894 / page 4, Montgomery Ward & Co. Like Robert May, though, her enormous success with the company didnt lead to considerable individual notoriety or bigger and better things. 13 (1875), No. Back to home page Return to top. Mr. Ward and his partners stocked goods to launch their first mail-order catalog, but his stock was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. and how limitless its inventory could become. Lots of good memory's in our favorite Department store's. See more ideas about montgomery ward, best memories, ward. Simply select the online catalog you wish to look at and you'll be shopping in no time. By the time the company fully relocated to the riverfront plant in 1910, its annual profits had topped the million dollar mark for the first time, and its daily operations were largely handled by the five sons of Wards old business partner George Thorne. It was the first extensive mail order catalog for the masses. Youve got to admire a business thats run on the square, read an intro page to Wards 1916 catalogue. . Hi! Blog, Rural America Shops by Mail In fact, FDR had to repeatedly distract himself from addressing the likes of Hitler and Mussolini in order to deal directly with the defiant mail order magnate in Chicago. Personalized Women's Apparel & Accessories, Shop all Clothing, Shoes & Accessories Sale. Contact Gray at the email or phone number below. As folks of the Baby Boom generation will recall, the company had one last run left in them, as they rebuilt their infrastructure, opened fancy new department stores in the countrys rapidly sprouting suburban shopping malls, and produced upwards of 45 million catalogs a year: a big spring and fall issue, and a bunch of specialized issues: Automotive, Christmas, Farm & Garden, Photographic, Sporting Goods, Toys, and even Power Tools, among others (most were still produced by Wards longtime Chicago printing partner, R. R. Donnelley). John Barr took over an 80 year-old retail business that still operated 600 stores, but hadnt opened a new one in a decade. As no coincidence perhaps, Aaron Ward himself had become deeply invested in using his considerable influence to change what that view out across Michigan Avenue would look likenot just for Ward customers, but anyone visiting Chicago in the future. Ward is credited with issuing the first mail-order catalogue intended for the general public. World War, 1939-1945 -- Economic aspects. We attend to the mail order business alone. Copyright 2023. His business was growing and succeeding, but it was still an upstart organization whichas a conduit between urban manufacturers and far-away farmersrelied heavily upon messaging to close the gap and earn the publics trust. 408 (N.D. Ill. 1945) More to explore : Vintage Montgomery Ward Catalog . Montgomery Ward & Co., Montgomery Ward. There are also miscellaneous artifacts. No table-of-contents pages found. . Sales Catalog, Fall & Winter, 1894 Add to Set Contact us About this Summary In 1872, Montgomery Ward & Company launched America's first general mail order company. Its not hard to grasp the appeal of being able to order such a range of necessities and novelties all at onceits the same idea behind Amazons success 150 years later. In point of strict fact, Montgomery Ward & Co. were not the originators of the mail order business, as the company often claimed. Montgomery Ward was the name of two historically distinct American retail enterprises. He was also a borderline fascist who was diametrically opposed to the policies of soon-to-be U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and anything else that might strengthen Americas labor unions. An older man might have taken that as a sign, but at 27, Ward just started over again, and with two investors from the C. W. & E. Pardridge Company, he re-loaded and launched his humble mail order house in 1872, run out of a small shipping office near the corner of Clark Street and Kinzie. Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection More than 200 correspondents, stenographers and typewriters are busy every day writing letters to friends and customers all over the world., unsightly wooden shanties, structures, garbage, paving blocks and other refuse piled thereon., a human icicle, shunning and shunned in all but the relations of business., I think there is not another man in Chicago who would have spent the money I have spent in this fight with certainty that even gratitude would be denied as interest,, fought for the poor people of Chicago, not the millionaires. It issued its final mail-order catalog in 1985, and just over a decade later in 1997 it would file for bankruptcy, closing all its remaining brick-and-mortar stores shortly thereafter. The addition of a 12-story tower to Wards Michigan Avenue complex in 1899 certainly signified the health of the company heading into the new century. The even more revolutionary pitch, though, was Montgomery Ward & Co.s unique guarantee: If any of your goods are not satisfactory, after due inspection, we will take them back and refund the money paid for them.. Oct 17, 2014 - A day in time when life was easier slow paste and the good life was fun! I called Barbara and her grandparents into the living room and read it to them. We have no retail trade to bother us and delay us. Suddenly I had it! 1. On October 27, 1929two days before the stock market collapsedthe Chicago Tribune praised the advanced features of the new structure, which was set to open that week. After several years of working as a traveling salesman among rural customers. Does the museum want it? By now, there were sawmills with greater power and larger circular blades that were cutting dimensional lumber. . Aaron Montgomery Ward used the trains in Chicago to get goods to far-flung parts of the country. Avery was already the longtime president of the United States Gypsum Company, and had a track record of success leading a massive organization. The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, In 1895, people ordered butter churns that were boxes or barrels with a side crank. Gratefully I buried myself in the writing. Through their catalogs, the company offered a broad selection of goods at affordable prices. Extent From the Collection: 10.35 Linear Feet Language of Materials From the Collection: English Collapse All Creator From the Collection: Adams Ephemera Collection (John and Jane Adams Ephemera Collection) (Person) The bulk of mail order house, retail store and warehouse jobs are therefore closed [to them]., [While selling uniforms for Victory Workers in its own catalog, Montgomery Ward faced rising pushback from its employees, as seen in the 1944 strike outside the Chicago warehouse, pictured above.]. Thats because its a fairly rare, in-tact example of the original 1939 edition of the story, which debuted that year as a free holiday giveaway to visitors of Montgomery Wards retail stores (often handed to kids by Santa himself). Robert Thorne, who took over the presidency after his brother Williams untimely death in 1917, liked to project an image of ethical superiority, but his own track record wasnt sparkling. Its offerings were popular with Americans at every economic level and were backed by the company slogan, satisfaction guaranteed or your money back, an industry first. The first commercial version of the Rudolph book was published by Christmas of that year, and by 1949, cowboy singer Gene Autry had scored a big hit with the first rendition of the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer songwritten by Robert Mays brother-in-law Johnny Marks. Menu. By 1904, the company had grown such that three million catalogs, weighing 4 pounds each, were mailed to customers. To Averys credit, he also knew how to recruit talent, cut costs, and trim fatincluding the closure of more than 100 underperforming retail stores. Right: The former Ward complex as it has looked in more recent years, home to offices of Groupon and the Big Ten Network, among others.]. . Sears was the front runner and the most successful company at this venture, although Montgomery Ward, Gordon-Van Tine, Aladdin and a few others also tried their hand at it as well. Timber-frame techniques and craftsmanship began to vanish. Y'all have a blessed life! All roof paraphernalia enclosed and architecturally treated. . A force of 300 to 500 young ladies do nothing but open the mail and enter the orders. Did You Know To satisfy the ever-growing needs of the business operation, Ward built an enormous campus on the north branch of the Chicago River at 618 W. Chicago Avenue comprising an eight-story building, a storefront, and executive offices. Montgomery Ward Catalogs 1980s (B) Vintage. Sales Catalog, Fall & Winter, 1894, Montgomery Ward & Co. and D.S.E.A. Ward wrote the first catalog copy. The tower carries a gilded statue entitled The Spirit of Progress., [Opened in 1929, the former Montgomery Ward Administration Building at 758 N. Larrabee Street is still standing today, and still features the Spirit of Progress sculpture at the top of its tower (this was a new version of a similar sculpture that had topped the old Ward tower on Michigan Ave. Copywriter Robert May likely was looking out of a window in this building in 1939 when he saw fog rolling in off the lake and pondered a hero reindeer with a red shiny nose.]. He had two partners and used $1,600 they had raised in capital. In terms of his more positive character traits, Robert Thorne was a crafty logistical mind who helped expand and streamline the Ward network, much as Julius Rosenwald did for Sears during the same period. Buy now, pay later with low monthlypayments. Sales Catalog, Fall & Winter, 1894 / page 236, Montgomery Ward & Co. And where every solitary man is strictly on the square, you cant get anything but a square deal. . Enjoy paging through our user friendly online catalogs. Aaron Montgomery Ward used his fortune to sue the city of Chicago twice to remove and prevent structures in Grant Park, shown below, a lovely park between the skyscrapers and the lake. In 1908, with even its massive Michigan Avenue building no longer fit to handle its enormous order volume, Ward & Co. began relocating to a new eight-story, 2-million square foot, concrete-reinforced headquarters located along the north branch of the Chicago River at what is now 600 West Chicago Avenue. Digitized by Two Cat Digital Inc. Kodak HR500 Universal film scanner ICC Profile: Adobe RGB 1998 Colorspace: Adobe RGB 1998. City of Chicago, wards 1 and 2 199. But I doubt it., [Grant Park as it looked in the mid 1920s, with the former Montgomery Ward tower building looming in the background], [The original Montgomery Ward Tower building at 6 North Michigan Avenue, built in 1899, is still standing today. A farmer would make his choice of barn plans from a catalog like Sears' The Book of Barns or Modern Farm Buildings. But the success of Rudolph was no fluke; it was made possible by the merchandising engine of Montgomery Ward & Co.the firm that set the template for how to package and sell everything to everybody in the modern age. OffbeatAvenue. He took the fear out of dealing by mail., and you will be charged only in proportion to our quotations. Publisher Montgomery Ward, Chicago Collection winterthurlibrary; americana Digitizing sponsor Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation Contributor Winterthur Museum Library Language English Addeddate 2010-07-23 12:52:52 Make use of this deal before it expires. The new team got off to a soaring start in the Jazz Age, pulling Ward & Co. out of an inflation-based slump and riding dominant fashion, auto part, and radio sales to $10 million profitsnearly catching up with Sears. Sales Catalog, Fall & Winter, 1894 / page 341, Montgomery Ward & Co. Be the first to hear about new products andspecialoffers. $31.00. Clay and Clinton Counties 197. A letter to the editor several days later, howeverwritten by the president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, David F. Vitetook a very different tone. . . 0 Reviews. She led a team of highly skilled architects, engineers, artists, and designers, all of whom helped streamline and modernize the look of the Ward catalog and many of the products therein. His superior officer was a certain brigadier general named Robert E. Wood, whom Thorne would hire as a Montgomery Ward executive after the war. Aaron Montgomery Ward used the trains in Chicago to get goods to far-flung parts of the country. Mr. Ward and his partners stocked goods to launch their first mail-order catalog, but his stock was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. What happened next truly feels like a grand gesture from a bygone time. After going nearly $9 million into the red in 1931, the company cleaned house, with majority shareholders at J. P. Morgan & Co. installing 57 year-old Sewell Avery as Wards new president. We study methods of improving our business as we would a science. Montgomery Ward Catalogs (Wards, Airline) English | Catalogue Models (not tubes) Uploads My Publications Created by: Ernst Erb (17.Jul.14) Click here for the 764 models documented in this literature, i.a. Fantastic items of every sort throughout thge book - everything one could imagine. Perhaps I may yet see the public appreciate my efforts. For Robert May, the concerns were more personal. This year, the Chicago History Museum is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the company responsible for that designation: Montgomery Ward. The order was placed with a down payment. That Montgomery Ward was America's first mail-order catalog business? Ward, who had previously worked as a retail clerk and dry goods salesman, aimed his marketing . In an action typical of the time period, Montgomery Ward merged with the Container Corporation of America in 1968, and seven years later, the Mobil Corporation took a controlling interest. It wasnt until he landed an easier gig selling shoes, however, that Ward found his lifes calling as a skilled and intuitive dealer of goods. Comparatively, other mail order services up to this point were either industry/trade specific or for an elite customer base. Somehow, the small trees left in the woodlots would have to do. My reward is knowing that every year when Christmas rolls around, Rudolph still brings that message to millions, both young and old., Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer, it seems, is becoming the irresistible hero. Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer, it seems, is becoming the irresistible hero. Customers were also attracted by the innovative and unprecedented company policy of 'satisfaction guaranteed or your money back', which Ward began using in 1875" (Wikipedia article on Montgomery Ward, accessed 11-07-2013). Check out our wide selection of colorful bedspreads, handy bathroom space savers and high-tech electronics. By 1904, the company had grown such that three million catalogs, weighing 4 . 1 review. Use this Artifact Card to share this great find with others. Nobody had yet realized that Sears Roebuck was on borrowed time in its own right, and for much of the 1960s, copycatting the Sears playbook actually worked well enoughWard built up more in-house brands and shut down more of its old failing stores in favor of new ones near faster growing urban centers out west. In 1872 he founded Montgomery Ward & Company, which became nationally known.. Ward, a young traveling salesman of dry goods, was concerned over the plight of many rural . Required fields are marked *. Each region or country in Europe had its own building styles, which were brought over with settlers to the New World. Save big bucks w/ this offer: $50 off over $150. The PDF that downloads is absolutely the correct book. Incorporated: 1889. Nationally, the companies tried to one-up each other with increasingly thick and colorfully illustrated mega-catalogs; while locally, they also seemed to be in an architectural competition, each rapidly expanding their downtown warehouses with more elaborate constructions. How were substantial barns to be built to hold great loads of hay and grain, without the huge trees to produce the solid timbers for strength? Ward also began to develop a business idea of his own; one that borrowed from the big city wholesalers, but was better equipped to meet the needs of the smalltown and rural customers hed come to know from his wandering salesman days. The honeymoon was brief, however. Catalogs-Montgomery Ward's Competitors, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, 1916-1917, 1919, 1922-1923, 1937-1938, 1943, 1948-1951, 1953, 1955-1959, 1886, 1888, 1890, 1895, 1907-1908, 1910-1911, 1915-1917, 1921-1922, 1940, 1942, 1951, 1953-1954, 1914, 1916-1917, 1920, 1937, 1939-1940, 1950, 1954-1955. They all, without exception, imitate our methods as far as they can find them out; they all want to know: How does Montgomery Ward & Co. do it? We will tell you. In January of 1920, despite an extremely profitable 1919 Christmas season, Robert Thorne seemed to anticipate complications in the new decade. Not only does our business reach every state, county, city, and hamlet, and nearly every farm in the United States, Canada, West Indies, Mexico, and throughout North America, but it also extends around the earthsix carloads of merchandise a week being our average shipments to the Orient, Australasia, and Trans-Pacific point; a carload a week to each, South Africa, South America, India, Canal Zone, Central America and Cuba; in addition to which an average of a ton of merchandise leaves the house daily by mail for foreign parts. Montgomery Ward & Co. ad, 1910. Exploring the History of Information and Media through Timelines, Last updated February 23rd, 2023 Pacific Time, eCommerce / Mail Order / Consumer Analytics. He helped lead efforts to clean up Grant Parkthen known as Lake Park which, since the Great Fire, had become crowded with unsightly wooden shanties, structures, garbage, paving blocks and other refuse piled thereon. 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