The Development of
Mail Order America & Consumer
Society
During the nineteenth century America became a
sprawling, growing country, and the rapid expanse created a vast new
market for goods. America as the great consumer society was being
created. Various central areas of urbanization were developing, while
the western frontier was opened to new settlers spurred on by a high
birth rate and an increasing immigrant population. The population was
changing and shifting quite rapidly. In 1861, the U.S. population was
31,443,000 and only 14% lived west of the Mississippi River, but by
1890 27% of the total U.S. population now resided west of the great
river. In 1880, 71.8% of the population was rural, living on farms in
small communities, and the number of farms increased steadily. In
1860, there were approximately 2 million farms in America, and by
1900 there were 5.7 million farms that were feeding not only the
urban areas of the country, but foreign nations as well. The
burgeoning farm population required more mechanized operations and
better equipment to meet the growing agricultural needs, but much of
the rural landscape was still quite isolated.
In addition, farmers' purchasing clout began to increase (and
fluctuated according to the economy of the 1800s), but they had less
time to make their own clothing, tools and other items necessary for
subsistence. But often they did not have the means to purchase what
they needed. Supplies were difficult to get and there was little or
no variety. During the nineteenth century, most of rural America
bought their goods from traveling salesmen, peddlers, manufacturers'
agents or at small, local general stores. The general store was a
vital part of the community, but primarily stocked utilitarian items
such as dry goods and sewing supplies, common groceries, ordinary
tools and some drugs and medicines. Often the stores were
inadequately stocked or too far away from the farms. There was a
great discrepancy between wholesale and retail prices, and farmers
grew outraged at alleged middlemen abuses which drove the prices
sky-high. In addition, manufacturers' agents sold farm machinery,
sewing machines, and other patented devices, but took large
commissions and charged high interest rates. In general, farmers
became increasingly dissatisfied with their means to purchase
goods.
The Beginning of Mail
Order
All of these factors made way for mail order to be accepted, albeit
with initial skepticism, as a welcomed, innovative means to do
business. However, the notion of mail order did not originate in the
late nineteenth century. There were book catalogs available in Venice
in the 1500s, and English companies were offering china through the
mail in the 1700s. The colonials ordered goods from the English
mother-country before the Revolutionary War and from France most
typically thereafter. By the end of the Civil War, several national
magazines began advertising mail order products, but the
manufacturing companies generally offered only a single product or
product line. Aaron
Montgomery Ward developed the first major
enterprise to sell a broad, diverse line of goods in 1872.
The
Grange
Farmer dissatisfaction led to the eventual formation of the Patrons
of Husbandry, or the
Grange, which enabled farmers to buy in
co-ops, eliminating the middlemen and keeping the cost of goods down.
Montgomery Ward seized the opportunity to buy in quantity from
manufacturers for cash and then sell the goods to the farmers for
cash at a reasonable profit margin. This eliminated the credit
problems which had marred the general store relationship and also the
high interest rates charged by middlemen. By 1872, Ward was
considered the official supply house for the Grange, and it offered a
unique guarantee which was an important concept to the farmers.
In addition to the farmers' increasing needs for better and more
equipment and supplies, there were other factors which influenced the
developed of mail order in America. The railroad system was developed
and the postal delivery service expanded to meet the nation's new
communication and transportation needs. Between 1860 and 1910, 4,000
miles of railroad track were laid each year, and by 1900 200,000
miles of "iron fingers" criss-crossed America. Mail order businesses
benefited immediately from the improvements in the infrastructure,
and postal regulations were also quite favorable to catalog
companies. Because they were regarded as aids in the dissemination of
knowledge, catalogs qualified for a lower postal rate. In addition,
Rural Free Delivery (RFD) became a reality in 1896, making it
possible for everyone to receive newspapers and national magazines
which were deemed important to the principles of universal education.
This was a boon for folks living in isolated rural areas who often
suffered from loneliness and hungered for communication and
information. Improved American transportation and communication
systems enabled a better means of trade, and Sears, Roebuck &
Company recognized this opportunity.
