Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue No. 101, Fall and Winter, 1924 â 25
Softcover
1924
by Various
Chicago, Ill: Montgomery Ward & Co., 1924. Softcover. First edition; 13 ¼ x 9; pp. 724; illustrated wraps; chips with some loss of paper to edges; fore-edge of pages a bit brittle; darkening and staining to upper corner; illustrated in b & w and color; good to very good condition.A massive catalog, known as the âWish Book,â of the self-proclaimed âmost progressive and oldestâ mail order house, it was published in the last year of its dry-goods, mail-order-only business model, before the first retail outlet store was opened in Plymouth, Indiana in 1926. Founded in 1872 by Aaron Ward, the business was demolished before and reestablished after the Great Chicago Fire, became known for the, then, revolutionary âsatisfaction guaranteed, or your money backâ policy, and was nominated by the Grolier Club as one of the 100 books to influence the life and culture of US Americans. Known for their reasonable prices and enormous, lavishly-illustrated catalogs, the company would also be remembered for creating the Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer character as part of a promotional Christmas campaign in 1939. (Inventory #: 001684)