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Post by puffy on Jan 3, 2020 10:57:17 GMT -5
I was born in a small farming town in N.Carolina..When I was a lad there was a store in town that folks referred to as the catalog store..They had catalogs from all these mail order places..You went in and ordered what you wanted from a catalog.When it came in they dropped you a card in the mail and you went and picked it up..There were several companies that sent someone to your house.You ordered something ,and a few days they brought it to you..Watkins,Amway,Avon,Fuller Brush being some of them..These days it much easier.You just go on your computer,or phone tell them what you want,give them your card number and wait for it to show up at your door. It seems to me that we've for a very long time been an ordering society..My wife just got a new coffee pot..She ordered it.
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Post by Darin on Jan 3, 2020 11:01:06 GMT -5
We here at The Patch would nothing of this, "so called", consumerism.  Some countries produce more and some (USA) consume more ... that's what keeps this stack of cards going for now. |
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Post by toshtego on Jan 3, 2020 12:42:38 GMT -5
I remember as as a young teen ordering from the Sear's Catalogue- a leather motorcycle jacket as worn by many hoodlums in the 1950s. There were many happy hours reading through that catalogue page by page. I learned a lot about many subjects. How to unfasten a brassiere. How to change an inner tube.
I recall a store which had many catalogues. That was in Healdsberg, California.
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Post by oldcajun123 on Jan 3, 2020 12:47:44 GMT -5
 They were used also in outhouses, kinda slick though.! 
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Post by Goldbrick on Jan 3, 2020 15:06:13 GMT -5
I've returned to mail-order, and I love it. As a big guy, my search for items that fit right is over , standing in line ,only to deal with smarta$$ salespeople is a thing of the past. Sitting at my computer ,looking through an almost endless selection of goods I might need ,saves me time,gas ,and in most cases,money. In the past few weeks I've ordered pocket knives,stereo speakers ,sweat-pants, and yesterday ,Amazon dropped off two pair of dress pants, plus a jacket, this morning it was dress shoes...all items well made, and all a perfect fit!
I know this kind of thing is going to put an end to a lot of retail jobs, but honestly, it's been a good while since I was waited on by anyone who seemed to value my business ,or their job for that matter.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2020 18:52:14 GMT -5
In the mid 70s my father retired to a small town with 2500 people and Sears catalog store. We bought all kinds of stuff from those books. Everything from a cement mixer to a pair of Converse shoes for gym class.
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Post by kxg on Jan 3, 2020 19:47:45 GMT -5
I find it interesting that Sears, of all companies, didn't adapt to the online market model. They essentially had all the know how at one time, sans the e-commerce part. I suppose that when they switched over to the full blown B&M model they lost all enthusiasm for an internet model. They should have been Amazon.
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Post by toshtego on Jan 3, 2020 20:13:56 GMT -5
I've returned to mail-order, and I love it. As a big guy, my search for items that fit right is over , standing in line ,only to deal with smarta$$ salespeople is a thing of the past. Sitting at my computer ,looking through an almost endless selection of goods I might need ,saves me time,gas ,and in most cases,money. In the past few weeks I've ordered pocket knives,stereo speakers ,sweat-pants, and yesterday ,Amazon dropped off two pair of dress pants, plus a jacket, this morning it was dress shoes...all items well made, and all a perfect fit! I know this kind of thing is going to put an end to a lot of retail jobs, but honestly, it's been a good while since I was waited on by anyone who seemed to value my business ,or their job for that matter.You are so right. There is nothing worse than entering a store in search of an item and the proprietor cannot tear his or her self away from the person she/he is gabbing with to (1) welcome me to their business, (2) ask if I have any questions or need help. (3) show the slightest interest during payment. How many times have people just rung up the sale without even looking in my direction or uttering a word to me. I just walk out of those places and never return. |
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Post by trailboss on Jan 3, 2020 20:18:44 GMT -5
I find it interesting that Sears, of all companies, didn't adapt to the online market model. They essentially had all the know how at one time, sans the e-commerce part. I suppose that when they switched over to the full blown B&M model they lost all enthusiasm for an internet model. They should have been Amazon. Smith Corona was approached by a fledgling compay called Xerox..."Hey, you guys know typing, we have this thing called computers, let's get together" SC's response: "Typewriters have been around forever, this technology will blow away in the wind." Sam Walton approached Kmart with the opportunity to do things differently and wanted to join ranks..they gave him the bum's rush to the door...ironically, Walmart in turn did not jump on e-commerce as quickly as they should have...they had the resources to crush Jeff Beazos's start up.. To bring it down to our scale...I cannot count the times...coulda, shoulda, woulda.....I should be a retired gentleman with a country estate wherever the weather is fair.
Hindsight grows clearer as our eyeballs grow dimmer. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2020 21:16:04 GMT -5
I cant really blame the store clerks who don't make enough money for rent and food and have their hours chopped at 32 so they don't get any health benefits. Now the new trend is check yourself out. Being a stubborn old soul I never return my cart and never ever ever check myself out. We drive out of the way to Kroger who unloads our cart. I use a hardware store where folks are glad to give you hand and they carry the good stuff like screws where the heads don't round out while you them home into your project. Oh sure I buy some stuff and have it drop shipped but as I say Wallymart never saved me any money everything they sell is made just for them and means a short cut somewhere. So the big malls are closing that tells me folks no longer have disposable income. Car sales are down I wonder why when a new pickup is fifty grand. When the box stores are gone people will wish they were still around and once they are gone prices and shipping will skyrocket.
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Post by puffy on Jan 3, 2020 22:48:03 GMT -5
To me self check outs are a means of cutting down on cashiers..A reason for me not to use them. use them.
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Post by trailboss on Jan 3, 2020 23:07:42 GMT -5
One or two items with scanner codes and in a hurry, and the lines with cashiers is long, I will use the self checkout and that is about it.
Typing in numbered screw codes that I wrote down at the bins, looking up the variety of mushrooms, they should be paying me for labor.
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Post by sperrytops on Jan 4, 2020 12:02:51 GMT -5
Interesting what's happened in the last 50 years. Makes you wonder what retail will be and people will behave like in another 50.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 4, 2020 12:07:43 GMT -5
When I was a kid the checkers knew the price of everything in the store. No stupid bar codes or self checkout. The local Home Depot has eliminated checkers. I go 4 miles further to Lowe's for the service. I will be doing most of my grocery in Porter where there are checkers. The management of the local Kroger is horrible.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2020 20:17:51 GMT -5
I want to mention JC Whitney they had all kinds of Beetle parts and motorcycle tires. They sold other parts as well. They are online now. Also growing up we called Sears the Sears and Roebuck. Funny because Roebuck sold his interest in 1895. Looking online at pictures it looks like they used Roebucks in the name well into the 50s. Montgomery Wards was doing business before Sears and Roebuck and they had the worlds first mail order catalog. Mobil Oil bought them out and gutted the business then it to GE who ended up closing all locations by 1997. They were back online by 2004 selling furniture.
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Post by Goldbrick on Jan 4, 2020 21:57:27 GMT -5
My cousin sold shoes, door to door, back in the early sixties...Red Wing ,I think it was. I think Bass had high school youngsters out their too. YOU placed the order in the comfort of your home ,and the shoes showed up 6 week or so later.
back in the day of the bread man and milk man...gosh I;m old!
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Post by kxg on Jan 4, 2020 22:54:32 GMT -5
I find it interesting that Sears, of all companies, didn't adapt to the online market model. They essentially had all the know how at one time, sans the e-commerce part. I suppose that when they switched over to the full blown B&M model they lost all enthusiasm for an internet model. They should have been Amazon. Smith Corona was approached by a fledgling compay called Xerox..."Hey, you guys know typing, we have this thing called computers, let's get together" SC's response: "Typewriters have been around forever, this technology will blow away in the wind." Sam Walton approached Kmart with the opportunity to do things differently and wanted to join ranks..they gave him the bum's rush to the door...ironically, Walmart in turn did not jump on e-commerce as quickly as they should have...they had the resources to crush Jeff Beazos's start up.. To bring it down to our scale...I cannot count the times...coulda, shoulda, woulda.....I should be a retired gentleman with a country estate wherever the weather is fair.
Hindsight grows clearer as our eyeballs grow dimmer.And in an ironic twist, Xerox developed the first Graphical User Interface (GUI) which they used in the Alto personal computer. The Alto was never a commercial product, several thousand being built for internal use. Xerox should have been Apple, but didn’t fully comprehend what they were sitting on. It seems technical innovation is one thing, but the imaginative capacity to apply the innovations in novel ways is another. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2020 1:29:59 GMT -5
The Alto also used the first mouse more silly stuff I remember for no reason what so ever.
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Post by trailboss on Jan 5, 2020 22:49:21 GMT -5
I used to love traveling with my grandma on the city bus to eat at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Wichita back in the 60’s. Where it once sat, is a bronze sculpture addressing the civil rights struggle of that time, as a kid I knew nothing about all of that, I just knew tgat they had phenomenal Liverwurst. www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/3000 |
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 5, 2020 23:30:38 GMT -5
I never saw liverwurst in Woolworth, but I enjoyed the sundaes and grilled cheese sandwiches. I know that they had racks of Mausers, Enfields, Springfields, etc.
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Post by trailboss on Jan 5, 2020 23:39:04 GMT -5
I never saw liverwurst in Woolworth, but I enjoyed the sundaes and grilled cheese sandwiches. I know that they had racks of Mausers, Enfields, Springfields, etc.[b\] I wish that I was clued in on that... and had money back then. |
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Post by puffy on Jan 5, 2020 23:43:33 GMT -5
My wife and I ate many meals at Woolworth's in days of old..They had a great Cheese Cake.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jan 5, 2020 23:48:52 GMT -5
I never saw liverwurst in Woolworth, but I enjoyed the sundaes and grilled cheese sandwiches. I know that they had racks of Mausers, Enfields, Springfields, etc.[b\] I wish that I was clued in on that... and had money back then. I think a Mauser K was $12 the first time I looked. That would be $106 in today's dollars. Still cheap. Since they were $450 last I saw so wood and steel are beating inflation. |
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They were used also in outhouses, kinda slick though.! 
