Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> Well, the internet is great but it's tough to use an 18 inch monitor as > a substitute for toilet paper - which is what the pages of the Sears > catalogue were used for in rural areas...:-) > > B. D. > the Sears catalogue of 100 years ago was a very important part of the American landscape that you could buy practically anything, Autos, guns, washing machines, tools, clothing, cameras and even pre-fabricated houses. Even into the 1960's -- I remember as a little boy drooling over many of things available in the catalogue. Montgomery Ward had an equally impressive catalogue. But there was a dark side to Sears & Roebuck on the business side: they would contract with a manufacturer, lets say washing machines, Sears would place huge orders with the company to the point that the washing machine manufacturer would become dependent on the Sears orders. Then suddenly Sears would cancel all orders, the manufacturer would go on the verge of bankruptcy, Sears would buy them out for not much money and then put their own Sears name on the product. sl - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html