Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2021/10/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jim, you must do a book of those stories some day! As for Sears, I remember shopping there quite a bit when we lived in Gainesville, FL from 1984 to 1987. I still have my very first tripod, bought there and branded Sears, when I took up photography as a hobby in 1985. I think I was last inside a Sears a few years ago during a visit to Puerto Rico. A sad, rundown appearance, clearly a place in terminal decline. Cheers, Nathan Nathan Wajsman photo at frozenlight.eu http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.frozenlight.eu YNWA > On 5 Oct 2021, at 15:47, jshulman at judgecrater.com wrote: > > You indeed paved the way in color printing, which had been renowned for > not only inaccurate color but iffy registration. I recall seeing purple > hams from K-Mart circulars, usually slightly out of register ("purple ham" > became shorthand in our house for a K-Mart shopping trip.) > > In the 1980s and 1990s I was the marketing director for a catalog company > that, though considerable growth, printed more than six million catalogs a > year in eighteen variations. After considering several major printing > companies, including Donnelley (also famed for printing telephone > directories,) we chose World Color Press, a relative newcomer that was > building brand new plants around the nation. > > Our catalog was slated for production at a rural Wisconsin site, recently > opened in what had been farmland. During a tour of the facility my rep > mentioned that they printed Playboy magazine, and that some potential > clients refused to do business with them for that reason. I said it sure > didn't matter to us, so long as our job was done properly and on budget. > We arrived at the proofing room, with 5000K lighting for a uniform > standard of judging match of the original files to printed pages. There > was a huge proofing table filled with copies of that month's centerfold, > being proofed by about six ladies who could have been archetypes of > Grandma from a Normal Rockwell illustration. They were bent over the > table, peering through 10X Zeiss loupes, makes sure the pubic hair was in > register. > > I walked up to one of the ladies and said, "Interesting job." Without > pickup up her head she replied, "Keeps the family fed and the kids in > school," with uninterrupted attention to some model's pudendum. > > When I think of all the teenage boys who were worried that mom would find > the stash of Playboys hidden under the bed, I also consider that Grandma > wanted to make sure they were completely satisfied. > > Jim > > > -----Original Message----- > From: LUG <lug-bounces+jshulman=judgecrater.com at leica-users.org> On > Behalf Of Brian Reid > Sent: Tuesday, October 5, 2021 9:23 AM > To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org> > Subject: Re: [Leica] IMG: Remnant of the Past > > Sears Roebuck was a major force in advancing color printing, and was THE > pioneer in digital color printing. > > By the 1960s, Sears realized that its customers expected the colors > printed in its catalog to be spot-on correct. As its VP of catalog sales > noted, "Your grandmother will hold the catalog up next to her curtains to > see if the colors match. If they match, she will order new sofa cushions. > If when the sofa cushions arrive they do not match the curtains, she will > return them angrily and stop buying from Sears for a while. The colors in > the catalog must be exact." > > By the time I got involved, Sears catalogs were all printed by R. R. > Donnelley & Sons at its printing plant on Calumet street in Chicago. RR > Donnelley won and kept the contract because they were able to do a better > job of printing accurate colors than the competition. My involvement was > advising them on digital color separation technology so they could use > 7-color presses; the classic optical separation process didn't work well > past 4 colors and the filters were mind-numbingly expensive. > > When my mother buys sofa cushions by mail order, she evaluates their color > using the screen on her iMac. Even if she could lift it to hold it next to > her curtains, proper comparison of glowing-screen colors with fabric > colors is impossible. The catalogs were better. I sometimes wish I had > kept one. > > > On 2021-10-04 13:29, Jim Nichols wrote: >> As I glanced around me on a cloudy morning, I saw this reminder of the >> days before Amazon and other on-line sources. Sears Roebuck, and its >> rival, Montgomery Ward, were the mainstay of rural America. >> >> http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/20211004-DSCF3289-Enhance >> d.JPG.html > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information