Montgomery Ward Catalog: History and Its Second Life
How a one-page price list became the wish book, and why there is a Wards catalog again
Montgomery Ward began as a single sheet mailed to farmers. It went on to become one of the largest catalog operations in the country. A catalog with the Montgomery Ward name still goes out today, but a different company mails it.
The first attempt burned. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed Aaron Montgomery Ward's stock before the business got going. He and his partners started again in their first warehouse, near Clark and Kinzie streets. What began in 1872 as a one-page catalog for farmers in rural areas grew into a large mail-order house and, later, a retail chain (WTTW).
The last Montgomery Ward catalog was printed in 1985 (Made-in-Chicago Museum). After the 2000 Christmas season the company announced it would close all 250 of its remaining stores. A catalog marketer, Direct Marketing Services Inc., bought the Wards name out of bankruptcy in 2004 and brought it back online (Arizona Daily Star / AP). In 2008 the brand went to Colony Brands Inc., a family-owned direct-mail business, which runs Wards today.
1872: the farmers' catalog
After the fire, Ward and two partners raised $1,600 and bought new stock in 1872. In August 1872 they issued the first Montgomery Ward & Co. catalog: 163 items listed on one printed page. The partners bailed out after the Panic of 1873, and Ward's brother-in-law, George Thorne, joined him in the business.
Today's Wards brand calls Ward's venture the first ever mail-order business, offered from the start with "the Buy Now, Pay Later convenience of credit." What Ward launched was the world's first general-merchandise mail-order catalog. Marshall Field already had a mail-order service running by 1870.
Ward's early customers came from farm organizations. The Illinois Grange, a farmers' group, named Ward its purchasing agent. He then began subtitling his price lists "Original Grange Supply House." Some rural retailers saw him as unwelcome competition and destroyed his catalogs when they could. His best-selling product in those years was the sewing machine.
The catalog grew quickly. The spring 1874 catalog had 32 pages, and that fall's edition had 100. Pictures were scarce at first: one early edition ran 72 pages with only a dozen or so illustrations.
Ward's lasting innovations were about trust. In 1875 the company introduced a satisfaction-guaranteed-or-your-money-back policy and began rating goods as good, better or best. Early wording of the guarantee read: "If any of your goods are not satisfactory, after due inspection, we will take them back." That came 18 years before Richard Sears offered the same thing. Ward also advised customers to band together and split fixed freight costs.
The wish book at full size (1883–1912)
By 1883 the catalog had 240 pages and 10,000 items, and people commonly called it "the wish book." It sold necessities, along with items a farm family could not find in town. It also helped reduce the isolation many rural residents felt.
The money followed:
- 1888: sales reached $1.8 million.
- 1889: Ward and Thorne turned their partnership into a corporation, and sales passed $2 million for the first time.
- 1893: Sears arrived as a competitor.
- 1900: Ward's sales were $8.7 million, behind Sears at $10 million.
- 1904: Ward mailed 3 million catalogs, each weighing 4 pounds, across the U.S.
The 1912 catalog shows how large the book had become. It had 850 pages and about 13,500 items, with up to 60 items on a page. It listed a full-size auto garage for $108 and, for the first time, a car called "The All Star." For the farm there were windmills, pumps, tanks, plows, drills, planters and cultivators. The company also sold kit houses through its Wardway Homes line.
Delivery got easier the next year. In 1913 the U.S. Postal Service started parcel post, which helped every mail-order business.
The buildings the catalog paid for
Catalog money built some of Chicago's landmarks. In 1898 Montgomery Ward built a 22-story tower next to its Michigan Avenue warehouse as its new headquarters. At 394 feet, it was the tallest building in the city until the Wrigley Building was finished in 1922. The tower's pyramid top and its sculpture came down in 1947, which cut the building to 282 feet.
In 1908 the company began moving to a new "eight-story, 2-million square foot, concrete-reinforced headquarters" on the north branch of the Chicago River, at what is now 600 West Chicago Avenue. Inside, messenger boys rolled through the long hallways on roller skates. The building is part of what is now the Montgomery Ward Warehouse Complex. Today its administration building holds condominiums and its mail-order building holds offices. The complex is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Stores, telephones and Rudolph (1926–1946)
Ward was late to open stores. Its first freestanding retail store opened in 1926 in Plymouth, Indiana. The chain then grew fast: 531 stores by the end of 1929 and 556 outlets by 1930. After the Depression began, the company closed 147 poorly performing stores.
By 1934 the company was profitable again, and it started taking orders by telephone that same year.
In 1939 a Ward copywriter, Robert L. May, wrote a children's booklet, also described as a coloring book, about a red-nosed reindeer named Rudolph. It started as a free holiday giveaway for visitors to Ward's retail stores. The booklet also went into millions of catalogs. By December 1939, the retail stores and catalog order offices had ordered 2,400,000 copies. Company president Sewell Avery later handed all rights to the poem and the character to May.
Earlier in the 1930s, Avery had hired Anne Swainson to run the company's new Bureau of Design. She was the first woman in a management position at the company. Her team of architects, engineers, artists and designers modernized the look of the catalog and many of the products in it.
In 1946 the Montgomery Ward catalog was named to a list of 100 books that most influenced American life and culture. By then many people called the company "Monkey Ward," a nickname that grew out of the early abbreviation "Mont'gy. Ward."
Decline and the last print catalog (1950s–2001)
Sears had pulled far ahead after the war, with triple Ward's sales. In 1954 shareholders replaced Avery with lawyer John Barr. He took over a company with 600 stores that had not opened a new one in a decade. Mail order brought in 40% of sales and was slowly shrinking.
The catalog stayed large even as it declined. At its peak the company produced more than 45 million catalogs a year. These included the big spring and fall books plus specialty issues: Automotive, Christmas, Farm & Garden, Photographic, Sporting Goods, Toys and Power Tools. The longtime printer was the Chicago firm R. R. Donnelley. Sales topped $1.2 billion in 1960.
The rest of the decline came in steps:
- 1976: Mobil Corporation took control of the company, which had merged with Container Corporation of America in 1968.
- 1985: the mail-order catalog was discontinued after its final printing.
- 1988: a $3.8 billion buyout made Montgomery Ward a private company. It was the largest management-led leveraged buyout in U.S. history at the time.
- Mid-1997: falling profits led to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
- 2000–2001: after the Christmas season, parent company GE Capital closed the last 250 stores and the Chicago offices.
The second life: DMSI, then Colony Brands
By December 2006, five years after Montgomery Ward went out of business, Direct Marketing Services Inc. was selling 46,000 items under the Wards name. The range ran from rugs to recliners and from home electronics to Rudolph yard decorations. A holiday catalog was back too. David Milgrom was the firm's president and founder. Many of the old company's vendors and products, and several former employees, were part of the new Wards.
Sid Doolittle worked at Montgomery Ward for 29 years and ran its catalog division. He argued that reviving the name misleads customers who do not know the company changed hands. "This isn't the old reliable company at all," he said.
Colony Brands bought the brand in 2008. The Wards.com footer links to other Colony Brands affiliated sites, including Amerimark and Ashro. The current catalog and site carry home goods from brands including Rachael Ray, HP and Keurig. Credit is still central to the pitch: the home page tells shoppers they could be "pre-qualified for up to $750 of buying power."
Wards markets itself on the old company's history. Its About page claims "over 150 years" of serving American families, and its catalog request page promises "over 140 years" of free catalogs. Neither page mentions the years between the last print catalog in 1985 and the 2004 revival.
Where to request / shop
- Wards catalog: fill in the form on the Wards catalog request page. The catalog is free. After the request goes through, catalogs ship to the address on the form.
References
- Then and Now: The Chicago Sites Where Sears and Montgomery Ward Became Giants (WTTW) — the 1871 fire, Clark and Kinzie warehouse, one-page 1872 catalog, 1898 tower date, 394-foot and 22-story height, 1947 pyramid removal and 282-foot height, the Montgomery Ward Warehouse Complex and its status today
- Montgomery Ward and Co. (Encyclopedia.com) — Ward and two partners, first general-merchandise mail-order catalog, 1889 incorporation with George Thorne, Grange ties, sewing machine, 1874 and 1883 catalog sizes, 1875 guarantee and ratings, shared freight, sales for 1888 and 1900, parcel post, Plymouth store, 531 stores and 147 closures, telephone orders, Rudolph booklet in catalogs, Mobil in 1976, 1988 buyout, 1997 Chapter 11
- Montgomery Ward Catalogs (Farm Collector) — $1,600 restart with two partners, August 1872 catalog of 163 items, partners leaving after the Panic of 1873 and George Thorne joining, retailers destroying catalogs, wish book, rural isolation, 1893 Sears competition, 1904 mailing, 394-foot building, 1912 catalog, Wardway Homes, 556 outlets, 1946 book list, "Monkey Ward," Rudolph coloring book, 1985 and 2001 end dates
- Montgomery Ward (Made-in-Chicago Museum) — Marshall Field mail order by 1870, 72-page edition, guarantee wording, 18 years before Sears, 1889 incorporation and $2 million sales, the 1908 eight-story, 2-million-square-foot headquarters at 600 W. Chicago Ave., messenger boys on roller skates, Rudolph giveaway, 2,400,000 copies and rights, Anne Swainson's Bureau of Design, the Barr era and 40% mail-order share, 45 million catalogs, R. R. Donnelley, 1960 sales, 1968 merger and Mobil control, final 1985 catalog, closing of 250 stores
- Montgomery Ward brand revived on the Internet (Arizona Daily Star / AP, Dec 8, 2006) — DMSI purchase in 2004, online revival, holiday catalog, 46,000 items, continuity with old vendors and staff, David Milgrom, Sid Doolittle's criticism
- About Wards (wards.com) — the brand's "first ever mail-order business" and credit claims, Colony Brands purchase in 2008 as a family-owned direct-mail business, Rachael Ray, HP and Keurig, "over 150 years"
- Wards home page (wards.com) — Colony Brands affiliated sites including Amerimark and Ashro, Wards Credit pre-qualification for up to $750 of buying power
- Request a Catalog (wards.com) — free catalog by mail, request form, shipping to the address given, "over 140 years"