Singleton laments the bygone days of the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog

George Buster Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Bidding a sad farewell to the Sears catalog tradition,” was originally published in the Feb. 4, 1993 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

With the country rolling store faded into oblivion, now comes the sad and tragic news that the old and faithful Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog will soon be no more.

An era is passing from us that has lasted for almost a hundred years. Losing the Sears catalog is almost like losing a dear friend of the family to the country people of these United States. But the winds of time bring on change, and time waits for no man, so the story goes.

Very few organizations have had as much of an impact on the country people of this nation, especially the people of the South, as the Sears catalog. Our youth of today cannot comprehend what this mail order catalog did for a nation that was neck-deep in the Great Depression. The coming of the new catalog was like nothing else that came through the mail to the folks that lived in the country.

There were very few items needed by a country family that could not be ordered from the Sears wish book, as it was often referred to. Clothing for the entire family, or the cloth to make them, could be ordered by any country farm family.

New buggy

Shoes, medicine, eye glasses, horse and mule harness – all would come by mail. A new farm wagon, or a new buggy, could all be ordered. Farm tools such as axes, garden hoes, cross-cut saws, and the finer tools for the more experienced were all pictured in Sears. Even small buildings, such as storage sheds and living quarters, could be ordered through the mail.

Not only did the catalog offer all the necessary needs for the farm, it also was a form of entertainment for the country folk, as the large thick catalog was thumbed through from cover to cover and the new items listed there were marveled at.

Toys never seen before by the country children were looked at with mouth-watering desires, hoping against hope that a miracle of sorts might happen and one of these toys would arrive through the mail.

Many, many hours were spent by this small country boy, looking at the beautiful bicycles listed there on the pages of the catalog. Many hours of dreaming occurred in the mind of this same young boy as he pictured himself riding one of these fine wheels up and down the public road so all his friends could see.

New, fine-stitched baseball gloves almost stood out on the pages. BB guns were also something to dream about having. I well remember the day when I sold an acre of sweet corn that I had worked and cultivated to my father for the total amount of $2.

Met the mail carrier

My darling mother sat down and ordered me a BB gun that cost a total of 79 cents. The postage on the BB gun was 18 cents. A small and excited barefoot lad me the mail carrier every day, starting the day after the order was mailed, until that BB gun arrived.

I will never forget that glorious moment when Mr. Bouler, the mailman, handed a very excited country boy the slender box that contained the much-looked-for BB gun out the window of his Model A Ford automobile.

The Sears catalog was used for other things around the country farms. Many a child furthered their reading skills by reading from the wish book.

The wives of the country farmers would use the pictures in the catalog as a pattern to make some of the family’s clothing, such as shirts and short pants. Also these pictures played an important part in the making of clothing for the young ladies that grew up on the farms.

In looking back, I’m almost sure that I hold the record for placing the smallest order that was ever ordered from the Sears catalog. I had acquired a worn-out bicycle that I had swapped for a full grown hog.

The wheel spokes of the bicycle were in much need of repair. I was in great need of a bicycle spoke wrench. This much-needed wrench was listed in the Sears catalog for the total amount of five cents. After filling out the order blank, I was to find out that the postage on the spoke wrench was a total of six cents. Merchandise and postage came to a grand total of 11 cents.

Needless to say, the much-needed wrench was shipped without question. I do believe that order stands to this day as a record.

Many jokes were built around the outdated and expired Sears catalogs. After a new catalog was received by the farm families, many jokes linger even now among the older people who remember the hard times of the Depression.

There is a story of a backwoods country farmer who sat down and wrote Sears, Roebuck & Co., requesting that he be shipped a package of toilet paper. Shortly, this rural farmer received a letter from Sears, requesting that he send them the catalog number of the toilet paper.

Much disturbed, the old farmer, the next day by return mail, notified the company that if he had had a catalog, he would not have needed to order the toilet paper.

Even today, with our modern-day instant communications and with our rapid transit systems, the Sears catalog has continued to serve the working people of our country.

With its passing from the scene, an era will have faded among those who remember the days of a long time past. Even during the very hard times of the Great Depression, many hours of family togetherness hold fond and beautiful memories.

The Sears family catalog was much a part of these times. Our society is in great need for this family togetherness. With it our world would be a much better place for our children to grow up.

Strange as it seems, a country wish book has placed an important part in helping to mold this great nation. Only in America could this have happened.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)