Unveiling 1915 Spring Fashion Through Mail Order

Unveiling 1915 Spring Fashion Through Mail Order

Today in the 21st Century, we have several options for shopping. Two options that might immediately come to mind are visiting stores to shop in person or ordering online from home. But one nearly forgotten option is the mail order catalog. With the availability of the internet, we might not receive these as frequently as in the past, but browsing the
Trade Literature Collection
reveals mail ordering has been around for quite some time.
Generally, when consumers purchase something via mail order, they complete an order blank, or form. The form is typically found inside the catalog. On the order form, they list items, quantity, and specific details relating to the products they want to order. Some catalogs also include a pre-addressed envelope, like the
envelope found within John Wanamaker’s
Fall & Winter Catalog 1915-16
(1915-1916) highlighted in a past post
. Pre-addressed envelopes make it convenient for customers to mail their order form with payment to the company.
Another post highlighting a Herr, Thomas & Co. 1907 catalog
explores the general mail order process in a bit more detail.
Now let’s examine a mail order catalog, paying close attention to item descriptions and specific details customers might have needed to complete an order form in 1915. This catalog is titled
Spring & Summer Catalog
(1915) by
John Wanamaker
.
John Wanamaker
, New York, NY.
Spring & Summer Catalog
(1915), front cover.
The clothing section appears to primarily focus on women’s apparel and accessories. Several pages illustrate items for girls and young women, such as a sports suit, pictured below left. This was a two-piece set with matching skirt and coat, both made from homespun mixture. Its flared skirt fastened on the side and included two pockets, as did the coat which was embellished with a high waist belt. The collar of the coat could be worn open, as shown below, or buttoned high.
Keeping the mail order process in mind, let’s study the product description to locate details that a mail order customer might have needed to complete an order form. One of these details is the item or product number used to identify a specific item. We see that this particular sports suit is identified as 143W1.
Most likely, customers also specified on the order form their preference for fabric, design, or color of the article of clothing. This particular suit was available in homespun mixture, as shown in the illustration, but the description notes other options were also available, including black and white check and navy blue or black serge. Sizes appear to be listed by ages such as 14, 16, 18, and 20 years. We will take a closer look at sizes when we turn to another page in the catalog.
One more thing a mail order shopper might have noticed is the weight of the item when packed. This sports suit weighed four pounds packed. Perhaps, this was useful for customers to estimate cost of shipping.
John Wanamaker
, New York, …