What isĀ Trade Catalogues and the American Home?

Trade Catalogues and the American Home is a collection of primary source material focusing on American consumerism, the history of business, marketing, design and technology from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries.

Sourced from three US archives, the documents contained within this collection include catalogues, trade cards, documents designed for use by salesmen, price lists, order forms, and some ephemeral materials such as fabric samples. All of the products featured within these documents are designed for eventual use by the domestic consumer.

The nature of these source documents, means that they can be used to support a wealth of interdisciplinary research in several different fields, all focused around the American consumer between 1850 and 1950.

Learn more about different areas of the resource on the following Take a Tour pages.

 Screenshot showing the home page.

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