Since my latest book is set in the year 1899, I needed some help with the day-to-day details of the story.
Browsing through Amazon one day, I came across the 1897 Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalogue.
I ordered it on the spot and could hardly wait for it to arrive.
From Skyhorse Publishing, this is an exact replica of an original Sears catalog and full of all the nitty-gritty info that I was looking for. You can find everything in this catalog from Bibles, bath soap and buggies to china, rocking chairs and telephones.
There were some things in here that made me laugh, a lot (like Bust Cream).
Other things were completely fascinating.
Captain Cavedweller happened to catch me looking at the gun section of the catalog and promptly snatched it away from me while I perused all the gun information.
And the names we give things today were sometimes different back then. For instance, what we would refer to as a dress shoe with a heel for women, were referred to as sandals. Waist denim overalls we call jeans.
I’m telling you, there is some great information here.
If you are writing a story set in the late 1800s or early 1900s, this book is a great resource to have on hand to find out what every day products were available, what they were called, etc.
