Antique 1907 Sears Roebuck Economy Cream Separator Catalog/Advertising Brochure
Specifications
| All Returns Accepted | ReturnsNotAccepted |
| Type Of Advertising | Catalog & brochure |
| Color | Multi-color |
| Country/Region Of Manufacture | United States |
| Brand | Sears, Roebuck |
| Theme | Agriculture |
| Original/Reproduction | Original |
| Date Of Creation | 1906 |
| Date Of Origin | 1907 |
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Sears, Roebuck and Co. was once the largest retailer in the world. The only competitor it had in terms of concept might have been GUM, the Soviet Union state department store giant that had as many as 1,200 departments within its flagship store facing Red Square in Moscow. And GUM did not have a mail order business. Founded by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck in Chicago in 1892, the firm was largely mail order until it begin opening retail locations in 1925. The Sears & Roebuck catalog was omnipresent in early 20th century American life. By 1907, the year of this catalog, one fifth of all Americans were subscribers. Anyone anywhere could look through it and have anything their heart desired delivered directly to their doorstep. At its peak, the main Sears catalog offered over 100,000 items on 1,400 pages, weighing in at a hefty four pounds per copy. In a way, Sears taught America about the modern world through its catalog. It was the window into consumerism, kind of like what Amazon has become in the 21st century. Their Economy Cream Separator, which is advertised in this much lighter specialty catalog, represented Sears’s first major brand-name product promotion. From cream separators, Sears eventually put the Economy brand name on its iceboxes, fountain pens, sewing machine cabinets, gasoline engines, portable saw rigs, and a variety of other farm equipment. It was the cream separator, however, that became the product most identified with the Economy band name. Although the Germans had the earliest devices, cream separators were invented in the US in 1890 and used centrifugal force to spin and collect the heavier fat from the lighter milk molecules. Legend has it that while on a hunting trip in North Dakota, founder Richard Sears stopped at a dairy farm and noticed a man using one of his competitor's new centrifugal separators. Sears spoke with the farmer and found out that the machine worked very well, but that it cost him more than $100. Sears knew he could sell one for less. In 1902, he introduced his line of "Economy Cream Separators," with the least-expensive model priced at $24.95. To promote the new Economy Cream Separators line, Sears proclaimed, "We will give $1,000.00 in Gold to the separator manufacturer who can produce a machine that will outskim the Improved Economy." No one accepted the challenge. The Economy Cream Separator quickly became one of Sears' best-selling products. The simple, efficient, and affordable Economy Cream Separator remained a mainstay of Sears catalogs until 1947. This is a 58-page advertising brochure/catalog for Sears Economy cream separators for 1907. It has Richard Sears’s $1,000 in gold challenge offer on the front cover and it has Sears order blanks, but the page after page salesmanship inside is without parallel. Even post World War II door-to-door aluminum siding salesmen (tin men) couldn’t match this thing. We wanted to order one after we read just a couple of pages, and we live in a city. The book is packed with black and white photographs of the separators, how and where they were manufactured, parts and accessories, and a nifty panorama shot of Sears’ brand new 40-acre catalog warehouse, “the largest mercantile plant in the world,” on the back cover. The catalog measures about 13 x 6.75 inches (29 x 17.5 cm). It is almost excellent condition. It should probably be displayed under glass. The corners are sharp, the center staples are tight, there are no missing pages, writing, or other marks other than small bits of discoloration along the front and back-cover margins. The top left-hand back cover is torn and the top of two pages sticking out of the top (we think they were added at the last moment) are slightly dog-eared. The rest of the pages are sharp. From our research, we think this may be one of the oldest existing copies of Sears cream separator catalogs, certainly in this kind of condition. Fans of Delavel-type collectibles will love this item, as will afectionadoes of antique cream separators in general. Farm implement collectors will be interested. This item is 11-years beyond the original Sears catalog and should be of interest to Sears collectors as well. Shipped free and insured in the US. Check out our store for other advertising collectibles at www.ebay.com/str/agitpropshoppe EF622008