The Original Grange Supply House

Aaron Montgomery Ward made sure his customers knew that the business motto of the times, "Buyer Beware" had no place in his business.  Catalog #13, now 72 pages, offered a flat guarantee, "We guarantee all our goods.  If any of them are not satisfactory after due inspection, we will take them back, pay all expenses, and refund the money paid for them."  Ward was the first to offer such a guarantee as a national mail order policy.

Montgomery Ward sold to all corners of the nation, but proudly stated he was "the Original Grange Supply House."  He maintained good relations with the Grange through prosperous times and bad.  Advertising in many farm publications, he was the first to advertise in the Farmer's Voice which openly attacked trusts, the government and the Republican Party.  Ward would not openly endorse its policies, but he continued to advertise in its pages.

Some of those products included:
*  Black walnut Windsor Organ with beveled mirror, fancy scroll work and instruction book $60
*  The English Bicycle Suit made of fine wool "cassimere" strongly made, neat and "tasty"  $9.95
*  The Indiana Piano Box Buggy with silver hub bands and silver dash rail $47.75

Cards in the style of greeting cards were sent out to announce the coming new catalog.  The first catalog to offer fashion was the 1878 issue and over the years Ward's catalogs became known as "Wish Books."  Years later in 1946, the Grolier Club of New York included the Montgomery Ward catalog among the 100 most influential books in American life - for "increasing the standard of living of the American middle class."  How many of us are old enough to remember the Ward's Christmas Wish Book??

When Ward announced a five cent increase in postage in 1892, it caused an uproar, but Ward said, "Payment to cover postage is proof that you want the book."  When he died in 1913, he left his greatest accomplishment in his eyes - his successful fight to preserve Chicago's lakefront as a park for the people.  Grant Park is his monument. 

Next time...The Fate of Oliver Darlrymple
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Today in Pioneer History:  At 2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, New York City Mayor George McClellan takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city's innovative new rapid transit system: the subway.