Radio Script #841

Little Talks on Common Things
February 22, 1970

Last week I promised you we would see today how one could furnish a whole house from the 1908 Sears catalog for what today we would consider very little money.

Let’s begin with chairs. An ordinary kitchen chair, made of rock elm, cost only 38 cents;a curved-back, veneer-seat dining room chair $1.42, and one in solid oak $1.95. Of course you needed rocking chairs. Sears’ Solid Comfort Rocker cost $3.85. And do you remember those big bulging reed rockers? Sears had one for $2.50. At least one Morris chair was a must for every well-furnished home in 1908. Sears devoted a full page to his best one, made of seasoned oak with deep ornamental carving, springs of high carbon steel, and seat of fabricated leather, all for $5.45. An oddity of the time was the Sears Reclining Chair for $6.25. The seat was attached to a platform base to give a swinging motion. The back adjusted into several positions, and an extension foot-rest allowed one to lie down and sit up at the same time.

Living rooms and those seldom used parlors had to have other furniture besides chairs. A handsome Victoria high grade couch cost $7.85, but the better Goodale sofa was priced at $11.55. Davenports ranged from $8.85 to $30.75. And of course one needed a desk, and it was sure to be a roll top with numerous pigeon holes if the man of the house used it. A more feminine touch was afforded by the drop-leaf parlor desk, costing from $3.75 to $9.85. Sears’ best roll top sold for $26.95, but he would sell you a cheaper one for $15.65.

As for parlor tables, Sears had them in all shapes and sizes, and if you paid as much as ten dollars for one, you were really a sucker.

Now let’s move into the dining room. Sears would sell you an extension dining table for $6.65, and his most expensive one was only $21.45. That had a 12 foot extension and would seat a big family. The catalog tells us: “This magnificent table will please those who like massive design combined with high quality material and finish. The base is a heavy center pedestal with four massive legs and hand-carved claw feet. The top, without extension leaves, is 48 inches square, and has a wide box rim with mitered corners.”

If you preferred a round, rather than rectangular table, Sears had one for $12.75.

Of course you needed a side board to go with your dining table. In 1908 people had sideboards, not buffets. Sears offered a beauty for $14.65. It had a French, bevel plate mirror advertised to give a perfect reflection. The catalog said: “We do not use any cheap domestic plate mirrors, and no seconds or glass with hair line scratches.”

Any dining room would be useless without a kitchen. In 1908 no one had ever heard of TV dinners. A meal had to be cooked before it could be eaten. So let us see what Sears could do for the 1908 kitchen. He devoted twelve whole pages to cook stoves. For $29.75 he would sell you what he called the highest grade steel range made anywhere in the world, and you could have your choice of wood or coal grate inside it. It was a six cover stove with warming closet and side hot water tank. $1.65 would get you a good kitchen table. A full 68 piece set of kitchen and stove ware was yours for $7.98. It included an iron kettle, a wash boiler, a copper tea kettle, an iron spade, a fry pan, a basting spoon, a sauce pan, a muffin tin, half a dozen pie plates, and a heavy water dipper.

Blue enameled ware was then in fashion. A whole set of 24 pieces cost $3.64. It had everything from jelly plates to double boiler and tea kettle. As for separate pieces, a coffee pot cost 37 cents, a covered kettle 49 cents, and a 10-quart, blue enamel water pail 66 cents. You could get an egg beater for nine cents, a potato masher for four cents, and a lemon squeezer for 17 cents.

While we were in the dining room, we forgot about dishes and silverware. We did not mean to imply that people ate off the bare table with their fingers. A set of 120 pieces of chinaware could be bought from Sears for $7.95; twelve settings of knife, fork and teaspoon in plated silver cost $14.85. Soup spoons, salad forks, butter knives and other silverware were correspondingly cheap.

Nickel crumb trays and scrapers were much in fashion. Together they cost 41 cents. Back in the kitchen again, nine cents would buy a flour sifter and six cents a mixing spoon. Hand-cranked food choppers cost from 96 cents to $3.68. A deluxe carpet sweeper set you back $2.46, but you could get a cheaper one for $1.74. Of course no home was complete without an ice cream freezer at $1.92. A rolling pin, either for cooking or as a female weapon, cost just nine cents.

Sears made much of kitchen cupboards and cabinets. The former looked much like more modern kitchen closets, but they were not built in. They cost $9.75.

The Sears Kitchen Cabinet would certainly be a collector’s item today. Listen to the catalog description: “The construction is first class. The doors, drawers and bins fit perfectly and can be easily removed for cleaning and airing. The base has a white, wood top with molded edges, 25 by 48 inches. It has a large, dust-proof flour bin holding 50 pounds of flour, above which are two drawers for cutlery and a convenient sugar bin. There are roomy cupboards for pots and pans, as well as two linen drawers. It is fitted with a kneading board. The top section combines excellence of design with practical arrangement. Cupboards, with drawers affording ample space for dishes, spice cans, coffee and tea canisters, are within easy reach. Price, complete $8.95.”

Electric and gas refrigerators were unknown in 1908, but Sears offered a wide variety of ice boxes from $4.95 to $17.95. Here is the description of one of his best: “It has an ice capacity of 100 pounds and is just right for large families. It has a beautiful carved elm case in high gloss, golden finish. It has a removable waste pipe and an improved trap to prevent entrance of warm air. Its perfect insulation makes it wonderfully economical for natural ice. The double doors to the provision chamber help to maintain a low temperature.” The picture accompanying that description shows a big watermelon on the refrigerator’s lowest shelf. The ice went in at the top after one lifted the lid. If you preferred one where the ice was put in at the front after swinging open a door, you could get it for $15.85.

Even in 1908 one had to sleep as well as eat. So let us now ask Sears what he had for a bedroom. You could get three pieces — double bed, dresser and wash stand — for $14.95. An ornately carved three piece set cost $24.85. If you added a chiffonier, the four pieces cost you $19.25. You could get a handsome four-drawer dresser with mirror on top for $13.25.

Some of the very old farm houses did not have bedroom closets, so Sears sold a lot of movable wardrobes from $6.25 to $14.35. Iron beds had come into style by 1908. While Sears still featured the wooden beds, he was beginning to bow to the new fad, and he would send you a double iron bed for $3.10, but of course he preferred to sell you a better one for $6.15. Brass beds had not then gone entirely out of style, and Sears had them, priced from $16.45 to $32.95.

Of course the bed was useless without spring and mattress. $3.85 would get you a double bed spring, and $10.95 the best felt mattress. Sears was just beginning to offer the new box-spring mattress — spring inside the mattress — for $13.95. Featherbeds had not entirely disappeared by 1908. That people still made them, as well as making their own feather pillows, is shown by Sears’ offerings of do-it-yourself feathers. 84 cents would buy a pound of goose down, guaranteed to be odorless, sanitary and fluffy. For the child there was a high-side iron crib for $5.95.

Naturally you haven’t written down any of these many price items. So you will just have to take my word for adding it up. You could fully equip a six-room house, and add many items I have not mentioned, such as the very necessary parlor stove, and do it all for less than $300.

Now what about clothes? Since women made many of their own in 1908, Sears sold vast quantities of yard goods. 54 inch broadcloth was 42 cents a yard, 36 inch Henrietta was 15 cents a yard, and imported wool silk in a variety of colors 87 cents. Chiffon was 65 cents, serge suiting 88 cents. Sears proclaimed his all-wool panama a world beater at 43 cents. Black dress goods, for those long periods of mourning — people called them widow’s weeds — could be bought from 15 cents to 85 cents a yard. Satin, Japanese silks and pongees were in strong demand, selling from 35 cents to one dollar a yard.

But even as long ago as 1908 a woman could buy ready-made garments. At that time dresses swept the floor like today’s maxicoats. Ankles were not to be seen, and no woman had legs, only limbs. Sears offered what he called a very natty two-piece lady’s suit for $11.50. Those were coat suits, but one that consisted of skirt and shirtwaist was only $7.75. A single piece kind of union suit shirtwaist and dress cost $2.18. A good skirt alone could be had for $1.19, and a very usable, but not luxurious, shirtwaist for 39 cents. If a woman paid more than $4 for a winter coat, she was downright extravagant. Many preferred a cape for only $1.89. Corsets — there were no cross-your-heart bras — cost from 42 cents to $1.98. A muslin nightgown was 69 cents, a lace-trimmed petticoat $1.15, trimmed cambric drawers 43 cents. A woman’s bathing suit — full coverage, no Bikini — was priced at $1.75.

What about the men? Although local tailors protested, many men in 1908 were buying suitings by the yard from Sears and having the local man make the suit. But Sears preferred to make the suit for you, and he had two prevailing prices for a three-piece suit — $12.48 and $14.89.

No man who pretended to be anybody went without a hat in 1908. He could get one from 40 cents for a summer poplin to $1.95 for a stiff derby. As for his wife, she could put a whole flower garden on her head for $1.69.

But again we have used up our time. and we must now say goodbye to that old Sears catalog of 62 years ago.

Year: 1970