This merchandise of every possible type and description created a cornucopia of smells that you will never forget in your lifetime. It’s impossible to describe it because it was such a blend of everything that had ever been within the confines of the store over many years. The scent was engrained in the wood itself and would endure until the store was long gone. Just a few of the items that made their own contributions were old ripe cheese, sweet pickles, paint on new toys, kerosene, lard and molasses, old onions and potatoes, poultry and horse feed, gun oil, rubber boots, calico, dried fish, coffee beans and so on and so forth. Added to this list were the old timers themselves sitting around the stove for years smoking pipes and cigars, spitting tobacco, with a little dash of corn whiskey about their person, which rounded out the equation. But even the institution of the old general store began to change right out from under the town folk's feet. Mounting complaints about high prices and limited choices in the rural stores eventually led to a whole new concept in retailing: shopping by mail. Introduced in 1872, the first mass-marketing catalog was produced by Chicago-based Montgomery Ward & Company. The firm began with $2,400 in capital and a one-page flyer listing 163 items that was mailed to members of the National Grange, America's largest farm organization. Store owners ridiculed the idea of mail-order merchandise, but shoppers loved it. Tens of thousands of farmers opted for the convenience, improved selection, better prices, and the company's pledge: "satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back." With mounting success Ward's catalog grew, becoming a voluminous "wish book." It was not long before other mail-order houses appeared, most notably Sears, Roebuck & Company, which opened for business in 1893 and surpassed Montgomery Ward in catalog sales within seven years.
