Richard Sears printed his first mailers in 1888 to advertise watches and jewelry. By 1894 the catalog had become “Book of Bargains: A Money Saver for Everyone.” and offered clothing, sewing machines, saddles, firearms, and even buggies. At that time most of the Sears Catalog was written by Richard Sears himself.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. became known for quality products and customer satisfaction. By 1895, the Sears Catalog was 532-pages with the largest variety of products anyone could imagine. By 1906 the Sears Catalog was known as “The Consumers’ Bible”

In 1933, Sears started producing the now famous “Sears Wishbook” in addition to their annual Christmas catalog.

In 1993, Sears discontinued the general merchandise catalog, but continued to print specialty catalogs for merchandise such as the Craftsman Power and Hand Tools. In 2007 Sears slowly returned to producing catalogs, adding new titles like Simply Indoors, Simply Outdoors, Smart Kitchens, The Workwear Authority and Wish Book Toys.