The Sears' Catalog

 On January 25, 1993, Sears, Roebuck and Company announced that they would no longer publish their "Big Book" catalog. The catalog was produced for nearly a century, and it made available a dazzling array of East Coast products to remote, rural areas across the country. It was the backbone of the Sears-Roebuck retail empire — R.W. Sears didn't even get around to opening a brick-and-mortar store until 30 years later — and was so popular that catalogs were sent to American soldiers overseas during both World Wars. 

You could order almost anything for your home from the Big Book. You could even order your home itself: Standard Oil built an entire neighborhood in the town of Carlinville, Illinois, using Sears house-building kits, which included all the tools and nails ... and the kitchen sink. With the rise of the Internet and the need to move quickly on competitive pricing changes, the catalog had outgrown its real usefulness by the 1990s and was costing the company millions of dollars a year. When Sears, Roebuck and Co. announced that they would end production of the Big Book, there was a spike in orders from the catalog's lifelong patrons who would mourn its passing.

Writer's Almanac