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| Sears, Roebuck and Co.
mail-order catalogs featured Little Wonder records for sale
from 1915 through 1921.- Scans
of all the Little Wonder entries from these catalogs are shown
on this page. |
Sears catalog #130
- 1915 |
Sears catalog #131
- 1915 |
Between 1915 and 1919
the record listing expanded -- from a quarter-page in early
1915 to a third-page in later 1915, a half-page in early 1916,
and finally to a full-page in late 1917 through 1919.-
In early 1920, paralleling the fortunes of the Little Wonder
Company, the listings were reduced to a half-page and, by late
1921, the listings were where they started, at a quarter-page.-
No listings appear from 1922 on. |
| The headings of the
listings proclaim the records' sound quality and their popularity.-
In some instances, the record listings name the performers and
in the case of "Medleys" name the songs included.-
|
Sears catalog #132
- 1916 |
Sears catalog #133
- 1916 |
Some of this information
was used to prepare the Little
Wonder discography, since performers and medley songs
are not printed on the label.-
In both 1919 catalogs, new selections were grouped into a separate
section where the records were described and touted. |
| The first record listing
(from early 1915) contains several entries that do not correspond
with the information from the records themselves (such as record
numbers and titles), suggesting that the catalog was printed
before the records were available. |
Sears catalog #134
- 1917 |
Sears catalog #135
- 1917 |
Later catalogs corrected
these earlier errors although these occasionally made others
(such as record #504 listed with the wrong title in the late
1918 catalog). |
| Record albums that could
hold the Little Wonder records (which were sold without sleeves)
were advertised in most of these Sears catalogs as well.-
I have collected many albums
in many different colors that look like those featured in these
catalogs, but I have no way of knowing whether these were purchased
from Sears. |
Sears(?) Record Albums
(note two different binding techniques) |
Sears Shipping Boxes |
The
records were shipped by Sears in boxes of just the right size
to hold a dozen. |
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