Philipsborn's Style and Shopping Guide was a mail-order catalog that provided access to fashionable clothing. It was part of a broader trend in the early 20th century, where mail-order catalogs like those from Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward revolutionized shopping for rural and remote communities. These catalogs offered a wide range of products, from clothing to farm equipment, and were often referred to as "wish books" or "farmer's Bibles" due to their importance in rural households.
For farming communities in the 1920s, mail-order shopping was transformative. It bridged the gap between urban and rural lifestyles by making modern goods accessible to people who lived far from department stores. The expansion of the U.S. Postal Service, including Rural Free Delivery (RFD) and parcel post systems, played a crucial role in enabling this. These services allowed farmers and their families to order items conveniently and have them delivered directly to their homes.
Mail-order catalogs like Philipsborn's not only provided practical goods but also introduced rural families to the latest fashion trends from cities like Paris and New York. This helped to reduce the cultural divide between urban and rural areas. Additionally, these catalogs were often a source of entertainment and aspiration, as families would browse through them and imagine a more modern and comfortable lifestyle.
[Sources: GreenwichHistory.org and Cambridge.org]