The mail-order business began when Montgomery Ward launched the first mail-order company in 1872. Mail-order catalogs became a vital link between isolated frontier communities and the wider world. Remote towns with populations too small to attract businesses suddenly had access to items that had previously been unavailable to them. Mail-order shopping also meant an end to long journeys to town, only to find the desired items out of stock. It opened up the world to people living in small towns and on isolated farms and ranches.
Not everyone on the frontier was happy to see mail-order catalogs arriving. On this date in 1917, the Dickinson Press expressed displeasure at the increasing arrival of catalogs. The paper repeated comments made by an advertising executive at a convention of advertising professionals. He told attendees that Sears had an office dedicated to reviewing newspapers from across the country. When they came across a newspaper with few ads from local merchants, Sears would flood that area with mail-order catalogs. The newspaper urged merchants to advertise in local papers to combat the mail-order houses.
This was not the first time a newspaper had voiced alarm about the mail-order business. In 1901, the Bismarck Tribune focused on advertising as the answer to the threat of mail-order houses. In 1907, the same newspaper noted that retail merchants were “up in arms” against mail-order houses but acknowledged that it would be difficult to put them out of business. The Tribune pointed to advertising as the culprit. According to the article, newspapers refused to advertise mail-order houses because they would be boycotted by local merchants. That, however, did not solve the problem, since mail-order houses resorted to the mail to advertise their products. Newspapers encouraged local merchants to rely on newspaper advertising, a strategy that, of course, would benefit the newspapers.
Mail-order businesses put significant pressure on local merchants. The competition changed consumer shopping habits by offering products that had not previously been available. Local businesses often struggled to compete with lower prices and broader selections, and retail merchants often struggled to stay in business. In the age of the internet, online shopping is a business model with roots in the nineteenth century.
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Dickinson Press. “Why Mail Order Houses Flourish.” Dickinson ND. 10/27/1917. Page 1.
- Bismarck Tribune. “Mail Order Houses.” Bismarck ND. 7/28/1907. Page 6.
- Bismarck Tribune. “Some Trade Tips.” Bismarck ND. 10/4/1901. Page 3.
- The Henry Ford. “Rural America Shops by Mail.” https://www.thehenryford.org/collections/explore/articles/rural-america-shops-by-mailAccessed 9/29/2026.
