During the nineteenth century, the United States shifted production focus from agriculture to industry, which has been termed Industrialization. With the emergence of a labor class in this country a new consumer market was created. As the nineteenth century progressed, more people were able to enjoy recreational activities and luxuries before reserved for only the wealthy. Industrialization also changed the face of the consumer market with the introduction of different products and, subsequently, a different approach to advertising. Primary industries, such as railroads, along with their supporting industries, such as machine shops (to make the parts for the railroad industry), produced trade catalogs to market products. These catalogs were directed at both the residential and commercial markets.

A trade catalog, as defined by the Harvard School of Business, is “a multi-paged listing of manufactured or produced items offered for sale by stock number or specific name.” These catalogs allowed both the business manager and the household consumer to purchase items with the knowledge of what they were going to receive. While trade catalogs are still used today, this method of advertising and sales reached its peak during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, before other mediums, such as radio and later television, became more efficient means of marketing.

Industries producing such products as wood-working machinery, metal-working machinery, boats, automobiles, and carriages, or various household products, issued catalogs for their consumers and store clients.

--Prepared by Tim Walsh, Intern, Aquinas College, 2001