Genealogy /
Vintage Photos of Polish ancestors [144]
To ShawnH
Yes, I may be showing my age, but so are you. :) Regardless of the fact, if their catalogues survived it still helps to see the clothing styles they carried in comparison to their competitors for the same time frame. Not only that, a person might be able to draw an inference from the different lines each store carried in order to help date photos. Sometimes women did modify their dresses to have something that was different and yet original from other outfits that their friends, family members and counterparts wore.
That is why i suggested looking for reproduction catalogues or getting museums to provide cd/dvd of the catalogues they have on hand for sale for the same purpose. Because sometimes, we don't have access to the originals because of the condition of same and limited supply. By convincing the museums to do this helps them and us. Because of the fact one museum may havea catalogue that is damaged and another may have a complete catalogue, the museums can benefit each other by sharing the same. Then we visit these places, the museums can have an area set aside so we can see the catalogues.
I do have a reproduction catalogue from Sears & Roebuck 1900 and 1906, and an original catalogue from the Eatons Co. dated 1912. These three have helped me to date some photos I have from the 1st qrtr of the 20th century and a couple of photos from the last qrtr of the 19th.
Before I forget, Simpson's has been gone from the market since the late 1970's. From what I remember I think it was between 1978-1980. Eatons has been gone for over 15 years. Time is catching up with us sooner than we expect.