How the Sears Outsmarted Jim Crow

05/09/2025 10 min Temporada 8

Listen "How the Sears Outsmarted Jim Crow"

Episode Synopsis

This book sold the same stove, suit, or pair of boots to anyone at the same printed price. When Rural Free Delivery brought it to the mailbox, the Sears, Roebuck catalog landed on Black families’ porches it turned shopping from a ritual of humiliation into something closer to dignity. Here’s how the Sears mail‑order catalog quietly beat Jim CrowAudio Onemichistory.comFollow me on Instagram: @onemic_historyFollow me on Substack: https://onemicblackhistorypodcast.substack.com/ Follow me on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@onemic_historyPlease support our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=25697914Buy me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Countryboi2mSourceshttps://www.abhmuseum.org/back-when-sears-made-black-customers-a-priority/ https://fee.org/articles/when-sears-used-the-market-to-combat-jim-crow/ https://www.npr.org/2018/10/16/657923126/how-the-sears-catalog-was-revolutionary-in-the-jim-crow-era https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/19/18001734/sears-catalog-bankruptcy-jim-crow-racism-mail-order