Mail Order Day and the Sears Catalog's Significance to Black Americans

 August 18th is National Mail Order Catalog Day, to celebrate the old-fashioned way of shopping by selecting items in a printed catalog, and ordering and paying for it by mail or over the telephone. This ability to order items from a catalog, and not having to rely on the limited inventory of small-town stores, was significant not only for the convenience and a wider availability of “stuff” to go into American homes. Mail order’s success brought changes to American society, and these changes were especially important for African Americans, particularly in the South. The first really successful, widely-used mail order catalog was Montgomery Ward’s, which issued its first catalog on August 18, 1872. It was printed on one piece of paper and offered 163 different items. About a year later, the Sears and Roebuck catalog successfully jumped in to serve the mail order market, offering watches and some jewelry, but eventually grew to sell almost anything an American home could need, including a kit for the home itself. 

Items had actually been sold by catalog and delivery back to the beginnings of the country, but what made mail order available to the masses were new postal regulations and services, especially Rural Free Delivery. Rural Free Delivery allowed rural Americans, not just big-city dwellers, to have their mail delivered directly to them. After six years of experimentation, in limited locales, Rural Free Delivery became a permanent service effective July 1, 1902. The word “free” was dropped in 1906, since it was understood, and rural delivery arrived in Bossier Parish in 1907. Mail order’s growth was hindered though, by a restriction that anything over four pounds could not be sent through the postal service, it had to go through a private delivery service. But once the US Postal Service’s “Parcel Post” began in 1913, mail order’s growth was nearly boundless.  

In what was called “The Jim Crow Era” of post-Reconstruction through the 1960’s, laws and statutes as well as implied social rules, especially in the South, segregated, marginalized and attempted to intimidate African Americans. (The name Jim Crow came from a minstrel character). Under Jim Crow, a trip for African Americans to conduct business anywhere outside of their home was fraught with limitations, humiliations and dangers, which could include going into town and being forced to ride in the back of the bus, or walking to town but always being expected to defer to white people on the side walk, going into a store by using separate entrances, and/or separate hours, while being watched suspiciously by staff, who will not permit African Americans to use the store’s lunch counter or restroom. 

If an African American family was headed by a sharecropper, their landlord was often the owner of the local store as well, and would only reconcile their accounts once the cotton crop came in, typically trapping the consumer in a cycle of debt. Sears, however would allow an African American customer an alternative way to buy on credit. The mail order business suddenly allowed African Americans to have more access to the consumer goods of the American middle class by allowing them to shop conveniently and anonymously.  

Please come to the History Center to see some of the historic or reproduction catalogs in our collection at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. Or, go online to our collections database and search for “Catalogs” at http://bossier.pastperfectonline.com/ We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to visit the History and Genealogy Resources page at Bossierlibrary.org or follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok

Images: 

• Cartoon in response to the growth of mail-order catalogs business from The St. Helena Echo, Greensburg, Louisiana • Fri, Feb 15, 1907
• Rural mail carriers delivering mail in Plain Dealing, La. The bags on their shoulders are saddlebags and are being put onto their horses. C. 1910

Article by: Pam Carlisle

U.S. Postal Service and Bossier Parish

First US Postage Stamps, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, issue of 1847, 5c and 10c

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin greatly influenced how the postal service operates today in the United States? His work in postal services began in 1737 when the British Crown appointed him as the postmaster of Philidelphia. Franklin was dismissed as postmaster in 1774 because the British Crown felt he was too sympathetic to the colonies as he vocalized support for their independence.

On Jul. 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general of the United Colonies. The Declaration of Independence created the United States in July 1776, making Franklin the first postmaster general of the United States.

The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were both written to ensure the vital services were preserved. In 1792, President George Washington signed into law the Postal Service Act, which established the United States Post Office Department as a permanent part of the Federal government.

General Jean Pierre Baptiste Bossier
Charcoal drawing by John J. Audubon, Nelson
Museum, Kansas City.
Patrick D. McAnany Collection: 2001.044.001

Louisiana’s first post office was established in New Orleans in 1804. It wasn’t until 1843 that Bossier Parish was carved out of Claiborne Parish, and that same year General Pierre Bossier began his term as a congressman for Louisiana’s fourth district. According to the official Bossier Parish historian, “One of the first actions taken in 1843 by the newly elected General Bossier in the U.S. Congress was to obtain postal service for his namesake, Bossier Parish.”

General Bossier introduced a bill to authorize a survey for a postal route from Shreveport to Bellevue by way of Willow Chute and on up to Conway, Ark. Unfortunately, General Bossier died of tuberculosis just 13 months into his term, before his efforts for a postal route were realized.

The first post office in Bossier Parish was established at Red Land on Nov. 20, 1846, with Jerome Bonaparte Mading serving as the first postmaster. After nearly 63 years in service, the post office in Red Land was discontinued on Apr. 15, 1909.

This year, the Benton post office celebrates its 150th anniversary as the oldest post office in Bossier Parish; it was established in March 1870 with Elias O’Neill serving as the postmaster. Through the implementation of the Rural Free Delivery, postal mail was delivered to Benton residents, beginning in 1907 before this time residents had to travel to the post office to retrieve their mail or pay a private delivery service.

Unidentified postal carriers for the RFD (rural free delivery) in Plain Dealing C. 1910
Buelah Findley Collection: 1997.054.054

Another fascinating part of postal history in Bossier Parish can be discovered in the Apr. 17, 1913 issue of The Bossier Banner, where the following article appeared.

“Our fellow townsmen Mr. Edwin W. Doran has been granted a patent on a mail box indicator. The device accurately indicates the last hour the box was ‘robbed’ by the postman, thus serving as a convenient guide to the public when wishing to post letters. It is particularly intended for use in cities, but would be practical anywhere. Mr. Doran has received encouraging communications from the postmaster general and others regarding his patent and he will no doubt later reap considerable pecuniary gain from it.”

Bossier Parish currently has seven post offices located in Benton, established 1870; Bossier City, established 1891; Elm Grove, established 1902; Haughton, established 1884; Plain Dealing, established 1888, and Princeton, established 1910.

The History Center is excited to announce that our branch of the Bossier Parish Library System will be re-opening our doors to the public this Monday, July 6. Until then, we are here to answer your calls and emails. What do you want to know about Bossier Parish History? Email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or call us at 318-746-7717.

By: Amy Robertson

Spotlighting Mamie Edwards Stinson McKnight

To wrap up women’s history month, this writer would like to spotlight Mamie Edwards Stinson McKnight, a Bossier Parish native who made a difference in this parish. She was born into a family of highly influential and esteemed members of the parish and married the same.

Mamie was born in Haughton, LA, in 1887 to John Ford Edwards and Hattie Wyche Edwards. However, she lived the majority of her life in Benton, LA, after moving there with her family after her father became a Bossier Parish Deputy. In 1904, Edwards was elected as the 12th Sheriff of Bossier Parish, where he served until 1920.

When it comes to law enforcement, her Grandfather, Major Robert Emmett Wyche, was the 10th Sheriff of Bossier Parish. He is recorded as the first democratic sheriff elected during reconstruction in 1878, after serving in the Civil War, until his untimely death in 1889.

As for Mamie, she is recognized as one of only two students in the first graduating class of Benton High School in 1904, in which she and Francis “Frank” Worth Scanland were also the first to be awarded diplomas during the first commencement exercise in the school’s history. Mamie attended every graduation at Benton High School until she was no longer physically able to. In 1963, the Shere Khan, Benton High School’s yearbook, was dedicated to her in honor of being in the first graduating class. At that time, she was the oldest living graduate and was affectionately called “Mamie Dear.”

Being the first female graduate of Benton High School was not the only first for Mamie. She was also the first acting postmistress for the Benton Post office from Jul. 10, 1919 until Apr. 5, 1920. By the way, did you know that March 2020 is the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Benton Post Office?

She was among the first of the women to register to vote in Bossier Parish after the 19th Amendment was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. Her name appeared in The Bossier Banner on Oct. 7, 1920, along with 160 other women of this parish that had registered to vote since the first woman, Mary Bixler, registered on Sept. 17, 1920.

Mamie was always involved in the community, on Aug. 28, 1913, she attended the first meeting of the Woman’s Club, The Domestic Art Club, as a charter member and as the club’s treasurer. She also served as the Chairman of the committee for constitution and bylaws for the Benton Self-Culture Club, which organized on Sept. 15, 1915.

In 1918 she served as a committee member in charge of securing a furnished workroom for the Benton Branch of the Shreveport Chapter of the American Red Cross. The group was working on knitting and sewing garments to be given to soldiers overseas, as well as hospital garments and bandages.

She loved history and her affiliations with the following groups is a testament to this fact. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Colonial Dames of America; United Daughters of the Confederacy; American Legion Auxiliary; and the North Louisiana Historical Society. From 1946-1951 she served as the Benton Town Secretary. She was a former member of the Bossier Parish Library Board, a member of the Benton United Methodist Church, and the Women’s Society of Christian Service.

In 1953, Mamie served as the Bossier Parish 110th Anniversary program chairman., which was “marked by talks on little known facts of historic interest which occurred in Bossier Parish.” Guest speakers included Lilla McLure and Rupert Peyton. She headed up the Benton chapter fundraising event during the 1956 Bossier Parish Cancer Fund campaign.

Mamie is among dozens of women that have made a difference in Bossier Parish, some of these women are on display in our current exhibit at the History Center. To learn more about Bossier Parish History and the women who made a difference, visit, call or email the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett St., Bossier City. We are your Bossier Parish history repository.

As I write this, COVID-19 is rapidly changing our day to day lives. Keep an eye on our website www.bossierlibrary.org for updates on what the Bossier Parish Libraries can offer during these difficult times. If you are not able to visit the library for any reason, know that we provide access to most of our databases through our website, including the History Center’s collections database. You can access e-books, audio-books, movies, and music through these databases from your computer or phone. Please, take measures to protect yourselves and those around you that are of high risk. Be vigilant, and together we can get through this.

By: Amy Robertson