Cataloging Sears Catalogs

[DesertTortoise]

Here is a thought. There is a site called SearsCatalogsOnline.com . The site will let you ask for digital copies of a section of the Sears Catalog for three different catalog years. I asked for the vacuum section for 1971, 1983 the two years of my parents old vacuums, and for 1990. If we could organize it, members here could go to this site and ask for the vacuum pages for three years and cumulatively we could create a sticky or a reference section with the vacuum pages from a lot of years of the Sears Catalog. Ten members could collect thirty years worth of Sears Catalog vacuum pages. That would be a superb reference.

 

[constellation86]

Sounds like a good idea! How do we make a thread sticky?

 

[kenkart]

I have..

Lots of old Sears catalogues, I need to put them in order and see which ones I dont have..

 

[DesertTortoise]

Many discussion board have stickies, threads that never go away and are usually displayed at the top of the active threads. The stickies for old catalogs, for example, would be at the very beginning of the Vintage section. This site isn't that, how to say, full featured but please don't interpret that as a criticism. It's run by volunteers and requires time and money to operate. We almost need a whole new subject heading for catalogs, manuals and tech tips/how-to's. One stop shopping, maybe call it the Reference Library. Mods, whaddaya say? I think we can organize enough members to get the vacuum section out of 30-40 years of Sears Catalogs at the very least but there has to be a place to put them where members can search for the year they are interested in.

 

[super-sweeper]

D.T, there's always our cousin site, AutomaticEphemera.org! It showcases mainly vintage manuals and literature, not so much full catalogs. Every once in a while, though, we get lucky when somebody makes a thread full of catalog scans! 

 

[DesertTortoise]

AutomaticEphemera.org huh? Have to give it a look. Thanks.

Still, we need to collect vacuum related knowledge right here and make it searchable for members and enthusiasts.

 

[unimatic1140]

Hold On

Speaking of copyright, there is a reason while I only have Sears sales catalogs and not the big main catalog pages on Automatic Ephemera. The big bi-annual Sears catalogs are not in the Public Domain, meaning they are still under copyright protection. Sears renewed their copyrights properly 28 years later as they expired only on their full-size catalogs. While an occasional post of one page is OK, that falls under fair use, but to make an entire collection would not be legal. Wards catalogs are ok from 1963 back.

So that idea is out, at least on any site that I run. I did a lot of research on what is legal to post and what is not on all things appliance related and large collections of Sears catalogs is not.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Good grief! I'm speechless in frustration.

Well, can we at least have a section where we can save our own technical know how and experience with particular brands and models of vacuum? There is a wealth of technical know-how in our membership, tech tips, restoration techniques, what fits what, you know, work arounds for obsolete parts, how to re-hose old hoses, stuff like that, but it is spread out across thousands of different threads and sometimes not so easy to search. Just a thought.

 

[unimatic1140]

Well, can we at least have a section where we can save our own technical know how and experience with particular brands
I don't see why that is necessary, all repairs of the vintage vacuums appear in the Vintage Forum and more modern vacuum repair threads go in the Contemporary Forum. Making more forums on essentially the same topic will just make searching more difficult. I will however kick that idea around in my head and discuss it with others to see if there is a valid need for it.


And by the way DT about this...
This site isn't that, how to say, full featured but please don't interpret that as a criticism.
This site is even more full featured than most discussion forums, you just have to be an upgraded/donating member to have access to these features. You even have access to a more direct way of searching the site.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Well, how about stickies? On many motorcycle and car forums, threads with significant technical information that member may want to reference in the future are posted at the top of each section and remain there. They don't move down as new postes are added so you don't have to search them.

 

[super-sweeper]

I love this site the way it is, it's far more advanced than any other forum I've been on! You should really look into all the great features that come with membership, it help keeps vacuumland afloat! 

 


Robert, are you sure that only Wards catalogs printed before 1963 are legal? The beloved company that printed them sadly left the industry in 2001, by the way of bankruptcy. The name was bought by an online shopping company, but that company is not affiliated with the original Montgomery Ward. The only work-around I can think of is that the copyrights on the vintage catalogs were included with the purchase? Who knows!

 

[unimatic1140]

The name was bought by an online shopping company

Yup, when that Wisconsin company bought the holdings of Mont. Wards, all the copyright ownership gets transferred to them. Even without that, the owners still own their copyright, it never goes away.

And it's before 1964 is OK for Wards since unlike Sears Wards didn't renew their copyrights, (not before 1963 as you stated above).

 

[super-sweeper]

Ah, thanks for confirming my suspicion! I have 2 of the 'new' Wards catalogs and an original 1976 catalog....just another reason to buy more WARDS catalogs! 

 


I was looking at some on the internet, found some on Etsy...$18 for three of them! Only catch was, it wasn't 3 1940s Wards catalogs, but 3 digital copies of 1940s Wards catalogs on a flash drive! That put me in such a mood, I guess he never wants to run out of stock! Besides,I don't do shopping on the internet anyhow, too complicated,I do everything in cash! 

 

[constellation86]

DesertTortoise I just requested 1960, 1965, 1988. If you wanted to swap via email that would be great!
Nicholas

 

[DesertTortoise]

Heh, heh, heh. Let me know when they respond. I have yet to hear back from them.

 

[bebring]

I asked for 1984, 1985 and 1986