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Fashion magazines by mid-century were becoming important in America. Of course, a fashion magazine is not a catalog. But they were bringing high fashion to every corner of America, at least for accomplished sewers or for those who could afford to buy dresses in a millenary shop or to hire a capable seamstress. By mid-century -- the pages were full of beautiful clothes, helpful advice, and interesting stories. Important publications included Godey's and Harpers. While there was an interest in fashion, women’s magazines tended to moralize wax elquently about the need for women to embrace the role of homemaker and child care (1850s-60s). This would not change matertially until the 1870s when we begin to see ilustrations and stories about women in public spaces. Fashion and other women's publications. [Breward] At the same time. it was in the 1850s that the indusdtrial expansion of the United States began in a substabtial way. This would lead to more women in the seciond half of the century to have far more finabial resources to engage in fashion far beyond the imagination of most women in the first half. These were not mail order catalogs, but they included fashion illustrations and in some cases patterns. Some stores may have had catalogs, but mail order did not yet exisdt to any extent. was not yet common. But a major step toward mail order was completed. That was that the United states by the 1850s had a substanial rail network, at least east of the Mississippli, primarily in the North. It did not, however, have any system for getting packages from the rail station to the retail customer. It would be more than half a century before the U.S. Post Office bagan delivering packages (Parcel Post) of any real size as well as Rural Free Delivery. Remember the 'Music Man' song. It was not the U.S. Postal Waggon--it was 'The Wells Fargo Waggon'. Home delivery would continue to be a problem even when the mail order industry began to appear (1870s). The play is misleading. The Wells Fargo waggon was imprtant, but primarily in towns not yet serviced by rail.
Breward, Christopher. Journal of Design History (1994).
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