Eaton's

Eaton's was once Canada's largest department store retailer. Founded in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant, in 1869, Eaton's first advertisement read "We propose to sell our goods for CASH ONLY – In selling goods, to have only one price." In an era where haggling for goods was commonplace, this was a revolutionary business practice.

The Eaton?s Catalogue

The first Eaton's catalogue was a simple 34-page booklet, issued in 1884. Inside the front cover was the declaration: ?Owing to the immense increase in our Mail Order Department, we find it has become a necessity to issue a catalogue of this style, and even this is incomplete, in that it contains only a limited description of the stock, and therefore does not give you a correct idea as to the immense varieties and extensive stock carried by us?.

Related Topics:
Catalogue - 1884

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As Eaton?s grew, so did the catalogue. To many, it became known as the Homesteader's Bible or the Wishing Book. By 1920, Eaton?s operated mail order warehouses in Winnipeg, Toronto and Moncton to serve its catalogue customers. Catalogue order offices were also established throughout the country, with the first opening in Oakville in 1916. At a time when Canada?s population was predominantly rural, often living in isolated settlements, the Eaton?s Catalogue provided a selection of goods that was otherwise unavailable to many Canadians, and the catalogue offered everything from clothing to farming implements. Some Canadians even purchased their homes from the catalogue, with Eaton?s delivering to them all the materials necessary to build a small, prefabricated house. Today, a large number of ?Eaton?s catalogue homes? still exist throughout the country, primarily in the West.

Related Topics:
1920 - Moncton - Oakville - 1916

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The catalogue became an icon of Canadian culture, even appearing in many works of Canadian literature. Most famously, in Roch Carrier's story "The Hockey Sweater," a young Quebec boy asks his mother for a Montreal Canadiens hockey jersey from the Eaton's catalogue, but receives a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey instead. Due to the prevalent language and cultural barriers of the English- and French-speaking Canadian populations, his family is unaware that the item could be exchanged, and they do not wish to offend Mr. Eaton by returning it.

Related Topics:
Canadian literature - Roch Carrier - The Hockey Sweater - Quebec - Montreal Canadiens - Toronto Maple Leafs

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Over time, the catalogue became a less profitable operation, and by the 1970s it was a money-losing proposition. As Canada?s population became more urban over the course of the 20th century, Canadians had access to a greater number of local stores, and were less reliant on catalogue purchases. By the mid-1970s, it was estimated that 60% of the suburban customers throughout Canada lived within a thirty-minute drive of an Eaton?s store. Others, however, blamed Eaton?s management for the catalogue?s failures, pointing to the similar Simpsons-Sears catalogue (now the Sears Canada catalogue), which continues to this day despite the fact that it never had the same iconic status nor goodwill enjoyed by the Eaton?s catalogue.

Related Topics:
1970s - Simpsons-Sears - Sears Canada

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At a news conference on January 14, 1976, Eaton?s announced that the 1976 spring-summer catalogue would be the last. 9000 mail-order employees were out of work. Many Canadians were in shock. In one notable incident, Barbara Frum of CBC Radio?s As It Happens opened her interview of Eaton?s President Earl Orser with the question ?Mr. Orser, how could you??

Related Topics:
January 14 - 1976 - Barbara Frum - CBC Radio - As It Happens

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