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| Little Wonder records and, later, Bubble Books
were advertised in several national and local mail-order catalogs as a way to expand the public's awareness
and purchase options.- I have seen these listed in catalogs from Sears, Roebuck
and Co., Montgomery Ward & Co., and The Charles Williams Store Inc., and these are shown below.-
If you know of other catalogs that contain listings for Little Wonder records or Bubble Books, please
contact me. |
|
| Sears, Roebuck and Co.
mail-order catalogs featured Little Wonder records for sale
from 1915 through 1921, and Bubble Books in 1918.- Scans
of the entries from all of these catalogs are shown
on this page. |
Sears catalog #130
- 1915 |
Sears catalog #131
- 1915 |
Between 1915 and 1919
the record listing expanded -- from a quarter-page in early
1915 to a third-page in later 1915, a half-page in early 1916,
and finally to a full-page in late 1917 through 1919.-
In early 1920, paralleling the fortunes of the Little Wonder
Company, the listings were reduced to a half-page and, by late
1921, the listings were where they started, at a quarter-page.-
No listings appear from 1922 on. |
| The headings of the
listings proclaim the records' sound quality and their popularity.-
In some instances, the record listings name the performers and
in the case of "Medleys" name the songs included.-
|
Sears catalog #132
- 1916 |
Sears catalog #133
- 1916 |
Some of this information
was used to prepare the Little
Wonder discography, since performers and medley songs
are not printed on the label.-
In both 1919 catalogs, new selections were grouped into a separate
section where the records were described and touted. |
| The first record listing
(from early 1915) contains several entries that do not correspond
with the information from the records themselves (such as record
numbers and titles), suggesting that the catalog was printed
before the records were available. |
Sears catalog #134
- 1917 |
Sears catalog #135
- 1917 |
Later catalogs corrected
these earlier errors although these occasionally made others
(such as record #504 listed with the wrong title in the late
1918 catalog). |
| Record albums that could
hold the Little Wonder records (which were sold without sleeves)
were advertised in most of these Sears catalogs as well.-
I have collected many albums
in many different colors that look like those featured in these
catalogs, but I have no way of knowing whether these were purchased
from Sears. |
Sears(?) Record Albums
(note two different binding techniques) |
Sears Shipping Boxes |
The
records were shipped by Sears in boxes of just the right size
to hold a dozen. |
Montgomery Ward and Co.
|
Montgomery Ward sold both Little Wonder records
and Bubble Books, although not in the same catalogs.- Note that
prices for the Bubble Books started at 95¢ in 1919, climbed to $1.42 by 1921, and then fell
to 98¢ by 1922.
|
1915 - #84, p. 495
(Note the album shown was
not for sale in this catalog
but was available later
that year) |
1915 - Mid-Summer Sale, p. 2
(Note that both Little Wonder
piano rolls and records are
for sale here and that the
album looks like one that
has been found) |
1919 - #91, p. 513
(Note the title for the
ninth book is erroneously
listed as "Topsy Turvy") |
|
1920 - #92, p. 384
(Note the title for the
ninth book is erroneously
listed as "Topsy Turvy") |
1920 - #93, p. 567 |
1921 - #94, p. 347 |
|
1921 - #95, p. 531 |
1922 - #97, p. 422
(Note that "Tippy Toe"
is spelled incorrectly) |
|
|
The Charles William Stores
|
The Charles William Stores, located in New York City, carried Little Wonder records
from 1916 through 1920.- In 1918, a catalog dedicated to Little Wonder
records was created, but it is not known how this catalog was distributed.- The later 1920 and 1921 catalogs
also included Bubble Books.- If you know something about the history of this store, which no longer
exists, please contact me.
|
1915 - #5, p. 896
(Note the heading
does not mention
Little Wonder records) |
1916 - #11, p. 730
(Note that the album mentioned
below the listing is not the correct size for Little Wonders) |
1916 - #13, p. 750 |
|
1917 - #15, p. 786 |
1917 - #17, p. 731 |
1918 - #19, p. 619 |
|
| (Click
picture
to page
through
catalogue) |
|
Catalogue
(16 pages), 1918
5" x 7" (when folded)
|
1918 - #21, p. 678
1918 - #21, p. 681 |
1919 - #23, p. 511 |
|
1919 - #25, p. 629
(Note the discount for
buying a dozen records and
Little Wonder albums for sale) |
1920 - #27, p. 529 |
1920 - #29, p. 647 |
|
1920 - #29, p. 649 |
1921 - #31, p. 487 |
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