Marketplace of ideas.(Briefly Noted)(Catalog: The Illustrated History of Mail-Order Shopping )(Brief article)(Book review)

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In 1872, traveling salesman Aaron Montgomery Ward experimented with mail order catalogs to sell products directly to his rural customers, lowering prices by removing the middleman at the general store. Today, the mail order industry he founded is worth $100 billion. The Montgomery Ward Catalog alone is responsible for such marketing innovations as the phrase "Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back" and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who was first created for a 1939 Christmas promotion.

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