Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Sears used mail‑order, cash by post, and depot pickup to bypass Jim Crow store policies. Here are the ads, policies, and outcomes.

Here’s how the Sears mail‑order catalog quietly beat Jim Crow

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Sources
abhmuseum.org/back-when-sears-made-black-customers-a-priority
fee.org/articles/when-sears-used-the-market-to-combat-jim-crow
npr.org/2018/10/16/657923126/how-the-sears-catalog-was-revolutionary-in-the-jim-crow-era
vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/19/18001734/sears-catalog-bankruptcy-jim-crow-racism-mail-order