Celebrate the Little Things

Recently, I was reminded of one of my own family traditions around the Holiday season...The Sears catalog wish list adventure! I wonder if this tradition extends clear back to 1886 with the catalog creation itself?


Certainly, in the 1800's, the catalog was created out of necessity for rural Americans who needed an option against the higher priced goods in department stores, not for children's wish lists... However, out of supply and demand, the catalog grew to include household items, sewing machines, building supplies and even toys. In 1908, the first home catalog was sent out. In this home catalog pictured, you could buy an entire house for $725. These Sears homes still stand in many areas of rural America.


I was neither thinking about the impact of the ingenuity at age 7, as I eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Holiday catalog, nor was I thinking about how generations before me had done the same thing. So, today when one of our Residents brought this catalog to me to share in his memories of his catalog adventures, I was taken by his familiar story and my own memories came back sharp and clear. O' the excitement I had as I would feverishly open the catalog and create my Holiday wish list for Santa Claus! I rooted through mom's desk and found a hearty pen/marker to start circling my dreams. Somehow, I thought Santa would see it, doesn't he see everything? And every year, as Christmas Eve approached, I would remind my parents that they might want to look at the Sears catalog, JUST IN CASE there was something they needed...in hopes they would see my wish list too!


Sears got it right when they marketed to Americans to bring affordable household goods to rural America. As my friend and I glanced at the catalog and we discussed the days when a tricycle was $1.25 and a baby doll was .50 cents, we both chuckled about ordering our Christmas gifts out of THIS catalog. The Sears catalog has come a long way in the past 100 years, but what remains the same is how it moves people to dream and elicits memories through the ages.


As we Celebrate the Little Things with our Juniper Family this December, remember those little things that brought your families together as children. Bring in some photographs and memorabilia to share with your loved ones on your next visit and just see what happens. Because, although 63 years separate my friend and I, we found today, as children, our dreams weren't so different. Celebrate the Little Things! Happy Holidays from our Juniper Family to yours.