The Sears Catalog is widely considered the most successful and famous mail-order catalog in American history. But what many don’t know is the unintentional role it played in fighting Jim Crow laws. 

Shopping in the time of Jim Crow

Before the mail-order boom, you had no choice but to shop in person. For Black Americans, especially in the South under Jim Crow, that meant dealing with rampant racial discrimination.

In terms of financial discrimination, Black customers were required to pay a “color tax,” and all lines of credit and item prices were controlled (and manipulated) by white merchants. Then there was the humiliation they faced: having to wait at the back of the line so that every white customer could go first, being denied “Mr.” and “Mrs.” titles, not being allowed to try on clothes or........

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