The Sears catalog -- and competitors who followed -- allowed them to buy those goods, providing a market for goods made in factories. That allowed more Americans to live in cities.

Sears was once one of the most prominent retailers for home goods in the country, but today it feels like a relic, with only a handful of stores still open.

One of the overlooked joys of childhood in the 1960s and ’70s is the Sears Christmas catalog. The first one in 1933 was just 87 pages long. I’m not old enough to remember it, but I remember getting ...