In my collection of theatrical books I stumbled across a classic. I have used this numerous times in creating props and "vintage" advertising for set dressing. It is a reproduction of the old Sears catalogue. I think I picked mine up at a grage sale for a couple of bucks, but whatever the price it has paid for itself in time saved on research.
The clear balck and white, woodcut style, illustrations lay out over 1000 pages of merchandise as it appeared in the original 1902 Sears Robuck mail order catalogue. From farm implements to fashion, the Sears catalogue was the Ebay of its day, they had everything and would ship it almost anywhere.
It is a great resource for a propmaster with a well developed "propeye" to get a feel for the visual outline of long forgotten items. It has been reproduced numerous times, here is a link to an 1897 version available from Amazon. It might also be available for loan from your public library.
