Folks these days don’t understand
‘bout ranchers in the past,
we didn’t have conveniences,
an’ stuff was meant to last

We lived out in the country
where neighbors were afar,
just a horse for transportation,
had no fancy motor-car

Supplies, we bought twice yearly
when Pa went into town,
hitchin’ up the wagon
for that journey he was bound

An’ once a year the mailman
delivered catalogs,
most ever’thing was in ‘em―
you could order you a dog

Montgomery Ward & Sears,
pointin’ to the things we craved,
was more than colored pictures,
it was memories to save

We kids called ’em a “wish-book”
when glimpsin’ things inside,
sittin’ close together,
me ‘n brothers, Steve an’ Clyde

Food an’ clothes, an’ parts for trucks,
you could find ‘em in them pages,
boots an’ coats, an’ linens
to last ya thru’ the ages

Those catalogs were cherished,
kept in a special place,
we loved just thumbin’ thru’ ‘em
after doin’ chores in haste

For school each year, an order
was sent out on the mail,
we’d watch the post for packages
in rain, or sleet, or hail

Then, when Christmas come around,
Ma took money from the jar,
an’ ordered us a present,
me―a doll, boys―metal cars

Yes, we treasured those old catalogs,
they helped us thru’ the years,
fulfillin’ many hopes an’ dreams,
Montgomery Ward & Sears…

Montgomery wards and Sears
written by Tamara Hillman ©2005