Trade catalogs Websites

1 curated trade catalogs sites, hand-picked by real people. People who get into trade catalogs tend to get deeply absorbed in the history of commerce and design. These printed records show exactly what factories, farmers, and households could buy, from industrial machinery to seed packets. The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives holds a massive digital collection of these catalogs, letting you browse original illustrations and pricing from the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a direct window into how things were made, sold, and used..