Aaron Montgomery Ward facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
A. Montgomery Ward
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| Born | February 17, 1843 or 1844 |
| Died | December 7, 1913 (age 69 or 70) |
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Aaron Montgomery Ward (born February 17, 1843 or 1844 – died December 7, 1913) was an American businessman. He became famous for creating a new way to sell goods: through mail order. This meant customers could order items from a catalog and have them delivered, especially helpful for people living in rural areas. In 1872, he started Montgomery Ward & Company, which became a very well-known business across the country.
Ward was a traveling salesman who sold dry goods. He noticed that many people in the rural Midwest were paying too much for products. He also felt they weren't getting good service from the small local stores. So, he decided to open his first mail-order business in 1872.
He used the growing railroad system in Chicago to ship goods. He also worked with the Patrons of Husbandry, a group that helped farmers. This allowed Ward to offer a much bigger selection of items than small town stores, and at lower prices. Unlike local shops, Ward didn't allow bargaining and didn't offer credit.
His free catalog was printed using the best methods available. It was sent to many customers, letting them see pictures of products and imagine using them. Later, Ward used the Post Office's Rural Free Delivery service, which brought mail directly to people's homes. He also pushed for a parcel post system, which started in 1906. The early 1900s were a golden age for mail-order businesses. Ward's became a household name, along with its main competitor, Sears Roebuck.
Today, Ward is also remembered for protecting Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois.
Contents
Early Life and Learning Business
Aaron Montgomery Ward was born on February 17, 1843 or 1844, in Chatham, New Jersey. He came from a large family that didn't have a lot of money. When he was about nine years old, his family moved to Niles, Michigan. There, Montgomery went to public schools.
At 14, he started working to help his family. He first earned 25 cents a day at a factory that made parts for barrels. Then, he stacked bricks for 30 cents a day. Ward was full of energy and wanted to do more. He moved to St. Joseph, Michigan, and found a job in a shoe store. This town was a trading center for nearby fruit farms.
Starting in sales led him to his famous career. He was a good salesman. Within nine months, he got a job at a general country store. He earned $6 a month plus food, which was a good salary back then. He worked his way up to become the main clerk and general manager of the store. He stayed there for three years, eventually earning $100 a month plus food. He then moved to a competing store for two more years. During these years, Ward learned a lot about how to sell things.
A New Idea: Selling Directly to Customers
In 1865, Ward moved to Chicago. He worked as a salesman for a lamp company and then sold goods on commission. Chicago was a major hub for selling dry goods in large amounts. In the 1860s, Ward joined a leading dry-goods company called Field Palmer & Leiter, which later became Marshall Field & Co. He worked there for two years. Then, he joined another wholesale dry-goods business, Wills, Greg & Co.
During his travels, Ward took long train trips to southern towns. He would rent carriages to visit stores in the countryside. He listened to the complaints of store owners and their rural customers. This gave him a new idea for selling products: direct mail sales to people in the countryside.
At that time, people in rural areas wanted the same comforts as those in cities. But they were often cheated by monopolies and paid too much because many middlemen were involved in getting products to them. The quality of goods was also often poor, and farmers had no way to complain. Ward came up with a plan to buy goods cheaply with cash. By removing the middlemen, he could cut costs and sell items to people, no matter how far away they lived, at attractive prices. Customers would send their orders by mail, and he would deliver the purchases to their nearest railroad station. The only thing he needed was money to start.
The Montgomery Ward Catalog: A "Wish Book"
None of Ward's friends or business partners believed in his new idea. They thought it was crazy. Even his first stock of goods was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire. But Ward didn't give up.
In August 1872, with two co-workers and $1,600, he started Montgomery Ward & Company. He rented a small shipping room on North Clark Street. He then published his first mail-order catalog, which listed 163 products. It is said that in 1880, Aaron Montgomery Ward wrote all the descriptions for the catalog himself. As the business grew, different department heads wrote descriptions, but he still checked every line to make sure it was correct.
The next year, both of Ward's partners left him. But he kept going. Later, George Robinson Thorne, who would become his brother-in-law, joined the business. This was a turning point for the company, which then grew and became very successful. Soon, the catalog, which some rural store owners hated and even burned, became known as the "Wish Book." It was a favorite in homes all across America.
Other merchants soon copied Ward's catalog idea. The most famous was Richard Warren Sears, who sent out his first general catalog in 1896. Many others also entered the field. By 1971, catalog sales from major U.S. companies brought in over $250 million in postal revenue. The Sears Tower in Chicago is famous for once being the tallest building in the United States. But before that, the Montgomery Ward Tower, at Michigan Avenue and Madison Street in Chicago, was a major tourist attraction in the early 1900s.
Protecting Grant Park
In Chicago, Ward was also a champion for public spaces. He fought to make sure that everyone could use Chicago's lakefront. In 1906, he led a campaign to keep Grant Park as a public park. Grant Park has been protected since 1836 by a law that says it must be "forever open, clear and free." This law has been upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court four times.
Ward sued the city of Chicago twice. He wanted to force them to remove buildings from Grant Park and stop them from building new ones. Because of his efforts to protect the park, Ward is sometimes called the "watch dog of the lake front." As a result, Chicago has what are called the Montgomery Ward height restrictions. These rules limit how tall buildings and structures can be in Grant Park. However, the Crown Fountain and the 139-foot (42 m) Jay Pritzker Pavilion were allowed to be taller. This is because they were considered works of art, not regular buildings. Daniel Burnham's famous 1909 Burnham Plan eventually helped preserve Grant Park and the entire Chicago lakefront.
Legacy
Aaron Montgomery Ward passed away in 1913 at the age of 70. His wife, Elizabeth, left a large part of his estate to Northwestern University and other schools.
The Montgomery Ward catalog's important place in history was recognized in 1946. The Grolier Club, a group of book lovers in New York, displayed it alongside Webster's Dictionary. They considered it one of the 100 books that had the most influence on American life and culture.
A bronze statue honoring Ward and seven other important business leaders stands between the Chicago River and the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, Illinois. A smaller version of this statue is in Chicago's Grant Park.
In 2010, the Chicago Park District renamed Erie Park in honor of A. Montgomery Ward. It is located at 630 N. Kingsbury Street, close to the old Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House Building.
In 2005, Forbes magazine readers and editors ranked Aaron Montgomery Ward as the 16th most influential businessman of all time.
Even though its catalog business and physical stores closed in 2001, Montgomery Ward & Co. came back as an online retailer. It still follows the idea of "satisfaction guaranteed," which was once unheard of. However, it is not the same company as the original.
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A. Montgomery Ward's signature
