NEW – The Sears Catalog Told You What to Buy. Social Media Tells You Who to Be.
The Sears catalog is having a moment online and it opened up something bigger. The difference between what shopping used to feel like and what it has become.
Physical department stores had escalators and sandwich bars and crowds and something to discover. The catalog let you circle what you wanted, dog-ear the page, and hand it to your parents. Nobody was telling you how to be. The product was the product.
Social media is the vertical catalog now. It sells products, ideas, lifestyles, and relationship advice in an endless scroll. The hosts make the case that the format changed and the manipulation did not.
Topics: Sears catalog, department store nostalgia, social media, retail history, Canada Post
Originally aired on2026-05-25
