Star Catalogues

We finally got to see Wes Anderson's new movie 'Asteroid City ' on Monday night, as weird and wonderful a cinematic experience as might have been hoped for. It's just a shame we had to go all the way to Preston for the screening, because my local cinema in Blackpool closed down last month. That's just part of a worrying trend. Cineworld and Odeon are shutting cinemas nationwide and Empire Cinemas went into administration recently. 

However, watching 'Asteroid City ' did give me the inspiration for this week's blog about  catalogues  - because up till then I confess I was feeling somewhat stumped. And by the way, it was not for nothing that Wes Anderson and his fabulous cast received a ten-minute standing ovation after the film was screened at the Cannes Festival in May. (I'll take it over 'Barbie - the movie ' any hard day's night.)

director Wes Anderson on the set of Asteroid City

Without divulging too much of the plot, suffice to say that the action takes place in 1955 in the (fictional) American desert town of the film's title, a place famous for its meteorite crater. The itinerary of the annual Junior Stargazer/ Space Cadet convention (organised to bring together students and their parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition), is spectacularly disrupted when observation of a rare astral event  reveals something totally unexpected. (Enter the alien.)

In an attempt to pinpoint the origin of this world-changing phenomenon, there is much recourse to star maps (like the one on the observatory wall - see below) and star catalogues - which is the jumping-off point for today's blog.

Asteroid City observatory with star map on the wall

Obviously enough, star catalogues are tabulations of astronomical objects, usually grouped by type, morphology, origin et cetera. They have been compiled from mankind's earliest days and the first ones were literally inscribed on clay tablets by the Ancient Babylonians of Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BC, followed chronologically by the Ancient Greeks, Chinese, Persians and Arabs, sometimes but not invariably accompanied by illustrated star charts. Interestingly, there is no evidence that the Ancient Egyptians created star catalogues though they did produce star maps which often adorned the ceilings of their tombs.

Of course the majority of early star catalogues were limited by observational capability and, as with the accompanying star maps, could be somewhat subjective. Nonetheless, they were impressive compilations, accurate enough to assist in divination, husbandry, navigation and as a means of identifying shifts in the heavens.

The invention of the telescope rapidly advanced our ability to observe and catalogue astronomical objects and with the more recent advent of powerful observatories and the arrival of radio-telescopy, it has become customary to give stars numbers rather than names.

section of a star map

My all-too-brief research into star catalogues has identified a plethora of modern ones. There have, for instance, been a dozen "full sky" catalogues created in the last 200 years by different scientific institutes. The most comprehensive of all (and I use that term very loosely) are the three Gaia catalogues (DR1, DR2, DR3) being made by the Gaia space telescope listing billions of stars. How the minds of those Ancient Babylonian and Greek astronomers would blow if they could see how far we have come in terms of stellar knowledge!

Then in addition to the comprehensive catalogues, there is another raft of specialist star catalogues listing specifically double-stars or carbon stars or stars of a particular magnitude or even simply 'nearby stars'. Then there are trigonometric parallax catalogues and proper-motion catalogues, manifold niche tabulations enough to make this modern head spin! All digital nowadays of course, because of the sheer volume of data, and much of it in the ether. I like to think of it as the Cloud Of Knowing.

To conclude, here's the latest from the imaginarium, probably still evolving if I'm honest...

Holes In Heaven

Call it numinous

for how can dark matter

so long as there are

holes in heaven

too brilliantly numerous

for terror's insinuating 

fingers to obfuscate?

Thanks for reading, S ;-)

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Catalogues To Blackout Poetry

Once upon a time long before e-commerce there was the department store catalogue. It was a Hermione’s handbag in book form. It had anything you could ever want, and you could bet your bottom dollar that it would empty your purse at the end of the day.

In my world growing up in the suburbs of Chicago I remember many popular catalogues; Montgomery Ward (first general mail order company in America launched in 1872), J.C. Penney, and Marshall Fields to name a few. However, none became as legendary as the Sears Catalogue.

Richard Sears began flogging his watches and jewellry through a printed mailer in 1888, the historic catalogue’s humble beginnings. Sears formed a partnership with Alvah Curtis Roebuck and together they nurtured and grew Sears, Roebuck & Co. They diversified the mail order business to general merchandise and by 1894 the catalogue was a lengthy 322 pages. Eight years later, the company was serving over two million customers worldwide!

1902 Sears, Roebuck & Co Catalogue
Crown Publishers Inc (1969)

The catalogue was not a freebie. In 1902, one would have parted with 50 cents for the privilege to peruse; a whopping $17.74 USD/£13.53 GBP in today’s money. Quite pricey, but what the company offered was a wide variety of much cheaper goods than its competitors.

Fun fact, when the catalogue became out of date it was often upcycled behind closed doors in the outhouse. Using the pages as toilet paper went into decline in the 1930s when the company changed to a glossy, clay coated catalogue paper. Interestingly at that time Sears, Roebuck and Co. was inundated with complaints.

I recently got my hands on a reprint of a 1902 Edition of the Sears, Roebuck Catalogue thanks to Boz Phillips, an avid collector of many things including vintage catalogues. Her collection includes a Dandy Été 1960 (men’s and women’s clothing), Moda Y Arte Revista Españole de Calzado Winter 1934 (shoe catalogue reprint), Tower List 53 (scientific apparatus and chemicals) and Morris Conveyors Number 187 (conveyor belts and mechanical items).

Boz also has a reprint of the 1907 Army & Navy Stores Catalogue which is a mammoth size hardback book nine centimetres thick. I was not familiar with this and she says it is a British version of the Sears’ Catalogue.

Yesterday's Shopping, Army & Navy Stores Catalogue 1907
David & Charles Reprints (1969)

The Army & Navy Stores Catalogue was the brainchild of a group of army and naval officers who formed an Army & Navy Co-operative Society in 1871 offering goods (wine being the very first on offer) and services at reduced prices to its members. Stores were opened in London and in 1901 other branches were opened in Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta and Karachi.

The company also manufactured many of their own products i.e. groceries, cigars, shirts, leather goods, watches, cutlery and fishing tackle. This brought their prices down even further. Services on offer included house removals, estate agency, house repairs and catering. One could even buy tickets to the opera, theatre or musical concerts. The original massive cloth-bound catalogue kept those stationed abroad in touch with home.

In exploring these two fascinating catalogues, I decided to use digital copies of a few of the pages for creative inspiration and do some blackout poetry. Recently I’ve been really enjoying doing this with National Geographic magazines. Blackout poetry I find even more challenging than collage poetry as one is not only restricted to the words at hand but also their placement. It has forced me to construct poems using words and structures I wouldn’t necessarily choose when coming straight out of my head. I also like the visual element. Here are three of my favourites.

Sears, Roebuck& Co. 1902 - page 1008

book of us
ice storm heavy
seams great
exceptional wear
lasting pair
special

keep our hands warm
in the coldest weather

Sears, Roebuck & Co. 1902 - page 915

Anybody can fly
like a bird in a moderate breeze,
no wind short of a gale
is too strong.

This is success.

Army & Navy Stores Catalogue. 1907 - page 313

see inside

upon frozen roads
the animal slipping
covering up
run

Thank you for reading.

Kate J

Sources
Transform SR Brands, LLC, 2023. History of the Sears Catalogue. http://www.searsarchives.com/catalogs/history.htm (Accessed 16 July 2023).
The Plumber.com, 2023. Toilet Paper – The History ‘Behind’ It. https://theplumber.com/toiletpapershortagefun/ (Accessed 16 July 2023).
Starmens, B.J., 2017. Sears, Roebuck Mail Order Catalogue. https://www.thesocialhistorian.com/sears-roebuck-mail-order-catalogue/ (Accessed 16 July 2023).
Adburgham A., 1969. Yesterday’s Shopping The Army & Navy Stores Catalogue 1907. David & Charles Reprints, Devon.
Amory, C., 1969. 1902 Edition of The Sears, Roebuck Catalogue. Crown Publishers Inc., U.S.A.

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Catalogues With Glossy Pages

As an eleven and twelve year old, there was something exciting about the arrival of the latest home-shopping catalogue. It took both hands to lift it on to the table and all day to choose items of clothing, sticking to the given budget. Glossy pages with a distinctive inky smell felt pleasant to touch and were slowly turned from one appealing outfit to another with corners folded down to mark likely purchases. My mother wasn’t well enough to take us shopping and growing girls needed new clothes all the time. The catalogue was a life-line.

Later, when I was considered old enough to go to town with friends, I was given money to buy things from Chelsea Girl – my favourite boutique – and Marks & Spencer for underwear. The catalogue always had a place, though, and as I grew up and raised my own family, it was useful for household items. Affordable credit added to the appeal of the convenience of home shopping.

We used to keep the catalogues in a cupboard with the fat telephone directories. Littlewoods and Grattan along with Argos, Toys’R’Us, and Betterware, when the man came. They’ve all gone now, though sometimes we have Cotton Traders if they think we need reminding that they are there.

The physical catalogues might have ceased to fill the cupboard, but the way of shopping remains. We’re online instead. Amazon has absolutely everything, just a click away. The anticipation of the catalogue parcel has been replaced by the excitement of the Prime van being only three stops away. Marks & Spencer has more appeal online than in store. I was recently disappointed to visit our branch and discover a shop reduced in size by closing off the top floor and carrying limited stock. The food hall was as bad. A wasted trip on my part.

We still get those mini-catalogues stapled into the TV listings magazines, the ones full of interesting gadgets that make me wonder how old I’ll be before I can’t manage without them. They go straight into the recycling.

Haiku for those long ago times,

A nice, grey school skirt
And a navy blue cardy
To start the new term.

Some smart white blouses
A pair of stirrup trousers
That’s what we called them.

Strap under the feet.
And socks and knickers and vests
And some pyjamas.

PMW 2023

Thanks for reading, Pam x

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