But they were also reasonably priced and, based on my own experience purchasing primarily Herter's archery equipment in the 1960's, often and, if nothingĮlse, far superior to those produced by competitors. Products were not just good they were world famous, expertly crafted, made from the finest materials obtainable, etc. Remarkably, all of the ad copy was penned by founder George Leonard Herter:Īs ad copy goes, Herter's was often hyperbolic. HugeĬatalogs with a dizzying array of products were issued, let's say, chronically, by the hundreds of thousands per issue. Herter's, Inc., was a mail order sporting goods retailer that flourished for a few decades, reaching its peak in the 1960's and ultimately going out of business in 1981. Have ever leafed through a Herter's catalog? Or even heard of one? Most of us know and have enjoyed the Whole Earth Catalog - a third and notable example of readable reference books - but how many of you Closer to home, John Carter's ABC for Book Collectors accomplishes much the same thing, and innumerable pages can be readīut I'm here today to talk about catalogs. Hour spent smiling with the master of clarity. This book that the book's purpose itself becomes, at times, almost beside the point, and the intention to spend a moment or two clarifying a point of usage often becomes a lost We'd be hard put, I think, to come up withĪ subject that shows less promise for entertainment, and yet one of my favorite books to spend time with is H.W. The explanation is obvious: It brings otherwise dead content alive. It's near axiomatic that the best reference books - and this also applies more specifically to book-related reference books - are inevitably those in which the author isīoth present and witty, at least on occasion.
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