Old style catalogs in a new age way

Decades ago as a child I remember my family receiving different catalogs by mail or local representatives. It was such a rural area that sometimes they were collected or requested by other family members as outhouse reading, then recycled when the going got tough at times.

Items varied by vendor. Some such as Sears went in mainstream marketing while others seemed to target female clothing such as pedal pushers. I remember some having pages of what others would consider 'house clutter' that would be picked over by little old ladies in search of bric-brac items. My stepfather was inclined to auto-parts and gun catalogs...you have to remember this was a different time and place.

The biggest difference between now and then? Chances are if a person's online they're not going to be recycling the catalogs as my aunt did decades ago. I also never saw anyone experiencing homelessness flipping through their pages as I had seen family and friends years ago, then again these were items usually found on coffee or dining room tables.

Having them available no different than copies of donated Cosmopolitan or other typically donated periodicals, I wonder 'which' a person experiencing homelessness would choose to pick up and lose themselves in...a larger magazine for being 'all that' or a smaller one with things a person could realistically want and hope for when getting off the streets.

While one man's trash is often another man's treasure it makes me wonder if service providers would see the therapeutic impact of accepting mail order catalogs be placed in their common areas of people served. Let's face it, homeless women need all the help they can get looking good when getting out of being 'out'. If you have mail order catalogs from Blair or other nationally known vendors, consider asking your church to collect and recycle them by donating them to a local service provider.

Beats having to ask someone if they want a year's supply for their outhouse, doesn't it?