# Why did mail-order items back in the day take "4 to 6 weeks" or "6 to 8 weeks" to arrive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741 "2019-10-14T05:37:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741/41 "2019-10-16T01:43:48Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Stuff from Johnson Smith took a long time to arrive, but you knew you were going to get it. Now as to whether it was what you expected… There is a book that addresses that very topic. It’s called “Mail-Order Mysteries, Real Stuff From Comic Book Ads” and it’s worth the price of admission! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741/42 "2019-10-16T02:16:37Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Surely there were private courier services…? Wells Fargo Sure. Wells Fargo was formed by the founders of American Express in 1852 to serve California. The ancestor to UPS came along in 1907. The issue was mostly that it was next to impossible to form truly national delivery services. UPS and Fed-Ex didn’t do so until the 1970s. A 1977 law that removed restrictions on all-cargo airplanes made the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741/43 "2019-10-16T02:28:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > …catalogs are pretty close to dead now. Rooh? Tell that to my mailman. Starting around this time of year, we start stacking up the catalogs we get in the mail until the end of the year. Last year it was about 6 foot tall. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741/44 "2019-10-16T03:09:07Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Rooh? Tell that to my mailman. Starting around this time of year, we start stacking up the catalogs we get in the mail until the end of the year. Last year it was about 6 foot tall. My guess is that people read the catalog then order from their web site. There is still some appeal to being able to flip through a book. And yeah we still get catalogs (95% of which go straight into recycling). ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741/45 "2019-10-18T05:59:41Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I asked this in a thread many years ago. It was even worse in the 60’s and 70’s. Getting something from Sears or JcPenney took forever. Might be why their Christmas catalogs came out so early. And in the 1600’s a single shipload mail-order of spices took 9-12 months. It all depends on the availability of stock, the infrastructure for delivery, and the customers’ willingness to wait for their product. For the original question… Remember that mail-order then was ACTUALLY mail-order. So the time to process your order also included the time needed for YOUR order request to reach the supplier. Which could easily be a week or two. or three. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741/46 "2019-10-18T11:12:15Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Rooh? Tell that to my mailman. Starting around this time of year, we start stacking up the catalogs we get in the mail until the end of the year. Last year it was about 6 foot tall. If you don’t want catalogs anymore, call the phone number for ordering and ask them to take your name off of the list. I pretty much never get catalogs these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mail-order-items-back-in-the-day-take-4-to-6-weeks-or-6-to-8-weeks-to-arrive/841741.md?page=2)