Anyone remember mail order?

cncpro11

cncpro11

Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
4,046
Time and again I read about how people are so impatient to get their new knife in the mail. Heck, I'm waiting on 2 myself.
I think it was 1984 when I placed my first mail order for a knife.
I found a form in my dad's SOF magazine and did extra chores to earn the $14.95 + shipping and handling, which took two weeks, and then cut the form out, filled in the blanks, and mailed it off.
Thus began my 4-6 weeks of agonizing anticipation.
My knife actually arrived after 7 weeks, so all together it was a 9 week ordeal.
I just kind of chuckle reading the comments about having to wait up to 7 days for an order.
 
I remembered doing a mail order for something back in the 90's, forgot what it was for though. Funny thing is when I think about it, even just a few years back most items would take on average 5-7 business days to arrive. Now, 9 out of 10 orders I place online usually come in 2-3 days.

I'm hoping in the near future they can invent a way to teleport goods... talk about instant gratification :D
 
Im pretty young so I never had/got to mail-order stuff. But every now and then I see commercials that say you have to mail order.
 
Jeez, we do mail order all the time. Amazon is amazingly efficient... One-click ordering. I've bought a couple of instruments from Musician's Friend, they're so quick you can almost hit "submit" on your screen and then run out to the front porch.
Well, almost.....
 
mwerner said:
Jeez, we do mail order all the time. Amazon is amazingly efficient... One-click ordering. I've bought a couple of instruments from Musician's Friend, they're so quick you can almost hit "submit" on your screen and then run out to the front porch.
Well, almost.....
Click to expand...

Yeah, since the invention of the internet, actual mail order is a thing of the past.
As far as teleporting, I think Kershawguy is the closest thing.
He ships via laser beam.
 
cncpro11 said:
Yeah, since the invention of the internet, actual mail order is a thing of the past.
Click to expand...

Your notion will doubtless come as a surprise to Ebay, Amazon, and just about every other distance seller in the world...

In actual fact, there has never been such a high volume of distance selling!
 
AeroNautiCal said:
Your notion will doubtless come as a surprise to Ebay, Amazon, and just about every other distance seller in the world...

In actual fact, there has never been such a high volume of distance selling!
Click to expand...

Mail order - via USPS, the United States Postal Sevice - who according to rumor, will soon be stopping Saturday package deliveries.

Yes, there was a time when they were the only game in town outside of a few specialized delivery services. There was a time big brown (UPS) was rare and independent truckers did the deliveries that the USPS didn't do.
 
AeroNautiCal said:
Your notion will doubtless come as a surprise to Ebay, Amazon, and just about every other distance seller in the world...

In actual fact, there has never been such a high volume of distance selling!
Click to expand...

Respectfully, read my original post.
I'm talking 30 years ago when you actually had to place an order via postal delivery, NOT via instantaneous push of a button.
 
Oh man, I'm old enough to remember when you had to mail an order form to a seller (a PAPER order form, in an envolope, with a postage stamp, not email), you had to wait for them to get the order form, then wait for them to get around to filling the order, then wait for them to mail your order to you.

I can still remember those dreaded words that accompanied every order and tortured my childhood- "Wait 6 to 8 weeks for delivery". :eek:

I imagine a lot of our younger knife-loving members would have a mental break-down if they had to wait 6 to 8 weeks for every knife they ordered :D.

You kids today, you don't know how good you've got it :D.
 
Smoky Mountain KW and AG Russell were the 1st companies where I would actually fill out an order form. Then you'd mail the form with a check. There were others, like Edgeco.
When SMKW started to accept credit cards and faxed orders, some of the wait time was cut.
 
killgar said:
Oh man, I'm old enough to remember when you had to mail an order form to a seller (a PAPER order form, in an envolope, with a postage stamp, not email), you had to wait for them to get the order form, then wait for them to get around to filling the order, then wait for them to mail your order to you.

I can still remember those dreaded words that accompanied every order and tortured my childhood- "Wait 6 to 8 weeks for delivery". :eek:

I imagine a lot of our younger knife-loving members would have a mental break-down if they had to wait 6 to 8 weeks for every knife they ordered :D.

You kids today, you don't know how good you've got it :D.
Click to expand...

And that all had to happen IF they didn't lose your order form and your check cleared.
 
I remember those days. And no tracking info! You just had to cross your fingers that today would be the lucky day!
 
killgar said:
Oh man, I'm old enough to remember when you had to mail an order form to a seller (a PAPER order form, in an envolope, with a postage stamp, not email), you had to wait for them to get the order form, then wait for them to get around to filling the order, then wait for them to mail your order to you.

I can still remember those dreaded words that accompanied every order and tortured my childhood- "Wait 6 to 8 weeks for delivery". :eek:

I imagine a lot of our younger knife-loving members would have a mental break-down if they had to wait 6 to 8 weeks for every knife they ordered :D.

You kids today, you don't know how good you've got it :D.
Click to expand...
I don't even remember the last time I received a printed catalog that had a paper order form in it. I remember when it was a big day when either the Bass Pro or Cabela's master catalog came in the mail. Those catalog are still out there, but it's not nearly the same these days. Telling anyone under 30 that they would have to wait 6-8 weeks for a knife would be like telling them they have to get up to change the channel on the TV.
 
agile_1 said:
Mail order - via USPS, the United States Postal Sevice - who according to rumor, will soon be stopping Saturday package deliveries.
Click to expand...

No. The plan is to stop delivering letters on Saturdays, but continue delivering packages.
 
We didn't have a lot of information back then either. No customer reviews to research products.
Nothing worse than waiting a month only to get a piece of junk.
Remember those ads in magazines from Valor knives or Westbury Sales?
 
:D

Also remember that time passes by much slower in youth. Heck, January & February seem to go by that lasted only a week. The way things are going, Fall will be here next month. :eek: :D

I also remember mail order knives, gear that they said would take 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. I also remember ordering things at an earlier age, from the back of breakfast cereal boxes that took what seemed to be a year to receive in the mail.

Got%2Bpatience.jpg
 
Having been in the Mail Oder business for 49 years I would find it hard to forget. We never waited for checks to clear, except for a huge order from a first time customer. It is true that we no longer send the them standard letter, brochure, order form and return envelope. The world has changed but mail order catalogs will not go away, they remind the customers to go to the web and order.
 
Little Orphan Annie decoder ring, classic!

A.G. Russell posting on my thread? Now thats cool!
Funny thing about those catalogues is that you still need to order them via the internet. ;/)
 
Last edited:
My first order with AG Russell was sometime in the early 1980's
I ordered a Bruckmann folder with horn scales. I still have it.

Yes now AG's catalog serves as a reminder to go to the website.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top