All free to access, as of when I listed them. Feel free to send me things to add, or let me know if a link is no longer functional.

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Menswear:
- 1883-1901: Dr. Jaeger’s Sanitary Woolen System Co. Catalog for “Jaeger, the Standard Underwear of the World”.

- 1898: Rogers, Peet & Coy, 1898. New York retailer of shoes for men and boys.

 

- 1900, 1907-1908: B. Kuppenheimer & Co, 1900, 1907-1908. Chicago-based menswear manufacturer & retail, existed 1852-1997.

 

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- 1907, 1916: Abercrombie & Fitch Co., 1907, 1916. Primarily handy for its men’s sportswear and outdoor clothes. 

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Womenswear:
1889: C. & W. May, Costume de Bals, c. 1889. “A trade catalog of dress patterns for costume balls, possibly for the 1889 Paris International Exposition.” C. & W. May was a London costume maker, existed from around 1880-1980.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31970033859304&view=1up&seq=9
1891: Deutsch & Co., 1891. New York womenswear retailer and furrier, active late 19th century.
https://archive.org/details/cataloguefallwin00deut/mode/2up
 Catalogue : fall and winter 1891.
1891: Le Boutillier Brothers, Fall and Winter, 1891-1892. New York-based womenswear retailer.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/t8kd49x17&view=1up&seq=9

1899: Chicago House Wrecking Company. Mail-order catalog primarily helpful for womenswear and accessories. https://archive.org/details/catalogueno96dry00chic/page/18/mode/2up

1907-8: National Cloak & Suit Co, 1907-1908. New York womenswear retailer. Founded 1888, changed its name to National Bellas Hess in 1920s, functional til 1970s.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22National+Cloak+%26+Suit+Co.%22

 

1915: Perry, Dame & Co, 1915, 1919. New York womenswear retailer, active in the early 20th century.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Perry%2C+Dame+%26+Co.%22

1950: Costume Color Council: Costume Color Council presents Costume Color Families for Fall, 1950. The color trends of the year as presented by a group of U.S. manufacturers. 
https://archive.org/details/CostumeColorCou00Cost/page/n1/mode/2up

Department Stores:
Bloomingdale’s, 1890. Founded in Cincinnati in  1861, still exists in New York City today. 
https://archive.org/details/illustratedfashi00bloo/mode/2up
Bronner’s Fashionable Clothing House, 1886. Buffalo, N.Y. clothing retailer, not sure when it closed.
https://archive.org/details/catalogueoffashi00bron/mode/2up
Debenham’s, 1874. London-based, founded 1778, still active.
https://archive.org/details/fashionbooknovel00debe/mode/2up

Eaton's, 1899-1969. Toronto-based, existed 1869-1999.  https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22T.+Eaton+Co%22&page=2
Gimbel Brothers, . Founded in Indiana, primarily active in New York and Philadelphia, 1887-1987. 
1915: https://archive.org/details/gimbelholidayboo00gimb/mode/2up

1910: 
Jordan Marsh and Co., 1880-1897. Boston-based, existed 1841-1996.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Jordan%2C+Marsh+and+Company%22&sort=-date
1896’s Coming Styles Designed by the Great Costumers of Europe is a particular treat. 
https://archive.org/details/comingstylesdesi00jord/page/n3/mode/2up
Le Bon Marché, . Paris-based, founded in 1852, still open today.
1911:  https://archive.org/details/agendabuvarddubo00aubo/page/n1/mode/2up
Liberty, 1911. London-based department store, known for its textile prints. Founded 1875, still open today.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Liberty+%26+Co%22
Lord & Taylor, 1870. New York-based department store, founded in 1826, still here today.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc2.ark:/13960/t9h444z01&view=1up&seq=1
Macy’s, . Founded in Cincinnati, 1858. Still open today in New York. 1877-78: https://archive.org/details/rhmacy00macy/page/n4/mode/2up 
1905-1906: https://archive.org/details/cataloguefallwin00macy/mode/2up
Christmas 1906: https://archive.org/details/macyschristmasgi00macy/mode/2up

1911: https://archive.org/details/catalogueno16spr00macy/mode/2up
1939: “I’ve Seen the Largest Store in the World!” https://archive.org/details/iveseenlargestst00durs/mode/2up

Newman and Levinson. San Francisco department store, not sure when active. 1881: https://archive.org/details/catalogueissuedb00newm/mode/2up
1891-1892: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t97660995&view=1up&seq=3
Sears: Founded in Chicago in 1893, still around today.
1901: https://archive.org/details/whyweask50centsf00sear/mode/2up
Siegel-Cooper, . Founded in Chicago, expanded to New York. Existed from 1887-1930. 
1898: https://archive.org/details/birdseyeviewofgr00sieg/page/n3/mode/2up

Wanamaker’s: Philadelphia-based, existed 1861-1955.
1898: https://archive.org/details/storysomepicture00john/page/n2/mode/2up
1899: https://archive.org/details/annalsofwanamake00john/page/n3/mode/2up

 

Department Store Primary Sources:
1888: The Ladies' Paradise, 
by Émile Zola, originally published in 1888.
https://archive.org/details/ladiesparadise00zola

1901: How Department Stores are Carried On, 
By W. B.  Phillips, 1901. https://archive.org/details/deptstorecarryon00philuoft/page/n6/mode/2up
1911: Department Store Accounts, by William Emmett Russell, 1911, https://archive.org/details/departmentstorea00russ/page/n4/mode/2up
1913: Methods Used in Erecting a Modern Department Store in Chicago, by Hope Edwin Reum, 1913. 
https://archive.org/details/methodsusedinere00reum/page/n4/mode/2up
1914: Department Store Auditing & Accounting, by A. D. Davies, 1914
https://archive.org/details/departmentstorea00davi/page/n6/mode/2up
1914: Department Store Statistics with the Aid of the Slide Rule, by, Robert Bruce Schreffler, 1914
https://archive.org/details/departmentstores00schr/page/n8/mode/2up

1916: Department Store Occupations, by Iris Prouty O'Leary, 1916
https://archive.org/details/departmentstoreo00oleauoft/page/n5/mode/2up
1917: The Cotton and Linen Departments, by Thompson, Eliza Bailey Thompson, Lee Galloway, and Beulah Elfreth Kennard, 1917. Manual for workers in cotton and linen departments of department stores.

Publication date 1917

1921: Operating Expenses in Department stores in 1921, 
by Harvard University Bureau of Business Research, 1922.
https://archive.org/details/departmentstores00harvrich/page/n6/mode/2up

 

1922: Department Managers' Manual, 1922
https://archive.org/details/departmentmanage00npjo/page/n5/mode/2up
1922: Silk, by Eliza B. Thompson, 1922. Merchandise manual for workers in silk department of department stores.
https://archive.org/details/silk00thomgoog/page/n8/mode/2up

1929: The Saleslady, by Frances R. Donovan, Frances R, 1929
https://archive.org/details/saleslady00dono/page/n7/mode/2up

1944: Shoppers' Special: The Way of Life in a Department Store, by Clyde Bedell, 1941
https://archive.org/details/shoppersspecialw00bede
1971: The Negro in the Department Store Industry, by Charles R. Perry, 1971. Obviously dated and often racially insensitive text, but with statistics on the African American workers in the department store industry. 
https://archive.org/details/negroindepartmen0022perr/mode/2up

 

 

Department Store Secondary Sources:
The Good Old Days: A History of American Morals and Manners as Seen through the Sears Roebuck Catalogs, 1905 to the Present, by David L. Cohn, 1940.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.acp2830.0001.001&view=1up&seq=7
The Grand Emporiums: The Illustrated History of America's Great Department Stores, by Robert Hendrickson, 1979
https://archive.org/details/grandemporiumsth00hend
A History of the Department Store, by John William Ferry, 1960
https://archive.org/details/historyofdepartm00ferr
Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture, by William Leach, 1993
https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780394543505
Merchant Princes: An Intimate History of Jewish Families Who Built Great Department Stores, by Leon A. Harris, 1980
 https://archive.org/details/merchantprincesi00harr
Remembering Marshall Field's, by Leslie Goddard, 2011.
https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780738583686