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Have you ever wondered what happened to those His and Hers camels you saw in the Neiman-Marcus catalogue? Do people really buy those exotic and expensive sable coats, Chinese junks, and bags of diamonds? Yes, they do - and Stanley Marcus tells why in this richly anecdotal, illustrated history of the most extraordinary mail order catalogue ever. As Neiman-Marcus celebrates its Diamond Jubilee year, Marcus, a veteran retailer, traces the history of the Neiman-marcus catalogue, from its beginning in 1926 as a corporate Christmans card to its institutionalized fame in succeeding decades and its success as a multimillion-dollar direct-mail business. In these pages we are treated to an amazing tour of the delightfully unique gifts that have set this catalogue apart in the minds and hearts of customers throughout the world, as well as the fascinating hsitory of Mr. Marcus's search for these offerings all over the world, from the Netherlands (for wooden shoes) to India (for rush baskets) to Japan (for porcelain). Marcus traces the changing styles and tastes of the public through the years: from monogrammed handkerchiefs in 1942 to the His and Hers jogging outfits of the 1980s, from silks to synthetics, from the practical to the fantastic, from peace to war and back to peace, and from prosperity to inflation and recession. Through it all the catalogue has continued to offer the best, the most imaginative, and the most flamboyant to its customers. This lavishly illustrated history is truly the story of a great advneture in retailing. - Dust jacket.