Larkin Company Trade Catalog, "A Practical Plan of Saving: The Larkin Idea of Factory-To-Family Dealing," circa 1906

John D. Larkin established a soap manufacturing company in 1875. He hired his brother-in-law, Elbert Hubbard, as a salesman. Hubbard developed "The Larkin Idea," a plan that sold goods directly to consumers through mail-order catalogs and offered incentivizing giveaways. It was a success. By the early 1900s, Larkin's catalogs contained pages of products and even more pages of premiums from which customers could choose.