By mail. Sears Roebuck and Co. Published a catalog each year,with everything form clothing to jewelry to tools to furniture tomedicine to food to guns to... well, you name it, if it existed,Sears sold it. People ordered by mail, and Sears mailed or shippedtheir products back to them. Sort of like Amazon without thecomputer. By the way, check your library and see if they can getyou a copy of the Sears 1898 catalog. It has been reprinted in ahardcover version- fascinating to look at what you could buy.