Free Gardening Books (.pdfs) The Apple Tree Bailey 1922 How Plants are Trained Burbank 1921 Std Cyclo. of Horticulture Bailey 1916 Greenhouse Construction 1917 Strawberry Growing 1917 Back Yard Farmer 1914 Flower Gardening 1913 California Orange Culture 1912 Rose History & Cultivation 1908 Fruit-Trees of America 1900     more gardening books   Free Wine-Beer-Liquor Books History of Modern Wines 1851 Wine-Drinker's Manual 1830 French Wines & Vineyards 1860 Home Made Wine Recipes 1909 California Grapes 1922 Viticulture 1905 Science of Brewing 1891 Brewing & Storing Beer 1835 Inebriating Liquors Mfg & Use 1838 How to Mix Drinks 1862     more wine, beer & liquor books   Free Game & Rule Books Hoyle Encyclopedia of Games 1909 The Compleat Gamester 1754 History of Playing Cards 1848 The Game of Draw Poker 1889 Checker Classics 1922     more game & rule books Chess Handbook Staunton 1921 Chess Openings Marshall 1904 The Art of Chess Mason 1905 Major Tactics of Chess Young 1898     89 more chess books   Free Fashion Books Costume Design & Illustration 1918 Woman as Decoration 1917 Dress in America 1800-1870 1910 Women of All Nations 1908 Automobile Garments Saks 1905 Dressmaking: A Manual 1917 Sewing Machine Mech. Singer 1914 The Art of Knitting 1861 Silk 1922 Cotton from Seed to Loom 1878 Wool & Wool Manufacture 1920 The Story of Leather 1915     more fashion & clothing books   Free Cookbooks Book of Cookery Fannie Farmer 1915 The French Cook 1902 The Italian Cook Book 1919 The Chinese Cook Book 1917 101 Mexican Dishes 1906     more cookbooks   Free Chocolate & Sugar Books Food of the Gods: Cocoa 1903 Natural History of Chocolate 1730 Sugar: A Popular Treatise 1921 Reliable Candy Teacher 1920 Candy Making in the Home 1914 Royal English Confectioner 1862 Complete Confectioner & Baker 1844 The Italian Confectioner 1829     more chocolate, sugar, etc. books   Free Coffee & Tea Books All About Coffee 1922 Coffee History, Cultivation... 1872 The Tea Cyclopaedia 1882 Tea Blending, a Fine Art 1896 Yerba Mate 1916     more coffee & tea books   Free Kitchen, Dining, Home Books Art of Tablesetting 1921 Handbook of Dining 1865 History of Food & Preparation 1853 Putnam's Household Handbook 1916     more kitchen, dining, etc. books   Free Furniture Books Period Styles in Furniture 1913 Home Furnishing 1913 Italian Renaissance Furniture 1916 Interior Decoration 1922     more furniture & decorating books   Free House & Construction Books White Pine House Plan v3-4 1918 Ideal Home Plans 1916 Craftsman Homes 1909 Mountain Houses 1908 Practical Book of Architecture 1916 Old Homes Made New 1878 Building a Home 1908 Cement & Concrete Handbook 1911     more house & construction books   Free Hardware, Tools, Etc. Books The Amateur Carpenter 1915 The Carpenter's Cyclopedia 1913 Wood Turner's Handbook lathe 1901 Species of Wood 1908 Wood Finishing 1908 House Painting... 1918 Modern Blacksmithing 1904 Metal-Worker's Assistant 1864 Modern Methods of Welding 1922 Machinery's Reference Series 1912     more hardware & tools books   Free Watch & Jewelry Books Watch/Clock Maker's Handbook 1896 Time Telling history 1919 The Diamond 1911 The Gem-Cutter's Craft 1906 Jewelry & Precious Stones 1856 Pearls & Pearling 1913 The World's Gold 1908     more watch & jewelry books   Free Automobile Books Model T Ford V Pagé 1916 Putnam's Auto Handbook 1918 Story of the Automobile 1917     more automobile books   Free Auto Repair Books (Model T) Ford Repairing Pile 1920 Audel's Gas Engine Manual 1908 Carburation 1913 Goodrich Tire History 1918     more auto repair books   Free Sports Books Scientific Baseball McGraw 1913 Casey at the Bat 1912 American Football... A Stagg 1894 Football Player... F Yost 1905 Basketball 1922 Ladies Tennis DKD L-Chambers 1910 The Art of Golf 1892 Annals of Cricket 1896 How to Make Velocipedes.. 1869     more sports books   Free Outdoor Books Hunting the Grisly T Roosevelt 1900 Booke of Hunting 1576 US Water Game Birds 1866 Rifles & Rifle Shooting 1912 Trail Craft 1922 Field & Forest Handy Book 1906 Camp Cookery 1910     more outdoor books   Free Fishing & Boating Books Compleat Angler Izaak Walton 1824 Fishing with the Fly Orvis 1883 Days of Fly Fishing Humphry Davy 1851 How to Tie Flies for Trout 1899 Fishing Kits & Equipment 1913 Manual of Yacht & Boat Sailing 1900 Motor Boat Construction... 1910 Motorboat & Hydroplane Const. 1917     more fishing & boating books   Free Art Books The World's Painters 1898 Leonardo Da Vinci 1908 Caricature & Comic Art 1877 Cartoons by McCutcheon 1903 Practice of Oil Painting 1910 Watercolor Painting 1898 What is Art? 1910     more art books   Free Online Photography Books Photography in America 1922 Panama Canal Autochromes 1913 California the Beautiful 1911 Sunlight & Shadow 1897 The Camera Man 1916 The Watkins Manual 1919 Nature & The Camera 1902 Agfa Photo Formulae 1910 Dry Plate Making 1886 Airplane Photography 1920     more photography books   Free Music Books Cowboy Songs 1916 Moore's Irish Melodies 1859 Folk Songs of Many Peoples 1921     more music books   Free Musical Instrument Books History of Pianoforte 1899 Pianos & Their Makers 1913 Great Pianists on Playing 1917 History of the Violin 1905 Art of Violin Playing 1899 Saxophone Playing 1917     more musical instrument books Online Book Search Engines   Department Stores Macy's sells thousands of quality products in all departments from top brands like CHANEL, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Sean John, Clinique, Vera Wang, Lenox, All-Clad, Lancôme, Ecko, Donna Karan, Krups, Waterford, JL O by Jennifer Lopez, MAC, Estée Lauder, Ralph Lauren, Puma, Cuisinart, Wedgwood, Villeroy & Boch, Nike, and KitchenAid. Most items bought online can be returned or exchanged at any of Macy's brick & mortar stores. At this time, Macy's ships to addresses in the Unites States, APO's, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Palau, US Virgin Islands, and Guam. Rowland Hussey Macy founded Macy's in 1858 as a small, fancy dry goods store on the corner of 14th Street and 6th Avenue in New York City. In November, 1902, the store moved uptown to its present Herald Square location on Broadway and 34th Street. With the store's 7th Avenue expansion complete in 1924, Macy's Herald Square became the "World's Largest Store," with over one million square feet of retail space. By November 2003, there were 248 Macy's stores in twenty-one states, Puerto Rico and Guam. Amazon.com and their associated merchants, in addition to books, carry all kinds of home and personal electronics, DVDs & CDs, tools & hardware, sporting goods, practically everything. You can use the Amazon search form to search any of their fine departments. find this: in: Electronics Wireless Phones Camera & Photo Books Outlet Store VHS Video DVD Video Popular Music Classical Music Software Toys & Games Video Games Tools, Hardware Outdoor Living Kitchen & Home All Products Wal-Mart has the low prices and wide selection you would expect at any Wal-Mart store. And if any item you order from them does not meet your expectations, you have your choice of returning them to any Walmart store, or by mail (some items such as computer hardware and components, heavy or large items that are identified as oversize on their item description pages and perishable products, such as flowers and food, cannot be returned to a store). Sears customers can shop everything from clothing, sporting goods, home fashions, and entertainment, to lawn and garden, toys, fitness gear, appliances, and tools. At Sears you will find popular clothing brands such as Lands' End, Levi's, and Structure and great bed and bath brands such as Martex, Utica, and Colormate. Sears is also well known for their own Craftsman®, Kenmore, and DieHard. Their guarantee (see website for details): "If for any reason you are not satisfied, within 90 days of receiving your order--30 days for home electronics items--return your merchandise to us for a full credit." Most purchases made online can be returned to any full-line Sears store. Many items purchased online can also be picked up at your local Sears store, with no shipping charges. In the late 1800s, Richard Sears was an agent of the Minneapolis and St. Louis railway station in North Redwood, Minnesota. Sears sold lumber and coal to local residents on the side to make extra money. Later, Sears purchased a shipment of watches unwanted by a neighboring Redwood Falls jeweler, sold the watches at a nice profit, and then ordered more for resale. In 1886 moved his new business to Minneapolis, and in 1887 he moved to Chicago and hired a watchmaker named Alvah C. Roebuck. In 1893 the name of the firm became Sears, Roebuck and Co. With revenues in 2004 of $36.1 billion, Sears now offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 2,400 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the U.S. and Canada, which includes approximately 870 full-line and 1,100 specialty stores in the U.S. Kmart ships to all 48 contiguous United States (and the District of Columbia) via UPS (not to PO Boxes). Their guarantee (see website for details): "If you're not completely thrilled with something you buy on www.kmart.com, you have 90 days to return it by mail or to your nearest Kmart store." Sebastian Kresge opened a modest five-and-dime store in downtown Detroit in 1899. The low prices appealed to shoppers and allowed him to expand to 85 stores in 1912. S.S. Kresge Company opened the first Kmart discount department store opened in 1962 in Garden City, Michigan. Just four years later in 1966, sales in 162 Kmart stores and 753 Kresge stores topped the $1 billion mark. In 1977, nearly 95 percent of company sales were generated by Kmart stores, and the company officially changed its name to Kmart Corporation. Since 2005, Sears Holdings Corporation, with approximately $55 billion in annual revenues, has been the parent of both Kmart and Sears, Roebuck & Co. Kmart now operates 1,479 brick and mortar Kmart and Kmart Super Center retail outlets. Montgomery Ward sells quality products and great values for your home. They carry furniture, bedding, window coverings, home electronics, kitchen goods, wall art, and more. Ward's guarantee (see website for details): "When you receive your purchase, if you are not satisfied, simply return it within 60 days." In Chicago, Illinois, in 1872, Aaron Montgomery Ward established the first mail-order business with an innovative single-sheet catalog offering 163 items. By 1904, the catalogs weighed a hefty four pounds each and were mailed to three million customers. Hudson Bay Company (Canada), Canada's largest retailer (over 580 locations), combines several Canadian shops in their online store: The Bay, Zellers, and Home Outfitters. The Bay carries fashion, beauty and household goods; Zellers is a complete discount department store including clothing, furniture, household goods, electronics, etc.; and Home Outfitters sells furniture, small apppliances, kitchen & dining, and bed & bath goods.   Gift Shops The Sharper Image is a general store full of gadget-oriented gifts, including cameras, electronics, music, luggage, housewares, binoculars, watches, and more.. Brookstone sells hard-to-find tools as well as unique innovative gadgets and gifts. Fingerhut sells brand-name merchandise including apparel, electronics, home furnishings, jewelry, toys, kitchen wares, sporting goods and more. They offer convenient credit, low monthly payments, 30-day home trial, and satisfaction guaranteed (see website for details). In business since 1951, Taylor Gifts is a mail order catalog company with a wide variety of novelties, gadgets, as-seen-on-tv items & more for the home and for personal organization. Standard shipping is via parcel post, so they can ship to P.O. boxes; they also can ship via USPS Priority Mail or FedEx.   Tickets Stub Hub is the original and most successful online ticket forum in America. At Stub Hub, you can buy & sell tickets to sporting events, concerts, and theatre productions across the entire country.   Greeting Cards, Seasonal Products Hallmark is the most famous name in greeting cards. They also carry albums and scrapbooks, notes and stationery. Hallmark.com sells great business greeting cards, too.   Flower Delivery On August 18, 1910, fifteen American retail florists agreed to exchange orders for out-of-town deliveries. Originally called Florists' Telegraph Delivery, FTD was the world's first flowers-by-wire service. Fifty-five years later, FTD expanded to include international transactions. The company was renamed Florists Transworld Delivery to reflect its growing worldwide presence. In 1914, FTD adopted the classic figure of Mercury as its official logo. FTD is the largest floral company in the world. The leader in quality, artistry and dependability, FTD connects approximately 20,000 North American retail florists and supports an international floral delivery network of 50,000 affiliated FTD Florists in 154 countries. DeLa Flowers is dedicated to providing the freshest flowers direct from the farms at which they are grown. They have relationships directly with the growers, so the flowers you send are the freshest, highest quality, and most beautiful product available, at competitive prices. They deliver anywhere in the continental United States. Every Teleflora flower arrangement is designed and hand-delivered by a professional florist whose flower shop is in the same neighborhood as the recipient of your thoughtful gift. So your flower delivery arrives fresh and beautiful. Most Teleflora products can be delivered the same day if orders are received before 2:00 PM, Monday-Friday, or before 12:00 Noon on Saturdays in the recipient's time zone. Flowers Direct (UK) offers quality flowers, champagne, wine, chocolates and other gifts in London, the UK, and abroad. The award winning Flowers direct website has already satisfied over a million customers. They guarantee that all of their floral arrangements are created by skilled florists using only the freshest flowers, and will be delivered to the correct destination on the date you specify. As of this writing, UK delivery cost is £3.20; international shipment charges are £7.99.   Gift Baskets Hickory Farms is a famous and reliable provider of the finest quality food gifts you know will be appreciated. Figis sells holiday fare "gifts in good taste," delicious dairy cheeses & cheese spreads, fabulous smokehouse meats, and the best in bakery, chocolates, nuts, sweets & snacks. Plus special gift assortments, collectible treasures, and exclusive and personalized items. The Wisconsin Cheeseman has been in the food gift business since 1946. They make most of the chocolates, cheese spreads, logs & balls, jams, jellies & preserves that are featured in their gift selections catalog in their own Sun Prairie, Wisconsin kitchens. Delightful Deliveries offers the largest selection of unique gift baskets and gourmet gifts on the web, with delicious gifts from Mrs. Fields, Shari’s Berries, Ethel M Chocolates, Green Mountain Coffee, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Mrs. Beasley’s and over 40 other food manufacturers. GiftBaskets.com delivers gift baskets for all occasions, including birthdays, anniversaries, new arrivals, corporate gifts, thank you's, weddings, parties, sympathy, any occasion!   Gift Certificates SuperCertificates from GiftCertificates.com allow your family and friends to choose what they really want, from hundreds of merchants. SuperCertificates can be purchased for any dollar amount, and never expire. GiftCertificates.com also sells merchant-specific gift certificates, great if you want some control over how the money is spent.   Travel Gifts The Samsonite Company Store sells the full range of luggage, cases, bags, backpacks, and travel accessories that feature the brand's legendary durability. They have numerous items on sale every day. eBags, the world's largest online retailer of bags and accessories, sells a wide selection of luggage, backpacks, handbags, briefcases, computer cases and accessories, from brands like Samsonite, JanSport, The North Face and Eagle Creek, at extremely competitive prices.

Amazon - eBay See also: Posters & Photos T-Shirts Sears Clearance Center

Founded in 1989, Magellan's provides travelers with a single source of state-of-the-art, quality travel products, including baggage, maps, clothing, translators & converters, and more. The Washington Post says Magellan's carries "the widest selection of travel accessories currently available from a single source."

TravelTools sells travel accessories of all kinds, including travel electronics, luggage, backpacks, briefcases, duffle bags, watches, wallets, cellphone accessories, travel organizers, automobile office products, and more.

  Special & Specialized Gifts

A.T. Cross is the world's leading provider of quality writing instruments, including fountain pens, ball-point pens, and "Selectip" interchangable tip pens. They also sell fine pencils, pen and pencil sets, watches, leather accessories, and more.

A living gift, starting at under $30. Treegivers trees are planted on public lands, in whichever of the 50 states you choose, and the recipient receives a certificate of planting.

Sierra Club memberships help to preserve and protect the environment, for a special price of only $15. Membership includes a free Sierra Club backpack, a year's subscription to Sierra magazine, and your local Sierra Club chapter newsletter.

Animal Den doesn't sell pet supplies. Instead they sell clothing and other gifts for pet and animal lovers, with animal themes.

Whales & Friends sells animal and nature theme t-shirts and other clothing, jewelry and ornaments, bedding, kitchen and bath accessories, figurines, framed prints, and more.

HansonEllis carries fine bridal gifts, wedding favors, engravable keepsakes, crystals, candles, & soaps.

Shop Irish is the premier store on the web for Irish themed jewelry, apparel, and unique gifts including Claddagh rings, Celtic crosses, shamrock sweaters, and many more exciting Irish themed items.

Greek Gear is a fraternity and sorority superstore, carrying the best of Greek fraternity and sorority clothing, gifts, and other merchandise.

iRobot sells six different models of the famous Roomba vacuum cleaner robot, plus the Scooba floor washing robot.

TIME Magazine, February 13, 1950, p. 78: CORPORATIONS: Card Shark     ...In the greeting-card business the company that understands and cares the most is Kansas City's Hall Brothers, Inc., world's largest greeting-card makers. It has a love that's deep and true for ready-made bow-legged tetrameter and a business built on sentiment (last year's estimated gross: $15 to $18 million). Last week in the midst of its biggest sales season next to Christmas, Hall Brothers was, as usual, turning out more than 1,000,000 of its "Hallmark" greeting cards every day. There were no fewer than 500 different designs for St. Valentine's Day* ranging from 5¢ greetings to $5 concoctions dripping with lace and scented sachets.     Behind all the hearts & flowers is Joyce C. Hall, 58, a lean and solemn man who started out, at 18, to become a greeting-card shark by selling postcard greetings in Kansas City. Rollie B. Hall, a brother, joined him there, but they soon realized that postcard greetings were losing favor. Said Joyce Hall: "We found we were developing a dying business." They switched to cards enclosed in envelopes, were soon so successful that they took in another brother, William F. Hall.     The Hall brothers claim to have fostered quite a few innovations. They were first with the "humorous" greeting ("You have the strength of a TIGER... lily!"). They developed the unfolding card that tells a continued story, and leveled out the seasonal peaks & valleys of the business by pushing the "everyday" card for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, sympathy and the sick. Today, customers have a choice of six different Hallmark cards for the tonsillectomy patient alone; once there was even one for the friend who has been run down by a car. Other tricks of the trade: white kittens on cards will always outsell brown ones; geraniums are never good, but pansies are surefire sellouts.     In addition to a staff of 150 artists, the company uses the works of such diverse painters as Vincent van Gogh, Norman Rockwell, Salvador Dali, Grandma Moses (one of the best sellers), and the winners of a $28,000 international contest (TIME, March 21). For the changeable public, Hallmark keeps plenty of new cards up its sleeve. One thing that doesn't worry Joyce Hall is a recession. In bad times, says he, people send greeting cards instead of presents. * Believed to commemorate the death of two Roman priests in 269 A.D., each called Valentinus, and both executed on the same day. One of them is supposed to have been executed for marrying lovers who came to him, despite a decree by Emperor Claudius II forbidding marriage (single men made better soldiers).