None of Ward 's friends or business acquaintances joined in his enthusiasm for his revolutionary idea . Although his idea was generally considered to border on lunacy and his first inventory was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire , Ward persevered . In August 1872 , with two fellow employees and a total capital of $ 1,600 he formed Montgomery Ward & Company . He rented a small shipping room on Normandy lane trail fleet and published a general merchandise mail-order catalog with 163 products listed . It is said that in 1880 , Aaron Montgomery Ward initially wrote all catalog copy . When the business grew and department heads wrote merchandise descriptions , he still went over every line of copy to be certain that it was accurate
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Aaron Montgomery Ward