Draft:Harriet B. Shaw

Harriet Butler Shaw (June 26, 1842 - December 21, 1933) was a pioneer of the mail-order business. Historians generally credit Aaron Montgomery Ward with having pioneered the mail-order business in North America.

Harriet B. Shaw started a mail-order business from her home in Alfred, Maine (known as the "Brickends"). Going by the name "H.B. Shaw" to disguise her gender, Shaw sold medicines and other products from 1865-1881. Products included a "$1 sewing machine" (actually a needle, thimble and a spool of thread), and a "foolproof flyswatter" (actually two blocks of wood). Buyers wrote from across the United States, but also Brazil, Canada, Germany, and Peru. Shaw suspended her operations when she came under scrutiny by the United States Post Office for fraudulent business practices. In the 1920's, a stamp collector purchased Shaw's collection of envelopes she had received while doing business. Shaw's envelopes account for as much as 5-10% of the known 1869 issue stamps known today, and are considered collectors items.