This 1932 wallpaper catalog from The Bon Marché in Seattle is a good example of how home decorating was marketed during the early Depression years. The idea was simple: wallpaper could change the look of a room without the expense of new furniture or major remodeling. The catalog opens with the phrase “Bring the Outdoors Indoors,” and much of the book follows that idea with floral prints, vines, leaves, garden scenes, and soft natural colors.

The Bon Marché was one of Seattle’s best-known department stores. It was founded in 1890 by Edward and Josephine Nordhoff as a small dry goods store, using their savings to open a shop at First Avenue and Cedar Street. The name was deliberately French. Edward Nordhoff had lived in Paris and worked at the Louvre department store, but he especially admired Le Bon Marché, the famous Paris department store associated with modern retailing, service, and merchandising. The Seattle store was not a direct copy of the Paris store, but it borrowed the name and the idea of a modern department store that could bring fashionable goods to a broad public.

By the time this catalog was issued, The Bon had grown from a small Seattle shop into a major regional retailer. Like many department stores, it sold more than clothing. It also helped shape domestic taste by offering household goods, furnishings, and decorating materials. This wallpaper catalog fits neatly into that role. It presents home decoration as something coordinated, affordable, and manageable for ordinary households.

The catalog includes a wide range of wallpaper patterns, from small scattered florals to larger chintz designs, damasks, leaf patterns, and more modern geometric or abstract prints. Many of the designs use cheerful colors like coral, green, blue, yellow, rose, lavender, tan, and cream. Some are very traditional, while others feel more modern, especially the patterns with simplified flowers, blocky layouts, metallic effects, or strong color contrasts.

Each pattern is shown with a name, price, order number, and suggested use. The catalog also lists matching sidewall, border, and ceiling papers, which shows how coordinated room decoration was being sold as a complete package. Many pages explain how much paper would be needed for an average 12-by-12-foot room with an 8-foot ceiling. This made wallpaper feel practical and affordable, not just decorative.

The prices are one of the most interesting parts of the catalog. Some papers were very inexpensive, while others were clearly positioned as better-quality or more decorative options. The catalog repeatedly mentions features like “fast colors,” washable finishes, and serviceable papers. In 1932, when many households were watching expenses carefully, wallpaper had to be attractive, but it also had to be durable and good value.

The catalog is also full of small household hints and recipes under the heading “Aunt Hetty Sez.” These appear alongside the wallpaper descriptions and give the catalog a practical, domestic feeling. It was not just selling wallpaper; it was presenting The Bon Marché as a helpful source for homemakers.

The cover is much bolder than most of the papers inside. It has a strong Art Deco look, with a dark background, bright yellow rays, a red-roofed house, and simplified trees and landscape. Inside, the patterns are generally softer and more domestic, but the cover gives the whole catalog a modern, graphic quality.

What makes this catalog interesting today is that it shows everyday decorating taste in the early 1930s. These were not high-end designer interiors. They were affordable wallpapers meant for bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, breakfast nooks, halls, bathrooms, and sun rooms. The catalog shows how color and pattern were used to freshen older rooms and make homes feel brighter, cleaner, and more cheerful.

The Bon Marché’s message was practical: a new wallpaper could make a real difference. In a period when people could not always afford major changes, papering a room was a manageable way to update a home. That makes this catalog a useful snapshot of both design taste and domestic life in 1932.