European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 18, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17 let s Acerit. Let s face it., a column on clothing grooming and personal image tips by Judith Rasband starts today in the stars and stripes daily Magazine. I like getting practical information to people who can use it says Rasband who will focus on Spe Cial needs and interests of military personnel and their families. Her column will appear every two weeks. Rasband is a business Home economist whose specially is clothing and cosmetics. She has writ ten articles published in american magazines and is co author of several books such As pregnant and Beautiful he books. She does a stateside version of let s face it. For newspapers in the West. A Mother of three who has a master s degree in Home economics education Rasband has worked As an image consultant to business civic educational and Church groups. She has taught at Brig Ham Young University in the department of cloth ing and textiles. Rasband lives in Stuttgart Germany with her husband s. Neil Rasband a physicist who is doing research at the University of Stuttgart and two teen age sons. A married daughter lives in Dallas. Judith Rasband the Sears Catalon America s wish Book associated press it was born in Chicago 100 year Sago when . Sears an underpaid Railroad agent began shipping discount watches to his , the Sears Catalon is 1,250 pages of Slick mass merchandising that offers everything from maternity clothes to mufflers. Since Sears first retailing by mail in 1886, the Sears Catalon has become a sort of american wish Book reflecting changes in consumer wants and needs though the Catalogno longer is Sears primary business venture. After the late 1920s, when the Chicago based company began integrating an untried retail store system into a Well established mail order business the share of sales from the Catalon began to diminish. By 1939, Sears was two thirds retail and one third mail order. The mail order share of Sears merchandising group business slipped to 17.9 percent in 1984, from 18.7 percent in 1982, the company said. A Challenge for Sears in the Catalon s Early Days was distributing merchandise in the Rural areas but the company focused its Catalon copy on Small town America. If you buy from us you  your goods for As Little or less Money than your local dealer does promised the 1897 Catalon. If you Ever come to Chicago the Catalon offered gentlemanly Ushers will show you through our House and we feel sure you will be interested in How a great mail order business is  they had style and panache said Henry Binford a Northwestern University history professor. Sears was Selling a lot of things the general stores did t have a broader Range of clothing and household  at the turn of the Century when most americans lived in towns of fewer than 2,500, Sears major influence was probably As a Bridge Between the country and the City Binford said. He brought them style and  Sears Catalon also brought them the Princess bust Developer and bust food or. Rose s obesity powders and a German liquor cure that was guaranteed to destroy All desire for  it brought them buggy wheels toilet water Vermicelli Hay presses string ties Cashmere Hose family bibles even a Chapel Organ for $36.90. Although Sears now puts less emphasis on mail order the Catalon still has a circulation of 14 million close to that of Reader s digest. The company has become More selective about who receives the 3-Pound, 141/2-ounce Catalon those who place at least two orders of $30 or More every six months get the Book free. Others must pay $4. New products this year include a $2 Light bulb guaranteed to Burn for five years a $350 to $400 water Heater guaranteed not to leak As Long As you own your Home and a $15 solid paint that comes in a Box and eliminates drips spatters and spills.1 Sears is experimenting on the East coast with a two volume Catalon one Book offering no seasonal items such As appliances and the other devoted to clothing and seasonal merchandise. Also in the works this year Are Sale books and Specia logs Brief Cata logs with narrower Appeal titles include for men 5 7" and under Home health care and motorcycle accessories and  you re a human what s sitting at the dinner table one evening my daughter then about 8 years old talked excitedly about How wonderful it was to be a human  what i asked hesitantly. A human bean she repeated. Say it slowly i instructed. You re a what a human bean you know like a string bean or a red bean. I m a human  she offered me this information As though i had suddenly gone dense. Of was All i could respond at that moment. Somewhere along the line i realized we had missed the boat. And now after All these years my daughter s self concept was that of a human  some corrections were obviously in order and so the conversation proceeded in a predictable manner. A few weeks later this concept of self surfaced again when i nearly flipped Over a full Page and in which the Del Monte co. Offered to shirts printed with a Large string bean and the caption i am a human  perhaps you saw it too in Light of my daughter s misconception of herself i could t pass it up and the children paraded around in those silly to shirts All summer. Since that time i be Learned a lot about the need for a Good self concept and self esteem to enable us to live Happy and Well adjusted lives. Self concept is the general notion each person has of himself. It refers to How each one of us thinks and feels about me myself and  this image develops from birth. It is the result of our experiences both alone and with others. Because that unique self is rarely without clothing our self concept expands to include the Way we dress. It expands further to include the Way we Groom ourselves. Compliments or criticisms about our clothing and grooming Are taken As compliments or criticisms of self. It is important to recognize that the seeds of Low self esteem Are sown while children Are very Young. Although children May seem to miss everything else they remember every event having to do with their feelings of self Worth. Since a child is very sensitive about his or her physical attractiveness self esteem can be quickly weakened by anything that causes them to feel ugly or out of place. If embarrassed in front of others Over some aspect of their appearance children May suffer damage to their self esteem that could be Long lasting. If continually compared to children who Are More attractive bigger and better they May come to think of themselves As losers and that is a self concept none of us needs. The attitudes of parents toward their children even unconscious attitudes Are quickly noticed. What a child sees when he or she looks in the Mirror is largely the product of parental attitudes. In other words a child s self concept is a Mirror of the Parent s attitudes. If parents Are disappointed in the attractiveness of their child that disappointment will soon be transmitted to the child. As parents we must be continually aware of our attitudes about our children. We must Deal with the attitudes and accept the child. Parents have opportunities every Day to boost a child s self esteem about appearance. Parents can teach children to use their clothing and grooming aids to create an attractive appearance. An attractive appearance will in turn improve their self esteem and give an added measure of Confidence and acceptance by others. I have always remembered a Little verse my youngest son brought Home from school i am special lots of Green grass. Lots of Blue sea. Lots of people Birds and bugs. But Only one me let s make that one feel attractive and accepted. Judith Rasband welcomes questions from readers. Write to her in care of stars and san Pes Apo 09211, . Forces