A View From the Other Side

When I was 14, my mother helped me redecorate my bedroom. That spring, we picked out a paint color, new curtains and new wall decor.

When it came time to select a new bedspread, Mom—a savvy American consumer if there ever was one—gave me a Spiegel catalog and showed me how to navigate through it to find just the right color, size and material. When the bedspread arrived, it was like opening a Christmas present in the middle of May.