John A. Salzer's Plants and Seeds, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1890

The myth of size is an American weakness that can be seen in almost any seed catalog. "Giant,""Mammoth" and "Super" are frequently employed in varietal names and descriptions. Salzer's catalog takes a humorous approach to the bigger is better philosophy. W. Atlee Burpee took a more sober approach. In his 1914 catalog, he printed an apology to his customers because he felt that the cover picture showed a tomato larger than the average customer could grow.