 | | | The 1950's will forever remain associated in the German mind with the "economic miracle", and a new zest for life and luxury. It was also around this time that the first mail order businesses got off the ground. The novelty of being able to browse through a "pocket-sized department store" in the comfort of one's own home, and the convenience of door-to-door delivery, meant that Werner Otto's new mail order company was soon a runaway success in Germany. The first catalogue had just 14 pages. 300 hand-produced copies were circulated, with black-and-white product photos stuck onto the pages. Today, in Germany alone, some 70 million Otto catalogues are printed every year. And although the local post office was able to cope with the initial trickle of something like ten to fifteen parcels per day, output had soon rocketed out of sight and an alternative had to be found. In 1972, it established a special parcel-delivery company, Hermes Versandservice, for this purpose. Mercedes-Benz vans, from the MB 260 D through to the Sprinter, have been closely associated with Hermes right from the start. |
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Model range
