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You can be forgiven for not recognizing the main item pictured on this page of the 1947 Montgomery Ward Midsummer catalog. What looks like the spawn of a waffle maker crossed with a flying saucer is actually… Continue reading Electric or Spring-wound, the Life of the Party
Emerson Electric Fans, 1946 Summer’s around the corner, and in parts of the country temperature records are already being set. Of course, we can manage, thanks to thermostatically-controlled air conditioning in every building and car. But Air Conditioning, especially in homes, wasn’t a major product until well after World War II. For the first half … Continue reading One of their Greatest Fans
These house plans pictured scream postwar suburbia – late ’40s / early 1950s. “Suburban living will be at its finest” they promise – sprawling ranch homes. But look closely… Continue reading Middle age spreads with Ranch style dressings
You have to admit these are some lovely dresses, eminently suitable for walking up Fifth avenue in the Easter Parade, which is what Judy Garland sang in the movie of that name released the same year as this catalog… Continue reading Dressing for an Easter Parade
This Montgomery Wards electronics catalog from 1948 assembles the vital components of a rudimentary home theater system. Just how rudimentary? Continue reading Introducing the Home Theater
1943. World War II. Suddenly there are females now serving the war effort – the Women’s Army Corps, or “WACs”. This Quartermasters’ catalog devotes page after page to official regulation supplies for the new female Army personnel… Continue reading What the Well-Dressed WAC will Wear…
Was it hats that Sears was selling, or the American Dream? This catalog illustration portrays postwar manhood so idyllically that it’s hypnotic and a little spooky… Continue reading The Stepford Husbands
The Brown Fence and Wire Company, 1941: This page is eye-catching as much for the date as for the subject matter. It’s early 1941 and this moment, over half of American farms still didn’t have electricity…. Continue reading This Black Leather Team Harness will handle any farm job
During WWII, growing vegetables was not only patriotic – in a country still pulling out of the Great Depression, it was economical. Those packet of asparagus seeds were 5 cents each, and beans just 10 cents. Continue reading Vegetables – Vitamins – Victory!
B. Altman & Co, 1948: Was there ever a 20th-century gift more associated with fathers than a tie? Continue reading Give Dad a Tie for Father’s Day
