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The Catalog Blog

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Category: 1950s

The “Long Distance Look”
Posted on August 20, 2018August 19, 2018

Neiman-Marcus, 1955
The “Long Distance Look”

A fashion model using a pay phone: as good a theme as any to build a dress catalog around. Especially for Neiman-Marcus… Continue reading The “Long Distance Look”

The Miracle of Photos in a Minute
Posted on July 26, 2018July 25, 2018

Montgomery Ward, 1953
The Miracle of Photos in a Minute

“Take pictures and see them completely finished in only 1 minute – if it isn’t just the way you want, shoot another one immediately.” Continue reading The Miracle of Photos in a Minute

Build your own “Computor”
Posted on June 21, 2018

Heathkit, 1956
Build your own “Computor”

You could build a computer way back in 1956 if you were so inclined! The EC-1 came from Heathkit, and it resembles a modern computer in name only… Continue reading Build your own “Computor”

Everything and the Kitchen Sink
Posted on February 19, 2018February 22, 2018

American Standard Plumbing, 1950
Everything and the Kitchen Sink

It might seem hard to get excited about plumbing fixtures, but just look at this awesome streamlined kitchen from 1950….There’s such a fabulous diner vibe to that round breakfast table that it’s almost hard to focus on the sink! Continue reading Everything and the Kitchen Sink

Signed Originals by Famous American Artists
Posted on February 8, 2018February 7, 2018

Sears, 1954
Signed Originals by Famous American Artists

Famous artists? Midcentury design marked such an explosion in style after the restraint of the Second World War.This 1954 Sears catalog offers a textbook in a single page of…fabrics. Continue reading Signed Originals by Famous American Artists

Start The New Year In The Pink
Posted on January 8, 2018March 26, 2018

Montgomery Ward, 1958
Start The New Year In The Pink

In 1958, Ward’s introduced new washers and dryers in that most mid-century of colors – pink. Their new washers are “so truly automatic that you’ll spend only 5 minutes of your own time to wash and dry a full 8 lb family load”…
Continue reading Start The New Year In The Pink

A New Kind of Christmas Tree
Posted on December 4, 2017December 3, 2017

Sears Christmas Wishbook, 1958
A New Kind of Christmas Tree

Definition of a fad: you’re lookin’ at it. A Nylon Christmas Tree. “Thousands” of families made or bought them for a little while in the late 1950s. Continue reading A New Kind of Christmas Tree

The hot new Christmas Gift for 1958: Velcro!
Posted on November 23, 2017November 23, 2017

Sears Christmas Wishbook, 1958
The hot new Christmas Gift for 1958: Velcro!

In 1958, Velcro was brand-new, space-age technology imported from England. The ideal place to use it? Down the front of a man's jacket! At least that's what Sears did for Christmas. Continue reading The hot new Christmas Gift for 1958: Velcro!

How to Be Alone and Like It
Posted on November 20, 2017November 19, 2017

Meredith's of Evanston, 1959
How to Be Alone and Like It

For many people, the holidays are a lonely time. Separated from family, isolated from friends. What better way to deal with the holiday blues…than a good game of solitaire! Continue reading How to Be Alone and Like It

Give your kid a gun for Christmas
Posted on November 16, 2017November 15, 2017

Sears Wishbook, 1958
Give your kid a gun for Christmas

We’re talking about a toy gun, to be sure. But compared to our current world, where guns and what to do with them have become a flashpoint of fevered opinions and arguments, it’s breathtaking to behold how different things were 60 years ago. Continue reading Give your kid a gun for Christmas

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We're celebrating all the abundance and excitement found in vintage 20th century American catalogs: the exotic, the fashionable, the surprising, the latest, the coolest, the cheapest, the oddest, the choices.

Not just Sears and Montgomery Wards, You could buy anything from a catalog in the 20th century: from a box of raisins to a house, from a computer to a car, from a billy club to an inflatable brassiere. The old-time printed catalogues which arrived in the mailbox showed the 20th-century American Consumer just how to consume.

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