Skip to content
{"Bottom bar":{"textstyle":"static","textpositionstatic":"bottom","textautohide":true,"textpositionmarginstatic":0,"textpositiondynamic":"bottomleft","textpositionmarginleft":24,"textpositionmarginright":24,"textpositionmargintop":24,"textpositionmarginbottom":24,"texteffect":"slide","texteffecteasing":"easeOutCubic","texteffectduration":600,"texteffectslidedirection":"left","texteffectslidedistance":30,"texteffectdelay":500,"texteffectseparate":false,"texteffect1":"slide","texteffectslidedirection1":"right","texteffectslidedistance1":120,"texteffecteasing1":"easeOutCubic","texteffectduration1":600,"texteffectdelay1":1000,"texteffect2":"slide","texteffectslidedirection2":"right","texteffectslidedistance2":120,"texteffecteasing2":"easeOutCubic","texteffectduration2":600,"texteffectdelay2":1500,"textcss":"display:block; padding:12px; text-align:left;","textbgcss":"display:block; position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px; width:100%; height:100%; background-color:#333333; opacity:0.6; filter:alpha(opacity=60);","titlecss":"display:block; position:relative; font:bold 14px Georgia,serif,Arial; color:#fff;","descriptioncss":"display:block; position:relative; font:12px Georgia,serif,Arial; color:#fff; margin-top:8px;","buttoncss":"display:block; position:relative; margin-top:8px;","texteffectresponsive":true,"texteffectresponsivesize":640,"titlecssresponsive":"font-size:12px;","descriptioncssresponsive":"display:none !important;","buttoncssresponsive":"","addgooglefonts":false,"googlefonts":"","textleftrightpercentforstatic":40},"None":{"textstyle":"none","textpositionstatic":"bottom","textautohide":true,"textpositionmarginstatic":0,"textpositiondynamic":"bottomleft","textpositionmarginleft":24,"textpositionmarginright":24,"textpositionmargintop":24,"textpositionmarginbottom":24,"texteffect":"slide","texteffecteasing":"easeOutCubic","texteffectduration":600,"texteffectslidedirection":"left","texteffectslidedistance":30,"texteffectdelay":500,"texteffectseparate":false,"texteffect1":"slide","texteffectslidedirection1":"right","texteffectslidedistance1":120,"texteffecteasing1":"easeOutCubic","texteffectduration1":600,"texteffectdelay1":1000,"texteffect2":"slide","texteffectslidedirection2":"right","texteffectslidedistance2":120,"texteffecteasing2":"easeOutCubic","texteffectduration2":600,"texteffectdelay2":1500,"textcss":"display:block; padding:12px; text-align:left;","textbgcss":"display:block; position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px; width:100%; height:100%; background-color:#333333; opacity:0.6; filter:alpha(opacity=60);","titlecss":"display:block; position:relative; font:bold 14px Georgia,serif,Arial; color:#fff;","descriptioncss":"display:block; position:relative; font:12px Georgia,serif,Arial; color:#fff; margin-top:8px;","buttoncss":"display:block; position:relative; margin-top:8px;","texteffectresponsive":true,"texteffectresponsivesize":640,"titlecssresponsive":"font-size:12px;","descriptioncssresponsive":"display:none !important;","buttoncssresponsive":"","addgooglefonts":false,"googlefonts":"","textleftrightpercentforstatic":40}}
  • cb-header-14
  • cb-header-13
  • cb-header-12
  • cb-header-11
  • cb-header-10
  • cb-header-09
  • cb-header-08
  • cb-header-07
  • cb-header-06
  • cb-header-05
  • cb-header-04
  • cb-header-03
  • cb-header-02
  • cb-header-01
  • cb-header-14
  • cb-header-13
  • cb-header-12
  • cb-header-11
  • cb-header-10
  • cb-header-09
  • cb-header-08
  • cb-header-07
  • cb-header-06
  • cb-header-05
  • cb-header-04
  • cb-header-03
  • cb-header-02
  • cb-header-01
Responsive WordPress Image Slider Plugin

The Catalog Blog

Cool things from 20th-century American Catalogs

  • Hers
  • His
  • Kids
  • Around the House
  • Tools of the Trades
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Higher Tech
  • Gifts & Gizmos
  • The Wish Book
  • 1900s
  • 1910s
  • 1920s
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s

Category: 1950s

For Young Debs and Twixteens
Posted on November 9, 2017November 8, 2017

Joseph Horne, 1956
For Young Debs and Twixteens

Twixteen: a nice portmanteau which has utterly vanished from everyday language. In both photos and the illustrations, these are charming mid-century debs and twixteens, seemingly straight out of black and white television sitcoms… Continue reading For Young Debs and Twixteens

S-l-o-w-l-y a Pale Hand Emerges
Posted on October 30, 2017October 23, 2017

Spencer Gifts, 1959
S-l-o-w-l-y a Pale Hand Emerges

Spencer Gifts! Mainstay of malls. After 70 years, Spencer’s still offers the frivolous and the faddish, whereever shopping malls still draw visitors. God, how I loved Spencer Gifts stores and catalogs when I was a certain age. The Mood Rings! The Day-Glow Posters! The Black Lights… Continue reading S-l-o-w-l-y a Pale Hand Emerges

Flown clear out of sight
Posted on October 19, 2017October 22, 2017

Monogram Models, 1951
Flown clear out of sight

Kids today play different than they used to. There was a time when boys would be expected to build scale models. Back then every neighborhood seemed to have a local hobby show, a quality scale model plane could be bought for $4.95, and you could ask your Father to help … Continue reading Flown clear out of sight

Mid-Century Modern design creeps into your paint
Posted on August 21, 2017October 22, 2017

glidden, 1952
Mid-Century Modern design creeps into your paint

Mid-century modern is not as common in mid-century catalogs as you might expect. This 1952 Glidden catalog is designed to help the housewife with solid ideas on how how to paint her home in Niagara Green ceilings and Diamond-colored walls… Continue reading Mid-Century Modern design creeps into your paint

Become a Goddess of Time for $35.95
Posted on July 31, 2017October 22, 2017

Zales, 1957
Become a Goddess of Time for $35.95

Watch this space. A collection of Christmas gift timepieces for him or her. $1 a week would buy you the the Bulova Goddess of Time model, and $2 weekly would pay for a Hamilton Pacer, a seriously space-age design… Continue reading Become a Goddess of Time for $35.95

Beauty that gives you that “New Car” thrill all over again…from Allstate
Posted on July 3, 2017October 22, 2017

Sears, 1953
Beauty that gives you that “New Car” thrill all over again…from Allstate

Once upon a time, Allstate wouldn’t just sell you car insurance coverage, they would sell you car seat covers. Such a thing barely exists nowadays, and certainly not looking like these examples… Continue reading Beauty that gives you that “New Car” thrill all over again…from Allstate

A Train…of Thought
Posted on June 5, 2017June 4, 2017

,
A Train…of Thought

Nowadays, from our 21st-century vantage point, it’s virtually impossible to grasp the imagination and excitement that trains once sparked in American lives. This Lionel catalog was profusely illustrated on every page. And the operative word IS illustrated – no boy’s train set ever looked this good. Continue reading A Train…of Thought

Mars Needs Women?
Posted on May 7, 2017May 2, 2017

,
Mars Needs Women?

This woman seems to be in touch with an alien spacecraft from the 1950s, unless… Continue reading Mars Needs Women?

It Walks!
Posted on April 2, 2017March 14, 2018

,
It Walks!

Johnson-Smith Novelty Company, ca. 1950  / The “Magic Walking Coil” is one of 14 products crammed  on one page. What kid could resist the Life-Like Glove Monkey or maybe the Luminous Plastic Pin-Up Girls? Continue reading It Walks!

Has Hubby a Hobby?
Posted on April 1, 2017April 2, 2017

,
Has Hubby a Hobby?

Top Value Stamps, 1957  / If he does, it’s either photography with cheap cameras, or hunting and fishing…  Continue reading Has Hubby a Hobby?

Posts navigation

Previous page Page 1 … Page 3 Page 4

Menu

  • Hers
  • His
  • Kids
  • Around the House
  • Tools of the Trades
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Higher Tech
  • Gifts & Gizmos
  • The Wish Book

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.

The Catalog Blog: Original Content Copyright 2023