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If there were any doubt about how strongly gender roles and expectations were once ingrained in American lives, this 1961 White’s Christmas catalog should remove all doubt. Continue reading Girls’ Gifts: Gender Definitions for 1961
Sears had no lock on Christmas catalogs that children would covet. Here’s a couple of thin-paper pages from 1961 with toys that any mid-century video-besotted-kid would want. Continue reading “As Seen on TV!”
There’s no better way to sell to the average dreams of the everyday housewife than to show them an idealized version to aspire to. Continue reading There she is, Mrs America
What I don’t know about motorcycles could fill volumes. but I know what I like, and I like what I see here… Continue reading Putt Putt Vroom Vroom
One era’s common knowledge is another era’s “Hunh?” If you’re under 30, what could you tell me about the gadget pictured on the back cover of this catalog? Continue reading “Breaker-Breaker One-Nine”
It’s a common situation I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves in at one time or another. You’re ridin’ the range on your trusty horse, when suddenly a grizzly bear rises up behind a rock, all lethal claws and fangs… Continue reading The World-famous Winchester
It shocked me to learn Fredrick’s of Hollywood was the largest purveyor of lingerie before Victoria’s Secret. It shocked me to look at these pages and see the ancient sexism and tawdry attitudes… Continue reading “Stop Traffic – Go Spring Fashion”
Top Value Stamps, 1969: You might expect to buy a model train made of diamonds from a catalog if the company is Neiman-Marcus, but would you expect to buy a full-size plane from a Top Value trading stamps catalog? Continue reading The Sky’s the Limit
It’s a total mystery why barrels suddenly became a decorating trend in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But JC Penney was on top of it when they pictured this room… Continue reading We’ll have a Barrel of Fun
We’re dipping once more into the 1968 JC Penney catalog, this time to see what the groovy kids were wearing in the late 1960s. Dennis the Menace here seems to be dressed in Lego colors… Continue reading Fisher-Price Females and Lego Lads
