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The Catalog Blog

Cool things from 20th-century American Catalogs

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Category: 1980s

Not exactly a Playstation
Posted on October 1, 2019

Magnavox Odyssey2, 1981
Not exactly a Playstation

Back in 1981, this was the type of video console that would set a gamer’s heart racing. (Shakes head sadly.) Continue reading Not exactly a Playstation

Making Fun of War
Posted on July 30, 2019July 29, 2019

Avalon Hill Games, 1982
Making Fun of War

Games, if you look at them closely enough, are often anything BUT fun and games. Wargames, for instance, have existed in a professional sense essentially since war itself. Continue reading Making Fun of War

Get Me Clark Kent!
Posted on January 24, 2019January 24, 2019

Sears Roebuck, 1980
Get Me Clark Kent!

Sears Roebuck, Spring/Summer 1980 I don't know why, but this page looks to me like Sears has called on Clark Kent to model their 1980 menswear separates. Hmmm. OK,  yes, definite resemblance. Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent is a bit nerdier, but it's there. Superman the Movie had just come out in the winter of 1978, … Continue reading Get Me Clark Kent!

“For the Hostess…Bright Kitchen Wares”
Posted on January 10, 2019

S&H Green Stamps, 1981
“For the Hostess…Bright Kitchen Wares”

All this glistening copper (glistening until you put your fingerprints all over it, anyway) is a quintessentially 1980s thing, and so is the layout of the product photography… Continue reading “For the Hostess…Bright Kitchen Wares”

When Boxes Boomed
Posted on September 27, 2018September 26, 2018

Sears, 1987
When Boxes Boomed

Behold that mighty marvel of miniaturization: two speakers, cassette tape recorder, AM FM radios, equalizer – the Boom Box. Continue reading When Boxes Boomed

More Western, Less Auto
Posted on August 27, 2018August 26, 2018

Western Auto, 1984
More Western, Less Auto

Western Auto stores were celebrating three quarters of a century in 1984 and feeling expansive. Barely half the pages in this catalog featured car parts…. Continue reading More Western, Less Auto

Personal Computers, After the Flood
Posted on March 19, 2018March 28, 2018

Whole Earth Software Catalog, 1984
Personal Computers, After the Flood

Another snapshot from a moment in history – 1984 – the end of a “Cambrian explosion” of computers and software. It was a moment when Stewart Brand and his Whole Earth crew out in California could feel an urgent calling to categorize and review what was going on with the Personal Computer revolution… Continue reading Personal Computers, After the Flood

Ingvar Kamprad, 1926-2018
Posted on January 29, 2018January 28, 2018

IKEA , 1985
Ingvar Kamprad, 1926-2018

Ingvar Kamprad, 1926-2018 The founder of Ikea has died. Sweden’s Ingvar Kamprad was 91. His plain appearance and message of comfortably-lived simplicity belied a seriously complicated person, which is probably to be expected from someone who could create, grow, and manage a company the size of Ikea. He invented it, while the rest of us … Continue reading Ingvar Kamprad, 1926-2018

A long time ago in a catalog far far away…
Posted on December 14, 2017December 13, 2017

Sears Christmas Wishbook, 1983
A long time ago in a catalog far far away…

For forty years there’s been a Star Wars movie that’s either just been released or about to be released. So it is this year, and so it was at Christmas 1983 when “Return of the Jedi” was still in theaters…. Continue reading A long time ago in a catalog far far away…

Barbie’s World
Posted on December 7, 2017December 6, 2017

Sears Christmas Wishbook, 1983
Barbie’s World

Sears Wishbook 1983: See Barbie. See Ken. See Barbie’s Western Star Traveller RV. Drive, Barbie Drive. Drive to your Barbie McDonalds. Welcome to Barbie’s world. Continue reading Barbie’s World

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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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