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The Catalog Blog

Cool things from 20th-century American Catalogs

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Category: Around the House

Those Exotic Americans
Posted on November 29, 2020November 29, 2020

Harrod's, 1967
Those Exotic Americans

Many Americans are infatuated by all things British. The reverse can also be true…Which is why Harrods, the famous London department store, once mounted an exhibition of imported American products. What was intriguingly, luxuriously American? Continue reading Those Exotic Americans

Really into Leather
Posted on June 2, 2020June 1, 2020

Tandy Leather Company, 1961
Really into Leather

Mention the name “Tandy” and people think of RadioShack. But the Tandy family was also really into leather… Continue reading Really into Leather

Pity Poor Penney’s
Posted on May 19, 2020May 19, 2020

J. C. Penney, 1969
Pity Poor Penney’s

And now J.C. Penney has filed for bankruptcy. Let’s look back to happier times, when all was golden & groovy. Continue reading Pity Poor Penney’s

Mid-Century on a Platter
Posted on April 1, 2020

Wm. C. Mithoefer, 1959
Mid-Century on a Platter

I see these melamine plates and fantasize about throwing the kind of cocktail parties my parents once did, all early-60s Pink Hyacinth and Tropicana Turquoise. Continue reading Mid-Century on a Platter

Virus got you? Sears ships you the cure.
Posted on March 23, 2020March 23, 2020

Sears Roebuck, 1903
Virus got you? Sears ships you the cure.

Starting to develop a worrisome cough? What you need, Sir or Madame, is Dr. Hammond’s Tar Expectorant. It cures influenza and dozens of other ailments with equal efficacy… Continue reading Virus got you? Sears ships you the cure.

“Keep your home 10 to 20 degrees cooler this summer”
Posted on March 10, 2020

Montgomery Ward, 1949
“Keep your home 10 to 20 degrees cooler this summer”

In these days of climate-change-slash-global-warming, that promise seems as relevant as it did in 1949. Continue reading “Keep your home 10 to 20 degrees cooler this summer”

“Help yourself and your child to a happier and more normal life”
Posted on March 3, 2020

Sears Roebuck, 1958
“Help yourself and your child to a happier and more normal life”

Once again we see there was nothing Sears didn’t used to sell. Continue reading “Help yourself and your child to a happier and more normal life”

Totally Tubular
Posted on February 18, 2020

Sears Roebuck, 1958
Totally Tubular

What the well-dressed house was wearing in 1958 – affordable, practical, up-to-the minute tubular furniture. Continue reading Totally Tubular

A World of Tubs
Posted on January 21, 2020

Hardin-Lavin, 1923
A World of Tubs

Coming up with names for products is always a challenge. Just ask car makers. So how about bathtubs? Continue reading A World of Tubs

A Century of Progress
Posted on January 14, 2020January 13, 2020

Sears Roebuck, 1920
A Century of Progress

Sears, Fall 1920 100 years ago, what things were changing us? Cars, still, certainly. Also electrical items  in their many manifestations. In 1920, the breakthrough was about to be radio broadcasting. Wireless communications (of either telegraphy or voice) represented the latest tech, proven during recent War. But the concept of sharing public audio performances for … Continue reading A Century of Progress

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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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