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The back cover of this ca. 1903 Spear & Company catalog is rather sweet, in both copy and illustrations. The tyke is happy, and so is the copywriter: “Nine people out of ten when they look at this picture will think of days when wagon coasting…. Continue reading “Makes every boy who owns one happy.”
It’s an annual transition: dull whites and grays of winter are replaced by an explosion of spring colors… Continue reading Rite of Spring
On the back page of this 1936 Wards Catalog you find a proud boast of the number of products which were made in America. Half the items in the catalog were made just in the western half of the USA…. Continue reading (No Longer) Made in America
To start the new year, a catalog from the very start of a new century – January 1900 Continue reading The seedlings of a new century
“Hmmmph – kids today! Why, in my day, if you wanted to ski, you went down and ripped pine planks from the sides of a neighbor’s house and nailed them to your feet!”… Continue reading Simpler Skis and Skates
A reminder for those of us traveling by car this holiday – be sure your car comes with a rear view mirror and a horn… Continue reading “Rear View Mirrors Prevent Many Serious Accidents”
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
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
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
