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All sufficiently old catalogs are textbooks – time capsules of a cultural fragment, frozen at moment in time. Some catalogs try to BE textbooks. Continue reading The Golden Ages of Hollywood
In 1978, Sears’ business was still in a solid state, selling “solid state” watches Continue reading The Solid State of Sears
Spencer Gifts, 1954 “What shall we get Aunt Gladys? A square foot of Texas… a burro.. or a shoe rack?” Spencer Gifts, long the ubiquitous merchant of weird gifts in malls across the country (such malls as still remain, anyway) once purveyed their gifts via catalogs like this 1954 edition. On the front cover, for … Continue reading “It’s just what I wanted!”
A gallery of all the most popular musical instruments from the 1920s…some of which are still popular today… Continue reading Sweet Sounds for Spring
These two guys look like evil henchmen prepping to do battle with Sean Connery’s James Bond. Continue reading Scuba Diving and other Watersports
You wouldn’t remember this, but once upon a time banks used to give you a toaster when you opened a new bank account. Why a toaster? Well, why not? Continue reading A Toast to Toasters
Once upon a time, Sears was so ambitious they built their own automobile: the “Sears Motor Buggy” Continue reading “All Speeds from 1 to 25 Miles per Hour”
During most of the 20th century you could earn a decent wage drawing hand-lettered advertisements. These 18 Show Cards are small masterpieces of Art Deco design which framed hand-lettered sales messages… Continue reading Art (Deco) Supplies
The pet most kids wanted for Christmas in 1959 was a collie, and you can thank the TV show “Lassie” for that. But ordering one from a catalog? Continue reading Lassie by mail
In the 1990s Mario loyalists were pitted against the Sonic crowd – the playground was bitterly divided over which videogame system was the best. Continue reading The Battle of the Century – SNES vs. Sega Genesis
