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The Catalog Blog

Cool things from 20th-century American Catalogs

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A Gold Pen – a “Dandy Seller”
Posted on April 4, 2017April 4, 2017

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A Gold Pen – a “Dandy Seller”

Rexall Drugs, 1928 / This catalog was produced to convince drugstore owners to stock these 14 caret gold fountain pens. Continue reading A Gold Pen – a “Dandy Seller”

The Original Hot Wheels
Posted on April 4, 2017April 4, 2017

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The Original Hot Wheels

Matchbox Collector’s Catalog, 1973 / Matchbox cars were highly prized by 1960s and 70s-era boys… Continue reading The Original Hot Wheels

What the Working Man Wears
Posted on April 4, 2017April 4, 2017

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What the Working Man Wears

Montgomery Wards, 1947 / These fellows, thanks to their snappy working wear outfits, could pitch hay or fill up your tank equally well Continue reading What the Working Man Wears

If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute.
Posted on April 2, 2017April 3, 2017

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If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute.

Neiman-Marcus Christmas Book, 1969 / One of the the most famous items ever placed  for sale ($10,600) in a catalog, the “Honeywell Kitchen Computer” was the first time most people were introduced to something we might now call a “home computer.” Continue reading If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute.

It Walks!
Posted on April 2, 2017March 14, 2018

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It Walks!

Johnson-Smith Novelty Company, ca. 1950  / The “Magic Walking Coil” is one of 14 products crammed  on one page. What kid could resist the Life-Like Glove Monkey or maybe the Luminous Plastic Pin-Up Girls? Continue reading It Walks!

12,000 miles for $6.66
Posted on April 1, 2017April 2, 2017

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12,000 miles for $6.66

Pep Boys Catalog, 1920s / A tire with a guarantee of 12,000 miles for a bargain price of under $7! Continue reading 12,000 miles for $6.66

Has Hubby a Hobby?
Posted on April 1, 2017April 2, 2017

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Has Hubby a Hobby?

Top Value Stamps, 1957  / If he does, it’s either photography with cheap cameras, or hunting and fishing…  Continue reading Has Hubby a Hobby?

Spring Fashions for 1905: $2.95 and $3.95
Posted on March 31, 2017April 2, 2017

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Spring Fashions for 1905: $2.95 and $3.95

Siegel-Cooper sales catalog, 1905 / Women were certainly thinner then… Continue reading Spring Fashions for 1905: $2.95 and $3.95

1933: Sears Commissions a Poem
Posted on March 31, 2017April 2, 2017

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1933: Sears Commissions a Poem

“They know me as a catalog and yet on lonely nights
I bring them dreams and fancies and a wealth of real delights.” Continue reading 1933: Sears Commissions a Poem

The Wish Book: A Century of American Catalogs
Posted on March 30, 2017April 11, 2017

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The Wish Book: A Century of American Catalogs

In the middle of the 20th century's Great Depression, Sears Roebuck and Co., the nation's biggest retailer, coined a name for their Christmas catalog: the “Wish Book.” Maybe it was because in 1935 too many families could only wish they could buy all the wonderful things pictured in it's pages. But the name stuck, because … Continue reading The Wish Book: A Century of American Catalogs

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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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