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The Catalog Blog

Cool things from 20th-century American Catalogs

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What killed off women’s hats?
Posted on January 7, 2020January 6, 2020

Aldens, 1966
What killed off women’s hats?

Aldens, Fall/Winter 1966 For most of the 20th century, women’s hats were a major fashion statement. We’ve shown off various styles in different decades: here and here for example. But suddenly in the 1960s, hats started fading from the pages of catalogs. Why? What killed off women’s hats? Women’s hair. Or – judging from this … Continue reading What killed off women’s hats?

Sweeping away the Decade
Posted on December 24, 2019

Neiman-Marcus, 1979
Sweeping away the Decade

Chim Chimney Chim Chim Cheroo! In their quest for the best – or certainly the most novel – Christmas gifts, Neiman-Marcus ended the decade of the 1970s by offering up a pair of chimney sweeps. Continue reading Sweeping away the Decade

Turn of the (19th) Century Toys
Posted on December 17, 2019December 16, 2019

Sears Roebuck, 1899
Turn of the (19th) Century Toys

What was Christmas shopping like 120 years ago, sometime between Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, the Wish Book, and the zillion gadgets that we augment our lives with these days? Continue reading Turn of the (19th) Century Toys

A-door-able Christmas Decorations
Posted on December 10, 2019December 10, 2019

Sears Roebuck, 1965
A-door-able Christmas Decorations

Holiday decoration have been in an arms race in for decades now. The early years of the outdoor decoration derby were charmingly simple. And plastic. Continue reading A-door-able Christmas Decorations

Duds for Dad
Posted on December 3, 2019December 3, 2019

Sears Roebuck, 1955
Duds for Dad

Give Him a Collection of Cliches for Christmas! Continue reading Duds for Dad

A Brave New World of your own… for $80,000
Posted on November 26, 2019

Neiman-Marcus, 1973
A Brave New World of your own… for $80,000

Was “Information Overload” a thing in 1973? Neiman-Marcus thought so, and commissioned a retreat that you could escape into… Continue reading A Brave New World of your own… for $80,000

Holy Superhero Crossover, Batman!
Posted on November 19, 2019November 19, 2019

Montgomery Ward, 1975
Holy Superhero Crossover, Batman!

Christmas 1975: Montgomery Ward releases a set of action figures and a crossover plot to go with it, hoping parents would buy all eight dolls for the holidays…plus the Batcave, Batmobile, and Jokermobile. Continue reading Holy Superhero Crossover, Batman!

Blues For Men. (And the occasional gray and brown)
Posted on November 12, 2019November 11, 2019

Chicago Mail Order Company, 1936
Blues For Men. (And the occasional gray and brown)

Photos from the 1930s are all black & white. Men’s actual clothes from the era weren’t much livelier. Continue reading Blues For Men. (And the occasional gray and brown)

Fashion in (almost) living color
Posted on November 5, 2019

Chicago Mail Order Company, 1936
Fashion in (almost) living color

If you watch enough old 1930s movies, you can be forgiven for thinking the world once existed only in black and white. So it’s startling to see these 1936 fashions in a riot of colors. Continue reading Fashion in (almost) living color

G is for Giant
Posted on October 29, 2019

LGB Model Trains, 1990
G is for Giant

Model trains come in different sizes or gauges, from the minuscule Z-gauge to the mighty G-gauge. G might may well stand for “Giant”. These are some big model trains. Continue reading G is for Giant

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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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