BillsPride12 Posted November 4 Posted November 4 The big ones were Sears, Toys R Us, and JC Penney. These things were a childhood staple in the 90s but I'm pretty sure the tradition goes back much further. I have been seeing these things pop up a lot lately on Nostalgia pages and have enjoyed reading people's personal stories so wanted to see if anybody on here has any good stories or memories from those days? I can vividly remember after Thanksgiving dinners my Grandma popping the question "So what do you kids want for Christmas this year" and before you knew it those wish book would be out on the kitchen table and we would be going over all the cool toys and just like that Christmas season was officially on. Much simpler times for sure, it makes me sad this generation of kids won't get to experience the joy it was to search through these catalogs while putting together your Christmas list. 2 Quote
Sweats Posted November 4 Posted November 4 Yeah, we used to go through these things in the 70's when we were trying to figure out what we wanted for Christmas......Sears was the main staple for just about anything back then. 1 1 Quote
muppy Posted November 4 Posted November 4 absolutely. Ours was the Sears catalog. The thought of that stretches my brain a bit not gonna lie. I was a kid back then. catalogs. well today hubby buys cigars from one. That's about all Ive got. Amazon has taken over the world of shopping hasn't it? yep. 1 1 Quote
Ned Flanders Posted November 4 Posted November 4 We were big on JC Penney since they shipped to the store which was only about 10 minutes away (Northgate Plaza on Dewey Avenue in Greece, NY). In about 1970, NFL stuff really started to appear big time in the catalog and it grew during the decade. My brother and I had jerseys, hats, etc. from several teams. Kids, these were the days before Fanatics and Amazon. 1 Quote
Johnnycage46 Posted November 4 Posted November 4 Oh my god, my siblings and I wore the hell out of those. Circling every Transformer, GI Joe, He-Man, Ninja Turtle, etc....clearly thinking we were getting them ALL lol. 1 Quote
DrDawkinstein Posted November 4 Posted November 4 They still have that. It's the Amazon holiday catalog, and they are in HIGH demand among the parents in the neighborhood because Amazon doesnt send them to everyone and it's totally random whether you get one or not... Quote
US Egg Posted November 4 Posted November 4 Brand Names and Century catalogs in the ‘60’s through the ‘80’s were the Xmas gift bible around here for many. Putting a magic marker dot on the item desired to subliminally Jedi mind trick parents. Quote
BillsPride12 Posted November 4 Author Posted November 4 6 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said: They still have that. It's the Amazon holiday catalog, and they are in HIGH demand among the parents in the neighborhood because Amazon doesnt send them to everyone and it's totally random whether you get one or not... I had no idea Amazon has an actual Holiday catalog but that makes me happy to hear. Hopefully kids can still get a kick out of that kinda thing Quote
DrDawkinstein Posted November 4 Posted November 4 Just now, BillsPride12 said: I had no idea Amazon has an actual Holiday catalog but that makes me happy to hear. Hopefully kids can still get a kick out of that kinda thing My daughter LOVES it, and I was happy to see her have that same experience with circling items and making the list. Reminds me of the 80s for sure. 1 Quote
Sweats Posted November 4 Posted November 4 True story......we used to tape the Sears catalogue to our shins as hockey pads when we were playing street hockey as kids. Quote
CookieG Posted November 4 Posted November 4 50 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said: They still have that. It's the Amazon holiday catalog, and they are in HIGH demand among the parents in the neighborhood because Amazon doesnt send them to everyone and it's totally random whether you get one or not... I didn't know they had a printed catalog, but their wish lists are pretty popular. And convenient too. For son's birthday last month, he had books and movies that I had never seen before, or heard of. 1 Quote
SinceThe70s Posted November 4 Posted November 4 Sears was my go-to growing up. They'd devote a few pages to NFL gear. I ended up with a a few jerseys of different teams (I wanted all of them) but the prize possession was the Bills jacket. 3 Quote
DrDawkinstein Posted November 4 Posted November 4 17 minutes ago, CookieG said: I didn't know they had a printed catalog, but their wish lists are pretty popular. And convenient too. For son's birthday last month, he had books and movies that I had never seen before, or heard of. For sure! Everyone in our family has their own wish list and we've all gotten pretty good at keeping them updated. Makes gifts very easy and there is still some element of surprise. Quote
ChevyVanMiller Posted November 4 Posted November 4 For us, it was the Brand Names catalogue that fueled the Christmas wish lists. 2 1 Quote
Ned Flanders Posted November 4 Posted November 4 2 hours ago, SinceThe70s said: Sears was my go-to growing up. They'd devote a few pages to NFL gear. I ended up with a a few jerseys of different teams (I wanted all of them) but the prize possession was the Bills jacket. I don't know why Nike, New Era, '47, and the rest don't bring back these styles...in adult sizes of course...old bastards like myself would eat this up. 1 Quote
DrDawkinstein Posted November 4 Posted November 4 3 hours ago, ChevyVanMiller said: For us, it was the Brand Names catalogue that fueled the Christmas wish lists. What a business model! Look at the catalog/showroom, write the code of what you want on this card, put the card in this box... WE will call YOU when it's ready Fun times. 1 hour ago, Ned Flanders said: I don't know why Nike, New Era, '47, and the rest don't bring back these styles...in adult sizes of course...old bastards like myself would eat this up. That's Mitchell & Ness, but I'm not sure Fry has enough money in his hand there... https://www.mitchellandness.com/en/ The remakes of the jackets in that Sears pic run $150-$350 1 Quote
Just Jack Posted November 5 Posted November 5 My list would look like this... Sears Page 35, item C Page 47, item A etc... Why write everything out when you can just do it this way? 1 Quote
AlCowlingsTaxiService Posted November 5 Posted November 5 One of the best days of my childhood was the day the Sears Christmas catalog arrived in the mail … I poured over that thing, and actually took it with me to my visits with Santa. Quite certain Santa was thrilled 😂 …. On a related note, I truly miss the Brand Names catalog as well 1 Quote
RichStadiumGuy Posted November 5 Posted November 5 Playboy was my go-to wish book for a while... my older brother used to keep one stashed under his mattress. All those years and Santa never pulled through! 1 Quote
bills_fan Posted November 5 Posted November 5 My 4 year old little girl was going through the Amazon one we got last week and was cutting out pictures and gluing them to a piece of paper as her Xmas list. I enjoyed watching that. 1 1 Quote
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