OT -- Wishbooks

[OrthoFan]

I'm about to take one of my periodic breaks from the hobby in order to pursue other interests, but thought I'd pass this along, for those interested.

When I was a kid, one of the highlights of the fall was the arrival of the Sears Wish Book, along with the Montgomery Ward Christmas Catalog. I would spend hours culling through the pages. For me, along with those of us of a certain age, I'm sure this marked the unofficial opening of the holiday season.

I spotted this site -- http://www.wishbookweb.com/ -- which has image copies of several "Wish Book-type" catalogs from the 1930s through the 1980s.

While there are scant few acoustic type phonographs, I did spot this Silvertone model from 1947...



...as well as this acoustic child's phonograph from 1975 --

(The last one I ever saw for sale was at a Woolworth's in 1983.)

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Take care all of you, and happy hunting.

[frenchmarky]

Anybody know if that kiddie machine played specially-made 45's with extra modulation in the grooves, or wider grooves? Or could you play any 45 on it (maybe with miniscule volume?) The pic seems to show the same record on all those players but then it is just for advert photo purposes.

The fully electronic one for $2 more definitely looked like the better deal, but perhaps that plastic acoustic box was sturdier in a 5-year-old's hands than one with a pickup and sapphire needle.

I want that way-cool gee-tar/amp combo for Christmas this year for suuuure!

[barnettrp21122]

Boy, looking at those old Sears catalogs sure takes me back..I can actually remember some of the page layouts from the early 60's!
The Sears catalog was our family's main source of information regarding the latest toys. It would arrive in early Fall, and Mom would hide it away until later so the kids wouldn't be obsessed with Christmas before Halloween.
So many cool toys for all ages. I remember seeing the Lionel Great Inventors series which included a working plastic Edison wax cylinder phonograph replica kit. I think it sold for around six dollars. Unused examples go for hundreds nowadays!
The last acoustic kiddie phonographs were sold in low-cost chain stores such as Woolworth's, as far as I recall. I doubt that anyone cared much whether the sound was acceptable, and even as a six-year-old I knew a steel needle was bad on vinyl or plastic.
My first record player was a VM 205 Songfest, from Santa in (ahem) 1957:

VM 215 Songfest manual..jpg (39.43 KiB) Viewed 815 times

Boy, I loved that thing! I wore it out after a few years, then took it apart to save the pieces for possible future projects!

Thanks for the link!
Bob

[AZ*]

Those Christmas catalogs bring back fond memories. I remember writing letters to Santa Claus and actually listing the page number in the Sears or Monkey Wards catalog.

That was back in the days before Walmart, Target Toy-R-Us, etc.

[Tinkerbell]

Yes, those catalogs also remind me of the days when you went to see a department store Santa, not a Santa who sat in the middle of a huge mall... and when making purchases in the department stores, they would provide complimentary gift wrapping (with gift boxes) for your purchases.

Ahhh... I miss those days. Is it any wonder I am so enamored of items Christmas past (like aluminum trees)?? I still love looking through old copies of department store wish books just for the trip down memory lane.

[frenchmarky]

>>Yes, those catalogs also remind me of the days when you went to see a department store Santa>>

Now we have to shop at warehouse stores or Walmart, hope that nothing falls on us in the aisles from the ceiling-high stacks of Chinese junk, stand in line at the only register of 20 that is being manned, empty the cart onto the conveyor belt ourselves, then hope that none of the 3-molecules-thick plastic bags they cram our purchases in burst open before we reach our car... Merry Xmas! :' )