Anyone remember big "Wishbook" department store catalogs?

[ScoobMaster]

How many of you spent time in your childhood thumbing through the big thick department store catalogs around your birthday or the holidays in the 50s/60s/70s/80s picking out the toys you wanted most? You can go back and revisit that sense of wonder here:

The Wishbook web Project

Post a link to a page containing a toy or item you wanted/had and describe it.

I'll start:

Who could ever forget getting a Big Wheel! I got one of the "standard" red, blue, and yellow ones. I would have killed for that "panther" model though!

What did YOU wish for/get?

 

[lxskllr]

Haven't gone through them yet, but did any of you do latch hook stuff? You could make cheezy wall hangings and pillow cases out of your "creations". It was kind of like a textile paint by numbers kit, and amusing in the same way solitaire is, but you get a tangible result from your time wasted.

 

[sandorski]

Yes. When I got into my early Teens I got even more enthralled by them.

 

[IronWing]

Yes. When I got into my early Teens I got even more enthralled by them.

Penneys >> Sears

 

[sandorski]

Penneys >> Sears

We don't/didn't have Penneys up here. Sears was the only game in town.

 

[IronWing]

We don't/didn't have Penneys up here. Sears was the only game in town.

Penneys used real women/girls as models. Sears used manikins.

 

[sandorski]

Penneys used real women/girls as models. Sears used manikins.

Nope, real Models here. Late 70's/early 80's.

 

[pontifex]

Yep, Sears catalog.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I'd kill for the Mazda Range in the '33 Spiegel.

 

[PClark99]

I always wanted the battery powered Red Corvette from Sears but I never got it.

 

[Cienja]

Best link ever. Thanks. Cheered me up.

 

[MikeMike]

 

[trmiv]

Wow, I totally remember those 80's Sears and Wards catalogs. I'd have 75% of the toy section circled by the middle of October.

 

[lxskllr]

I'd kill for the Mazda Range in the '33 Spiegel.

Yea, that's hip. I like wood ranges. My uncle had one in his old farmhouse, and used it exclusively in the winter. They had some kind of modern range for summer use, but I can't remember it it was gas or electric.

 

[trmiv]

Man this rules. I actually had a friend that had this GI Joe Aircraft Carrier. I was so jealous.

http://www.wishbookweb.com/1985_SearsWishbook/images/SearsWishbook.1985EC.P442.jpg

 

[ScoobMaster]

Best link ever. Thanks. Cheered me up.

Glad you liked it.

Looking through some of these takes me back to those days of my age being in the single digits. Life was so much less complicated then.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

This rocks. I can't wait until they get the rest of the Sears catalogs from the late 70s/early 80s added. Lots of memories for me.

 

[PingSpike]

I used to love Service Merchandise...the catalog and the store itself. Ha, I remember when you bought your stuff they'd send it out for you on a big conveyor belt.

 

[Rastus]

Toilet paper and Playboy killed the catalogs.

 

[HumblePie]

I remember them, but they are obsolete with the invention of the internet.

 

[PottedMeat]

yeah i remember those.

big book for these days:

 

[PricklyPete]

I wore the crap out of those Wishbooks...hell those things got more play time than those early playboys I snagged from my Grandfather's stash.

 

[Homerboy]

AWESOME thread... i remeber that EXACT Gi Joe Battleship ad/page.
Man o man this is classic.
And yes, I assure you all, Sears used real female models...

 

[PricklyPete]

I used to love Service Merchandise...the catalog and the store itself. Ha, I remember when you bought your stuff they'd send it out for you on a big conveyor belt.

Good call on Service Merchandise. Loved that place. Seemed like they had nothing but win to a little boy.

 

[Homerboy]

Haven't gone through them yet, but did any of you do latch hook stuff? You could make cheezy wall hangings and pillow cases out of your "creations". It was kind of like a textile paint by numbers kit, and amusing in the same way solitaire is, but you get a tangible result from your time wasted.

Shamefully, yes I did those.
My mom was "crafty" and I was always stuck doing shit like this with her.