Tuesday, December 16, 2008

It's Christmas, or so I've heard...

Dude, Christmas is next week! How the hell did this happen? I haven't even had a chance to put my tree up...

Well, here's something that always puts me in the spirit. Christmas Catalogs! During those childhood years these were the text books for Holiday Education 101. My mom used to get them all. Sears, JC Penny, Service Merchandise and my favorite... Montgomery Ward (or "MONKEY WARTS"! when I was too dumb to know better). And from November until January, these would be stacked on the coffee table in the living room. Constantly read and re-read. Favorite toys dog-eared for quick reference.

All the wish books were great, but I always gravitated to Montgomery Ward. I think one of the big reasons was they would do multi-paged themed layouts. It would be total immersion; a lifestyle. You could see what life would be if you lived in Transformers or Smurf-themed world. If you room, clothes, toys and decorations were all that particular character. It was mind blowing.

To get things rolling, here's some of my favorite pages from the 1979 Montgomery Ward Christmas Values catalog:


MICRONAUTS


STAR WARS


SUPER HEROES

Used to love those Super Heroes "Fiddlesticks" construction sets. I remeber, like most merchandise in the 70s, that they had both DC and Marvel.


MORE SUPER HEROES


Mmmm...MEGOS


GAMES.

I loved those aqua games like Basketball. So much fun.


TODDLER TOYS.

I remember playing with both those Disney toys in the middle alot.


VIEW-MASTER


STRETCH ARMSTRONG, ROM and ALIEN


BATTLESTAR GALACTICA


THE CHANNEL F VIDEO GAME CONSOLE

2 comments:

Chris said...

Forgot about this.I had a Channel F system from Wards. My parents opted for it instead of a 2600 because it was a bargain. Man was I disappointed at the time. Thanks for the pic.

Anonymous said...

Loved the scans--thanks Dr. G!
(The Batman image was hilarious too. Who didn't want to smack Robin?)