The wonder, joy & heft of Christmas catalogs

A phonebook-sized Christmas catalog arriving in the mail is a simple joy that long disappeared from children’s holiday experience.

These mega-catalogs sold everything from clothes to furniture to electronics, most notably for retailers like Sears and JCPenny. But, it was the toy section that became indispensable in researching many a wish list. Pages would be ripped out, objects would be circled and minds would be fixated on what may come Christmas morning. 

Catalogs came in at well over 500 pages, and the retailers embraced the wonder of so much stuff in one festive package. Sears fully understood the gravity of what it compiled, dubbing it “The Great American Wish Book.”  

The Sears “Wish Book” hit a pinnacle in 1992 of 834 pages but would shrink to 150 pages in its final years, according to a deep-dive by Good Housekeeping in 2019. 

Long after Christmas catalogs weighed down mail carriers’ bags, enthusiasm remains. Old catalogs can fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay and digital scans live on sites like this one, boasting 311K+ catalog pages from Sears, Montgomery Ward and JCPenney. Instagram account @eastbay.archive celebrates the beloved sneaker catalog that ceased in 2023 -- scans from the 1992 Christmas edition netted 18.5K likes. 

Catalogs aren’t entirely ghosts of Christmas past. Amazon, Walmart and Target all compiled splashy toy catalogs this year. In September, J.Crew released its first catalog since 2017, according to Inc. The catalog aesthetic has inspired fresh Instagram posts by sunscreen brand Vacation and dELiA*s, a brand with its own beloved catalog in the 1990s. 

This mini comeback coincides with perhaps the most faded of holiday shopping trends making its own return. CNBC reported that malls are attracting younger shoppers craving in-person experiences and cited a survey that 63% of Gen Z respondents intend to make holiday buys at physical stores.

Cool creator

Gameday Grails is a purveyor of vintage sports clothing that’s leagues ahead of a typical resale side hustle. The online store sales jerseys, big-print shirts and satin jackets, elevating the commerce with history lessons on the brands, styles and innovators in sportswear. Creator Ernest Wilkins calls Grails “a lifestyle concept telling the stories behind the history of vintage sportswear and exploring the cultural context that surrounds it all, from the players, to the sellers, to the collectors.” He uses blog posts and short-form videos to educate about the era of brands like Starter, Champion and Salem. A suggested first watch: “The Cult of Jack Davis,” a video exploring how cartoonist Jack Davis, an early fixture at Mad Magazine, made a lasting impact on sportswear with a series of team mascot illustrations in the ’80s.  

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More nostalgia

⚙️If a Coca-Cola Christmas ad ever filled you with holiday wonder -- look away. A new ad, producing heavily by AI, delivered a lump of coal to anyone who felt enchanted by the sight of festive Coke trucks in the 1995 “Holidays are Coming” TV spot. Enough social media backlash prompted a quote by a Coca-Cola spokesperson, according to NBC News, but it sounds like more dead-eyed polar bears are in our future:  “This year, we crafted films through a collaboration of human storytellers and the power of generative AI. Coca-Cola will always remain dedicated to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology." Not all is lost, you can cheer yourself up by watching McDonald’s Rankin/Bass-inspired McRib commercial.

🧤TikTok yelled “Kevin!” after discovering two knit hats inspired by “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” for sale in The Plaza Hotel’s gift shop. The luxury hotel, offered Kevin McAllister “New York’s most exciting hotel experience” -- and scream-inducing charges to his dad’s credit card.  The video from user @thatgirlwithpinknails has more than 1 million views but doesn’t capture the hotel’s most immersive “Home Alone” experience. That would be the Plaza’s “Fun in New York” package, offering a room plus limousine ride, cheese pizza and a sundae boasting 16 scoops of ice cream. Want to get further “lost” in New York like Kevin? You can find the Monster Sap Foam Soap he bought at Duncan’s Toy Chest and an unopened Tiger Talkboy on eBay -- just be prepared to rack up your own hefty card charges. 

🐶 Struggling to find the perfect stocking stuffer for your pooch? Well, it looks like 2024’s hot gift among canines is a squeaky, stuffed depiction of Lamp Chop, the Shari Lewis’ sock puppet that entertained generations of kids. The toy is a best seller at retailers like Chewy, Petco and Amazon, according to The New York Times. In addition to the deep bond that grows between Lamby and doggo, the Times cited millennial enthusiasm for the star of the ’90’s “Lamp Chop’s Play-Along” as driving the trend.  

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