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Tag: catalogs

Dec262016 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Groovy College Course Catalogs of the 1970s

Groovy College Course Catalogs of the 1970s

Ephemera, Featured Posts
Whether for their graphic design, optimistic photographs, or quaint vintage charm, I always have a blast looking at old college course catalogs. So I'm going to share some of my favorites with you, grouped by decade. Up first are the groovy '70s. Here are one dozen college course catalogs from the Me Decade, covering both undergraduate and graduate schools from small junior/community colleges to well-known and prestigious universities. (All images courtesy the Internet Archive.)
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May92016 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Airline Memories #4: 1970 TWA Flight Shop Catalog

Airline Memories #4: 1970 TWA Flight Shop Catalog

Ephemera
In Airline Memories, I share aviation items and curiosities from the long history of commercial flight. You’ll see everything from ephemera to souvenirs and other branded items from various U.S. airlines. If you have a request or anything else to share, leave a comment or contact me directly. Not a day goes by that people don't mourn the loss of the great TWA in some fashion. Next to Pan Am, TWA may be one of the most iconic airline brands no longer with us. But not today! For thanks to the Gray Flannel Suit time machine, we can hop back to 1970 and check out this fantastic souvenir and accessories Flight Shop catalog. In it we can dream of ordering fantastic TWA-branded merchandise like model airplanes, umbrellas, golf balls, luggage tags, and even cutlery. Enjoy!
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Jul222013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
The 1959 Symphonic Phonographs Catalog

The 1959 Symphonic Phonographs Catalog

Ephemera
While on vacation in Cape Cod recently, I brought a wad of cash to my favorite used book store and went nuts. In fact, I didn't purchase one book. Instead I walked away with a healthy stack of vintage magazines -- everything from old issues of Family Circle, The Saturday Evening Post, and Better Homes and Gardens to random fashion and auto magazines. And this, the 1959 Symphonic Phonographs catalog. Within these pages lies a bounty of vintage turntable models, all with that special late '50s beauty. You've got your sturdy and fashionable portable players, like the Junior and Sophomore models seen here... ... and you've got hefty models that double as furniture, as was the style back then, like the Symphony. You really can't go wrong either way I suppose. I have no idea
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Mar142013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Site Updates O’Plenty! (Sears Catalogs, AFL Covers)

Site Updates O’Plenty! (Sears Catalogs, AFL Covers)

Blogstuff
These are exciting times at The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, my friends. In addition to a great new project in the works (hint: it involves old postcards), the updates to the main site have been coming fast and furious. I uploaded a bunch of new scans to my classic Sears catalog area, for the 1958 Spring/Summer edition. And if you love vintage saddles shoes and children's wear, then you will love these scans. New stuff starts on this page. Elsewhere, I've added a bunch of new game programs in my American Football League cover gallery, as well as added some higher-res versions of existing ones. There are too many for me to list here, but I can share a few of the cooler ones with you here. This is from the very first matchup between the New York Jets and New York Giants. It...
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Jan32013 by Chris Holmes10 Comments
Is This the Least Safe Baby Car Seat Ever? (1969 Sears Catalog)

Is This the Least Safe Baby Car Seat Ever? (1969 Sears Catalog)

Ephemera, History
So I'm bopping along, looking through 40-year-old Sears catalogs, as I am wont to do, when something catches my eye. No, not hideous fashion or vintage toys, although I certainly find plenty of that. I'm talking about a something altogether different. Tucked away on page 543 of the 1969 Fall/Winter catalog is an item that you might miss if you focused on the rather, um, interesting vintage baby car seats. See if you can find what I'm think of on this "Travel Time" page... Did you see it? Nope, not the car seats. It's item #6, listed as the "Steel Travel Platform," and it is a lovely relic from the golden age of Mid-Century Baby Travel. (more…)
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Oct262012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Football Friday — Vintage NFL Products from the Sears Catalog, Part 1

Football Friday, Sports
And it's back to the Sears catalog I go, this time to bring you a host of vintage NFL merchandise from the past. Let's take a look! I don't know if I had this bedding set (from 1973) exactly, but I had one very much like it. I had matching curtains too. Man do I miss them. Dig that funky New York Jets wordmark! Both of these images are from the Fall 1975 catalog. My eye is immediately drawn to the old Los Angeles Rams and Houston Oilers logos. (more…)
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Apr252012 by Chris Holmes1 Comment
Sears Catalog Highlights: Spring/Summer 1958

Sears Catalog Highlights: Spring/Summer 1958

Capsules, Ephemera, Featured Posts
I hope you enjoyed the gallery of Sears catalog covers I posted recently, because we're really going to get into it now. I've been combing through some classic catalogs of yesteryear to bring you the most interesting images of how people looked and lived back in the day. So here's some galleries from the Spring/Summer 1958 Sears catalog, arranged by area of interest. Images may take a few seconds to load. To see the full collection -- including full-size pictures -- from 1958 and other years, check out my Sears Catalog Museum. (Sorry fellas, no bras or panties in this gallery.) Women's Fashion Children's Fashion Men's Fashion Electronics & Appliances Sports & Games Home Decor Everything Else Random Neat Images
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Apr132012 by Chris Holmes3 Comments
For No Particular Reason, Here’s a Bunch of Old Sears Catalog Covers

For No Particular Reason, Here’s a Bunch of Old Sears Catalog Covers

Ephemera
There are already a bunch of sites out there hosting and/or gently mocking vintage Sears catalogs, so do we really need another? Yes, yes we do. The thing is, I had forgotten just how huge some of those catalogs were. The yearly Wish Books -- aka Christmas toys -- were pretty big themselves, but the seasonal catalogs were typically well in excess of 1,000 pages each. That's a ton of material to comb through, and to be honest I'm not quite sure what the angle is going to be. So while I put a game plan together to ensure that it's worth your (and my) time, here's a sampling of old Sears seasonal catalog covers from 1960 to 1983. After '83 they got rather bland and generic, so I decided on that as the cutoff point. (If you want to see all of them, the complete set is on Flickr.) ...
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