View Full Version : Shopping and ordering through SEARS in the 70's/80's.
Anyone want to share their stories Re: shopping/ordering through SEARS back in the 70's/80's?
Remember how everything you ordered, aside from big ticket items such as appliances and things, all came wrapped in plain brown paper? And who could forget the SEARS Christmas Wish Book!
We kids used to impatiently wait the arrival of the Wish Book year after year. The world stopped when we went through that dream catalogue, all of us nestled closely together, calling out loud everything we wanted as each page was turned.
iris lily
9-16-11, 12:03am
Yep the big Christmas catalog was fun to receive and page through. Now I do that for lily 'n iris catalogs.
The Wish Book I have not heard that in years maybe 50 years. Brings back memories.
I use to love to receive the Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs in the fall. I would gaze over everything, amazed that all this stuff existed. I use to like the mother/daughter dresses and would always pick out clothes for my mom. What was funny is that I was always looking at clothes that were too big for her (the plus size clothes) because those models seemed to have "mom" faces.
loosechickens
9-16-11, 2:44pm
Well, back in the sixties, when my kids were little, I used to sew all their clothes (and most of mine and my husband's, too). Sears had fabric then in their catalog, and I remember they used to have "grab bags" of cotton fabric, something like ten yards for $2.00 or less, no piece smaller than one yard.
I used to order those bargain bags, and boy did my kids (and us) sometimes have some wild print shirts and blouses. But I always loved those bundles, because it was like opening a Christmas present to see what would come in the package. There were a few duds, but most were beautiful, and 20 cents or less a yard was a bargain.
Love the stories! My parents were saying that warranties and the the likes of such (related to purchases through SEARS) meant little back then, the 60's/70's. If you had owned an appliance and suddenly the appliance gave up the ghost, SEARS, would almost 100% of the time, step in and replace the appliance with new, all at at no charge, no questions asked. According to my parents, SEARS, simply could not be beat. Shopping anywhere else ITO (in their opinion) would have been silly.
Iris Lily. Me and specialty catalogues go together like bread and butter, too! Just love curling up to a something new catalogue with all sorts of goodies and offerings inside. (I seldom buy, but I sure do look).
Freein05. Me too! I've had Christmas Wish Book shopping in my head all day!
Jania. Mom faces is so true when it comes to plus size models. Wow! Until you mentioned it, I would have never made the connection like you did, but now that I think about it, it's so true!
LC. The fabric remnants grab bags sound incredible! Going to ask my mom if she remember the likes of. (What a homemakers dream)!
goldensmom
9-17-11, 7:00am
There was one clothing store in town so my elementary school clothes came from the Sears catalog. I would go through the new Fall catalog, mark what I wanted then my mom would order what she thought I needed. First it was on the paper order 'blank' (never understood the term) through the mail then through the catalog store. Slim, regular or husky.
The Sears Christmas Wish Book was the best. When I was 8-ish, my brother got the mail, forgot and left the Sears Wish Book in the truck. I look for that catalog in the mail for days before I learned what had happened. I was so mad at him and could not understand how he could have forgotten and left the Wish Book in the truck. Where was his head? What were his priorities? Okay, he was a teenage boy but for goodness sake, it was the Christmas Wish Book!!!!!!
Remember Aldens? Aldens was my grandma's preference and she could order from Aldens through the local Gambles Hardware Store. Spiegels? Oh, the nostalgia.
Goldensmom. LMAO! Yes, you just jogged my brain, I remember the "slim, regular, or husky" clothing size option. Forgetting about, misplacing, or loosing the Christmas Wish Book in our house would have been cause for severe punishment! Ha-ha-ha!!!
I don't think Aldens or Spiegels existed here in Canada at any time, but I do remember Hudson's. It had the LARGEST staircase in town! Us kids would occupy ourselves on the staircase while mom shopped.
Growing up in the suburbs, the coolest thing about Sears was that they carried horse supplies! Saddles, pads, brushes and bridles. Square dance clothes too, if you were into that sort of thing.
For a short time I boarded my horse at an older farm and the house on the property was ordered from Sears Roebuck way way back. There were a few others on the same street, but this was the only one that hadn't been added on to or had the exterior updated.
Mighty Frugal
9-17-11, 9:25pm
The Sears Wish Book is still around. We get one very year. I remember, as a child, pouring over the pages of the Sears Wish book and going to the candy gifts (of course) they had photos of a Christmas-y bucket with colourful wrapped candy spilling out-oh boy, did I ever want THAT for Xmas!! Looking at all the cool gifts was almost as nice as having them...(we only received one gift at Xmas)
And now my boys pour over the Wish Book and circle what they want-so cute!
Pony mom. Oh, oh, oh, you just jogged my memory on the old Sears/Eaton's houses! Thank you for that! I absolutely LOVE those old homes!!!!! I have always wanted one (my dream), one of the old-fashioned styled- turn of the century ones, with a tower and a walk-around balcony off the main floor. Situated in a country setting (of course)!
Mighty Frugal. Yes indeed, I still love the Wish Book, but somehow (maybe just my imagine playing tricks on me), the Wish Book way back when (when I was a child) seemed more exciting! As you say, colourful wrapped candy spilling out all over, bows and presents and Christmas trees galore! The Wish Book was enough to infuse the Christmas spirit into any child.
There's one of those Sears houses in our closest town! The guy bought it for $5K and moved it to it's present location a few years ago. Crazy.
No one has brought up JC Penney! There used to be two thick catalogs on the end table at our house, Sears and Penney's. My kids would take pens and give people black eyes, beards, mustaches, etc. LOL Free coloring books.
Sad Eyed Lady
9-18-11, 3:45pm
Remember Aldens? Aldens was my grandma's preference and she could order from Aldens through the local Gambles Hardware Store. Spiegels? Oh, the nostalgia.
Yes, when I was a child my aunt received catalogs and one was Aldens, and (this is going back a ways), she received one called "National Bella Hess". Years and years later we had a mall store called "Hess" and I wondered if that was the same as the catalog back in the 1950's.
Marianne and Shalom. What a lucky homeowner he is! Sooo jealous I am!!! We never had a JCPenney, but every so often we'd go across the border to Spokane WA and shop JCPenney down there. Was always so exciting getting away for a couple of days. Re: free colouring books, i.e. department store catalogues (that's great), we used to take our old ones to school when it came to collage making.
I remember (for a time) we used to get Eatons's cataloges. Don't remember what that was all about although, as I don't remember an Eaton's store in our area. Will have to ask my mom about that.
Mighty Frugal
9-19-11, 1:18pm
Mrs. M. We had lots of Eatons store in my neck of the woods-heck we have the 'Eaton's Centre' downtown-which is multiple stories and takes up an entire city block.
There was a life size (or bigger?) bronze statue of Timothy Eaton in the Eaton's store. They said if you touched his foot it brought you good fortune. The statue is now at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) and it has a dull patina over the entire thing EXCEPT the foot which is shiny and glowing bronze from all the rubs/pats it has received over the decades-haha.
At a 2nd hand shop I managed to buy a 1960 Eaton's catalogue for 5 bucks-it is incredible-the clothes, the furniture, the prices!
... Remember Aldens? Aldens was my grandma's preference and she could order from Aldens through the local Gambles Hardware Store. Spiegels? Oh, the nostalgia.
I remember Alden's and Spiegel's very well, along with the Christmas Wish Book. And let's not leave out J.C. Penney. Miles Kimball, a gift catalogue, also comes to mind.
My mom's older sister made her living as a seamstress so she made a lot of my clothes and taught me to sew as well, a skill I still value highly. However, I remember trips to the nearest city (which wasn't very big at all) to buy the trendy things I just *had* to have as a teenager, like a sissy blouse, Maine Trotters, and the same style handbag everyone else was carrying. Bon-Ton and Bears were *the* classy stores back then.
But most of all, I miss Woolworth's. I furnished most of my college apartment from their basement in the Philadelphia store. Whenever I come across the now rare "Five & Dime", I screech to a halt and browse to my soul's satisfaction.
Yes, when I was a child my aunt received catalogs and one was Aldens, and (this is going back a ways), she received one called "National Bella Hess". Years and years later we had a mall store called "Hess" and I wondered if that was the same as the catalog back in the 1950's.
I remember my parents mentioning that merchant, referring to it as "Bellas & Hess", so I Binged it to see which was right and came up with these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatochy/392657559/
And some memorabilia available on eBay:
http://tinyurl.com/Bellas-Hess-Memorabilia
Also, it looks like Hess and Bellas Hess weren't the same operation. More from eBay:
http://tinyurl.com/Hess-Department-Store
Hess Department Store was in Allentown, about an hour from where I now live (midway between A-town and Philadelphia), and according to a lawsuit filed by the Illinois Department of Revenue, Bellas Hess was mail order only and based in North Kansas City, Missouri. It seems Illinois was determined to get some tax money from them even though the company did not do business there, at least physically:
http://supreme.justia.com/us/386/753/case.html
And if any of you feel like springing for it, eBay also lists a number of original Sears Wishbooks: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=sears+wishbook
Sad Eyed Lady
9-19-11, 7:41pm
Jemima, thank you for posting these links! I looked at them and one of the National Bellas Hess catalogs for sale on ebay was SO-O-O-O nostalgic! It was a 1950's and showed many pages of the catalog. One pair of women's sandals looked just like a pair I remember my aunt having and since she did order from the book it may well have been the same. A thing of the past. I remember looking at the toys and something that I was always intrigued by were the little outfits for children that were replicas of nursing uniforms, policemen etc. Were these actual costumes as in Halloween dress, or were they just for play? I remember the toy doctor and nurse kits also. So much fun to look at...............and wish.
Wildflower
9-19-11, 10:46pm
When I was a kid I spent hours looking through both the Sears and Montgomery Wards Christmas catalogues. Oh the joy, as I daydreamed about each and every toy, doll, or pretty dress becoming my very own. I would put an X by my favorites and would usually find 1 or 2 items under the Christmas tree come Christmas morning. :) What a great memory! Thanks, Mrs-M, for another great thread topic!! :D
Loved getting the Sears, Montgomery Ward, and JCPenny catalogs and wishbooks. When I was little they came in handy as a chair booster seat, back when phone books were actually local and small and you didn't get 40+ in a year.
I remember many trips to town to pick up our orders at Sears and JCP. I loved the JCP store because the pickup was in the basement level of the building in the far back corner - I always thought that the whole factory was through those swinging double doors that the employees would go through to pick up your order.
We always saved the brown paper and string that wrapped the order.
Mighty Frugal. I asked my mom about Eaton's, and her response to me was, "remember when we used to visit aunt so and so on the Island, and we'd stay over a night or two in Vancouver and shop downtown, i.e. Eaton's, and go up and down on the escalators in all the big department stores"? Then I remembered. Eaton's was a big city store.
The statue sounds extraordinaire. I think that's what triggers all of the old-fashionedness in me and my love of all things vintage and retro, the classy way things used to be in the old days. IMO, nothing compares to those good old days. P.S. I'm so jealous over the 1960 Eaton's catalogue you bought! Would LOVE to page through an old catalogue like that.
Jemima. Oh, thanks for bringing up Bon Ton! I remember it, or maybe by my time is was just called The Bon. But like yourself, Woolworth's still is and will always be my most remembered and loved store!!! LOVED Woolworth's! It's like, you weren't a kid unless you experienced Woolworth's. P.S. The links you posted are awesome!!! Thanks so much for that.
Shalom. So many great memories you remind me of! Everything (when I think about it), related to my childhood, seems so surreal now, that due in part to the countless years that have come and gone since. Each day (every day) was an adventure. P.S. I remember those doctor/nurse kits! Hahahahaha!!! Made playing house that much more real.
Wildflower. Your post reminded me of the excitement that would run through my body on Christmas morning, wondering if the wishes I made for that special little something would come true and be waiting under the tree for me! I remember how I'd open some presents slowly and methodically, not wanting to spoil the suspense. Never were we kids disappointed.
Float On. So funny about what you Re: those old double swinging doors! I always wanted to pass through those doors just to see what was back there. My imagination told me all sorts of things related to exactly what was behind those old doors. In my mind it was a world unto itself. Anyhow, mom would always say to us kids, "if you go through those doors you might get lost forever". Her words kept us away, but we never missed watching all the employees going in and out of them, like toy soldiers. So mechanical.
Thanks so much everybody for a wonderful fun-filled, memory-filled thread! So many great stories and reminders!
I never heard of Bon Ton until I moved to NW NJ. I also miss the old Woolworth's stores. The one in the town where I grew up was on the old Main St. and it had creeky, uneven wooden floors. And, of course, the little cafe, with the white plates with beige trim.
In Easton PA is a furniture store housed in an old Boscov's store. I don't know if that's a store only known in PA or if it's a chain. However, the building is really cool and old fashioned inside, with an old elevator. It reminds me of Grace Bros. (Britcom fans will know what I mean).
boss mare
9-20-11, 11:42pm
Growing up in the suburbs, the coolest thing about Sears was that they carried horse supplies! Saddles, pads, brushes and bridles. Square dance clothes too, if you were into that sort of thing.
For a short time I boarded my horse at an older farm and the house on the property was ordered from Sears Roebuck way way back. There were a few others on the same street, but this was the only one that hadn't been added on to or had the exterior updated.
OMG My first saddle was from Sears.. The black one with the red seat... very used but at least it was a saddle.. I still envied my friends whose parents bought them Simco's or Circle Y's that had the buckstitching Back then that was the "in" thing LOL
Pony mom. Like the one on, Are You Being Served? I love that old look! If it was possible to transport myself back in time, I'd place myself right in the very thick of the 1960's! That, or the early 70's...
Boss mare. The stuff good old memories are made of!
Bump!
Thought this thread would make for a timely read, seeing how Christmas is right upon us!
Square Peg
12-17-12, 11:59pm
JCPenney, Sears, and Montgomery Ward every year although I don't think my mom ordered through them.
I always had to move quickly past the page with the scary ventriloquist dummy shudder (http://www.ventriloquiststore.com/dummies/charlie-mccarthy/) and then would pore over every single other page. I so wanted an electric race track that went upside down and a fancy doctor set, but every year, I did not get them :(
:Sears and Roebuck or Simpson Sears in Canada( I lived on the border). I bought a pair of cowboy boots there in 1975, 9th grade. I remember it perfectly. In 1984 I worked the Hardware and Paint dept. The "old timers" the last of the full-time people were still there. The stories they told of the chickens being sold there in the spring of 1950 and how they got loose one day. The wonderful people I worked with at the Port Huron Downtown store( the second store as the original had moved from Military 30 years before). They gave me a surprise baby shower. From there I transferred to the Keys and Engraving and merchandising.
Sadly I remember telling my husband's grandfather that Sears in Port Huron would not be there long the way it was, business was not doing well. Grandpa got angry at me and told me Sears and the Catalog were a mainstay of the USA and I did not know what I was talking about! How times change. The Sears in the town I live in now closed last year.
SteveinMN
12-18-12, 2:27pm
I remember many hours spent "wishing" over the Sears Christmas catalog. I know Penney had one, too, but it always played second fiddle to Sears. And we didn't have Montgomery Wards at all, so nothing to look at there.
Sadly, Sears everywhere likely soon will be seen only in textbooks, illustrating how not to run a business.
Love catalogs, and remember Mother (she wanted to be called Mother, not Mom or Mommy) ordering a lot of stuff from them. Of course she sewed a lot of my clothes too, with fabric, I believe, from Penney's. I think we only had Wards and Sears catalog stores. Early in DH's career we lived 22 years in the boonies, town of about 700 and an hour and a half on twistey-windey mountain roads roads from "the big town", so catalogs were very important. I still like ordering from catalogs, or online from Amazon or the like, and waiting excitedly for the packages to arrive!! As I am, even as I speak ... :)
Really enjoying everyone's stories!
Square Peg. Your post Re: not getting the upside-down race car track and fancy doctor set you wanted, made me sad. Did you keep on asking for both, year, after year, after year? Keeping them at the top of your Santa list, Christmas after Christmas? I'm just trying to make myself feel better knowing you were short-changed.
My baby brother wanted a race car track set for years and years, but they were always out of mom and dads league (cost wise), and it was only after grandma and grandpa kicked-in some extra Christmas money one year, that baby brother's wish came true. We'd all lay on our stomachs around the track, to get a real (live) view of the cars racing around.
I remember growing up with Sears catalogs, especially around Christmas time - my mother would fold over the pages of items she liked so my father would have some ideas of what to get her :-)
catherine
12-18-12, 6:14pm
Here's my memory:
We would get the Sears catalogue, Christmas edition every year. One year, I gave it to my boys, who were at that time, about 6 and 8. I told them to pick out the things that they would really love for Santa to give them.
They started their "assignment" when I went to the kitchen to do dishes. But then I heard a sing-songy sound coming from the living room. I peeked, in, and there they were, looking at each page, then flipping it over while they chanted, "Everything on the page... Everything on the page.."
Thank God they're not quite that materialistic anymore!
Square Peg
12-18-12, 8:34pm
I am pretty sure I asked for them year after year. I got plenty of swell gifts, just never those two.
boss mare
12-19-12, 12:41am
I am very surprised that no one has mentioned the "controversy" over the men's underwear page in the 1975 Sears... :~) If you Google "The Man On Page 602" there is even a song about it !Splat!
Square Peg
12-19-12, 1:37am
I was 4 in 1975, so that would have slipped past my radar
Wildflower
12-19-12, 3:10am
I am very surprised that no one has mentioned the "controversy" over the men's underwear page in the 1975 Sears... :~) If you Google "The Man On Page 602" there is even a song about it !Splat!
LOL I remember that. I was 17 at the time and a group of us girls spent alot of time giggling about it!! >8):|(
Creaker. What a sweet story.
ROTFLMAO, Catherine! Yes, "everything on the page" was chanted and repeated in our house, too!
Square Peg. That's a bummer.
Boss Mare. Was unaware of prior reading your post. Controversy? I don't think so... LOL!
Yep, remember ordering school clothes through the Sears catalog, and also the Montgomery Wards one, too. The indices were printed on the binding.
Tussiemussies
12-19-12, 3:54pm
Love this thread! Would pour over the toy section of the book and wished for this and that. Funny I also wanted to look like the children too, they always looked so perfect...
I got my favorite outfit from the Sears catalog. Every Christmas we kids were allowed to pick out one outfit from the Sears catalog and one year - back when David Cassidy was King to teenage girls everywhere - I got a hot pink not-so-mini-that-my-mom-didn't approve mini dress with full white ruffles up the front to the neck, wide long sleeves with white ruffles at the end, and groovey white fishnet shockings. I think I was 12 or 13. I probbably have a photo of it somewhere because - UGH my Mom got my younger sister the EXACT SAME OUTFIT. Horror for a teenage girl!!
Lots of fun reading everyone's reflections. Such a great way to reminisce the old days, when catalog shopping was IT! "It", as in da bomb!
Miss Cellane
12-21-12, 10:09am
Back in the early 70s, my dad was stationed in South Korea. While the military bases had PXs for us to shop at, the stores did not carry very much. There was a very limited selection of clothing, especially for children. Stockings and pantyhose for women were rationed--my mother could only buy one pair per month, either stockings or panty hose, but not both. There were other things that the PXs carried, but that would often run out of stock, and it might be months before new stock arrived.
Pretty much, after we'd been there for a year, all us children were either wearing hand-me-downs from our older siblings or clothing from the Sears Catalog. It took 2-3 months sometimes for things to arrive, as I think they were sent by ship once they left the US. Because I was the oldest girl in the family, I got to pick out three new dresses from the catalog before I started 6th grade.
Mom also had to order some basic necessities from the catalog. My two youngest siblings were 1 and 2 years old when we arrived. She had to order nipples for their bottles from Sears, as well as more cloth diapers. (Disposable diapers had just been invented and Mom did use them on the 47 hour trip from Boston to Seoul.) We had to put almost everything we owned in storage before we left, as there was a strict limit on the weight for household goods that could be shipped over. The military provided us with all the furniture we needed (everybody's living room looked pretty identical), but there were little things like a foot stool for Dad that we ordered from Sears. I know one family that was having a new baby had to order the crib from Sears.
The other way people went "shopping" was to go to Japan for a few days. The PXs there were very well stocked. So if you went, you took a long list of things that all your friends wanted, and spent a day searching the PX and Commissary for their commissions. You could get to and from Japan very inexpensively by ship, as there were US Navy ships that were based in Korea, but went to Japan for restocking of food and other supplies. You spent 12 hours on board getting there, and then 3-4 nights in a Japanese hotel before making the return trip.
Ok, reading this over is a little weird. It all seemed so normal at the time, but looking back, I realize that not every 6th grader was sailing on a USN troop ship across the Sea of Japan in the hopes of finding new school shoes at the PX.
Love your entry, Miss Cellane!
The history aspect (and timeline) makes for such a super read. When I think about it now, Sears, particularly it's catalog, was what I like to think of as, THE catalogue, for everyday working families. There was (for the most part) something in the Sears catalogue for everybody.
Aside from a few odds and ends, all things Christmas (toys, etc), were ordered through the Sears catalogue. I recall how mom would sit (by the hour) paging through the Sears catalogue, cup of coffee off to one side, cigarette between her fingers.
Shoes, socks, underpants, and start-of-the-year school-wear (pants, etc), were about the only things mom bought for us that didn't come from Sears, and yes, dear baby brothers bottom was also sheathed in cloth diapers from Sears. "Bakers Dozen", was how some varieties of cotton diapers were offered at the time (through Sears). Rubber pants, came loose, wrapped in brown paper, unlike when mom would buy them at the drug store/department store, and every single one of the appliances in our home came from Sears.
Sears, was it! Sears, was the place!
We got the Penny's and Sears catalogs each year but never bought anything from them. We did do a lot of shopping @ Penny's during the year, though.
Bunnys. Just prior to getting married, DH and I, used to make one or two trips to Spokane WA each year, where I'd shop J.C. Penney! Loved that store!
For some reason, the JCPenney catalog was the one preferred in my house, growing up, although I think we did get the Sears one. I got a stereo (radio/record player/cassette) with two speakers from the JcPenney catalog when I was in 8th grade (1982). Boy was that thing huge. But I don't think we otherwise ordered much from the catalogs since we lived in a major metropolitan area with lots of shopping choices.
The catalogs were fun to look through, though!
Fun stuff, Tradd! I also remember the Eaton's catalogue. Very similar to the Sears catalogue, but seemed to have a few more things (and different things).
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