As a child, there were many things that I looked forward to concerning Christmas. Putting up the Christmas Tree, the possibility of snow days that would allow me to stay home and watch daytime television, and egg nog. Lots of egg nog. But one of the things that I looked forward to the most during the Christmas Season was the arrival of the twin behemoths of merchandising: the Sears Wish Book, and the JC Penney Catalog. (The bronze medal goes to the Montgomery Wards catalog, since they are now defunct).
Sure, we would get little catalogs and sales papers from local and chain stores (the fliers from the local store ‘Magic Mart’ were particularly pathetic), but around November, Sears and JC Penney pulled out all the stops with the delivery of two huge catalogs that seemed to cover the entire inventory of their stores. These things were huge! If you dropped one on your foot, prepare to be laid up for a week! I don’t know which catalog I enjoyed more, but I recall in my later years being more fond of the Sears catalog, because of its title ‘wish book’. This wasn’t a catalog…it was a WISH book. A modern day magic lamp that could bring you your heart’s desire, so long as you could convince Santa (aka, your parents) to buy what you found in the pages within. Though to be fair, the Christian in me gets angry, because upon closer study, the book used to be called ‘The Christmas Book’, then ‘The Wish Book for the Christmas Season’, then ‘The Wish Book for the Holiday Season’, then finally, ‘the Wish Book’. Come on Sears, it’s Christmas! Embrace it!
These catalogs were absolutely essential when it came to the important yearly task of creating a Christmas list. My brother and I would take one of the catalogs and spend HOURS pouring over the toy pages in search of our dream gifts for Christmas. I learned early on that the ‘good stuff’ (i.e., the toys) were located at either end end of the catalogs. I would furiously skip the first half of the catalog, filled with boring clothes and housewares, and arrive at the wonderful toy section. We would glance at the baby and little kid toys, not so much because we wanted any of them, but more a mix of nostalgia and regret that we didn’t have the new cool toddler toys pictured. Next we’d quickly skip the boring Barbie and little girl section, and get to the best part of the catalog: the ACTION FIGURES. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe were my #1 seed for years when it came to asking what I wanted for Christmas. I recall especially enjoying it when the catalog would take the time to put up a large display of action figures, usually around a playset. This was a very effective advertisement for me, because I instantly wanted everything shown in the picture, and I would update my Christmas list accordingly.
As the weeks went by, I would explore other sections of the catalog out of a mixture of boredom and curiosity. I remember the electronics section catching my eye, especially the keyboard section. I always wanted a keyboard, but alas, they were always cost prohibitive because I was also asking for a slew of action figures, and action figures were always going to win that battle. The ‘tools’ section was an annual bore. I did enjoy looking at the Christmas trees in the book. Sometimes I would browse the furniture and bedroom sets and imagine how my home/bedroom could be improved by the addition of some new bedspreads and curtains. Eventually boredom would take hold, and my brother and I would draw funny captions on the people in the clothing and housewares section. Yes, this was juvenile and unnecessary, but it was also hilarious, and something that I think I would even enjoy doing today.
UNFORTUNATELY, this year will be my last year to take advantage of this opportunity. You see, Sears left off putting out their huge catalog in 1993 (after a run of 106 years), due largely to economic necessity. Now I have learned that JC Penney has announced that they are discontinuing their ‘big book’ catalog. Reasons for its demise range from the increasing costs of paper and mailing and environmental concerns about wasting paper to the availability of entire collections online versus a few outfits on a catalog page. I can understand the online argument, but the environmental concerns fall completely flat to me, as this is an obvious cop-out. In its heyday, the 36-year-old Big Book ranged from 900 to 1,500 pages and surpassed $1 billion in sales in 1979. Think about that! A 1500 page catalog! The possibilities are endless!
“Big book catalogs have become less relevant as customers have embraced shopping online, where they have ready access to our entire assortment at any time on jcp.com,” Mike Boylson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said in a release. Well, Mike, that might be true, but there is something to say for tradition, isn’t there? What about those little kids who can’t navigate your labyrinthian website, or simply choose not to? Not everybody has a high speed internet connection , you know. And besides, I have taken a look at the online version of the Sears Wish Book, and it is decidedly lacking when compared to the original paper version. For one, it features terrible flash animations, and even worse acting of little kids in front of an obvious green screen. Second, it is 46 pages long, including the front and back cover. 46 pages? Really? I’m less than impressed. And not every page includes product. A sorry excuse for a catalog if you ask me, or even if you don’t. So if you want to experience the joy of flipping through an obnoxiously huge book stuffed cheek to jowl with product, pick up your JC Penney catalog today, before they are gone…FOREVER!
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