Inside the 1962 Sears Christmas Catalog

This comes too late for Christmas -- 45 years too late. But the 1962 Sears Christmas catalog is still a treat.

Inspired by the fact that several friends of this Internet weblog recently forwarded us the same excerpts from a 1977 JC Penny catalog, Telstar Logistics reached into our vast corporate archive and emerged clutching a pristine copy of the 1962 Sears Christmas Book.

As you browse the Sears catalog, keep in mind that, according to the Inflation Calculator, $1 in 1962 was equivalent to $6.51 in 2006 dollars. Conversely, $1 in 2006 was equivalent to $0.15 in 1962.

Link

[#1 posted by edgore , December 28, 2007 12:53 PM]

Somehow, I just love the idea of missle-firing underground scientists.

[#2 posted by ahmet6868 , December 28, 2007 12:53 PM]

[#3 posted by Halloween Jack , December 28, 2007 2:02 PM]

It's not realistic unless it includes bee women.

[#4 posted by Anonymous , December 28, 2007 2:09 PM]

no, it comes 40 years too early - there is still no base on the moon and our current space exploration plans are less ambitious than 50 years ago ;-)

[#5 posted by FAC33 , December 28, 2007 2:21 PM]

Interesting to see that Cold War us vs. the enemy (Russkis) feel to the whole thing.

The costume section on the linked site is a hoot. All kinds of military outfits for boys. Girls could be a majorette, a bride, what appears to be a some sort of generic "historical lady", a nurse, a cowgirl, or what appears to be Princess Grace.

[#6 posted by Anonymous , December 28, 2007 2:27 PM]

Wow! My dad had that moon set as a kid, and it's still in storage in his shed. I remember playing with it when I was young (I'm 23), and it's one of the best and most elaborate playsets out there.

It had cars that fire spring-loaded missiles, alien figures and even mountains that blew into little bits (assisted by more springs).

Its been years since I've seen it, but I think I remember the underside of the metal painted moonscape there was a secret painted base thing, so if you had it set up on a few books at the corner you've also got a space base to have battles in.

[#7 posted by MCM , December 28, 2007 2:38 PM]

I inherited a bunch of random pieces of that space set from my older brothers when I was a kid, kinda cool to see the whole thing all together...

[#8 posted by JimW , December 28, 2007 2:51 PM]

I loved that space set! Got it for Christmas - although I don't recall it having quite so many pieces.

[#9 posted by Anonymous , December 28, 2007 2:56 PM]

So how do the yellow crucifixes work?

[#10 posted by gpeare , December 28, 2007 6:29 PM]

I like the Peter Pan pajamas. "Gay enough to wear to a costume party!" Of course, it would have been the slippers that would have gotten you beaten up.

[#11 posted by Johnny Cat , December 28, 2007 9:18 PM]

I like the House of the Future. See a lot of those going for discounted value these days.