Does anybody know of any websites that have scanned images of old department store catalogs? I've recently taken an interest to this after looking at many current catalogs, and I've been wanting to find old ones, too.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  :)

I believe a thread somewhere on here (try to search) had a link to some old catalogs, from Radio Shack to Sears to JC Penney. Despite all of the technology and a push towards a "paperless society", retailers just don't want to stop it seems with this trend, though I believe the number recieved in the mail peaked around 2007, but there's still a ways to go.

Try this thread for a link:

http://www.inthe00s.com/archive/inthe70s/smf/1272233199.shtml

I checked the link, and it seems that most of the links provided are only of Radio Shack pages, which I don't really care about. The only other link that's not to Radio Shack doesn't work.

I'm looking for the kind of department stores that sell clothes, like JCPenney or Macy's.

I'm looking for the kind of department stores that sell clothes, like JCPenney or Macy's.


How about the Sears Wishbook from the 30s to up to the late-80s?

http://www.wishbookweb.com/1983_SearsWishbook/images/SearsWishbook-1983-P602.jpg

I had to wait about 8 years (and college!) before I finally found mine, but it was worth the wait.  What's frightening is that it's been almost 30 years since I've even thought about the Wishbook, but as soon as you reminded me of it, I knew exactly where to flip to find the electronic goodies.

Thanks for the link, Foo Bear.  :)

It's not a whole catalog, but it's a few pictures (and some snarky comments natch) from a 1977 JCPenney catalog.

http://15minutelunch.blogspot.com/2007/10/strap-in-shut-up-and-hold-on-were-going.html

Here's a different catalog (1975 JCPenney) (same snarky attitude)
http://janceedunn.typepad.com/wwwjanceedunncom/2007/09/jc-penneys-19-1.html

Here's a JCPenney 1980 catalog (with a Steelers T-shirt...!)   :) http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/cheering.gif
http://www.excitementmachine.org/jc/

Here are a few pages from various catalogs, various years:
http://sickmalls.wordpress.com/category/1983-jc-penney-sears-catalogs/

Here are a few old catalogs from the 1920s.  I love the hats and if I could get away with wearin them and not be looked at strangely, I'd wear some today.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcatalogs/

If you couldn't tell, I love catalogs too.  

I loved looking at department store catalogs when I was younger----I was such a weird kid  :D

It's fun looking at catalogs without seeing .com on every page realizing that the glory days are gone! Given that many are now in the public domain, I wish more could be found and posted (especially Ward's, Woolworth's, and Macy's).

But maybe try archive.org for that broken link (it's a shame how lots of pages become obsolete after a short amount of time).

How about the Sears Wishbook from the 30s to up to the late-80s?

http://www.wishbookweb.com/1983_SearsWishbook/images/SearsWishbook-1983-P602.jpg

I had to wait about 8 years (and college!) before I finally found mine, but it was worth the wait.  What's frightening is that it's been almost 30 years since I've even thought about the Wishbook, but as soon as you reminded me of it, I knew exactly where to flip to find the electronic goodies.


Oh and thanks for the link Foo Bar. I was looking through the toys section in the 1985 catalog, and some of it takes me back. :)