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Hammacher Schlemmer! 

6/25/2016

12 Comments

 
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They arrive about once a week, always unannounced, yet always expected.  
 
And although they come from the same place, they’re never the same.  One glance sends most of them to the circular file, but there are a few that earn a spot on the coffee table—at least for a few days.
 
I’m talking catalogs.  
 
Specifically, the hard copy, snail mail kind.  Maybe it’s because I’m from The Olden Days (as my daughter calls my generation), or maybe it’s because I know my brain processes things better when I can hold something in my hands.  Whatever the reason, I actually enjoy perusing these paper catalogs way more than seeing the same stuff online.  
 
I was surprised to learn that the first mail-order catalog in the United States was published by Tiffany’s, in 1845.  But definitely the most popular and most far reaching in the latter part of that century—and for many decades to come—was the Sears and Roebuck catalog, which offered not only trousers and sewing machines and bicycles and corsets, but for a time, prefabricated houses and automobiles.  Known as The Wish Book, it was once an astounding 1,500 pages; offered 100,000 products, and reached some 20 million Americans—at a time when our population was 100 million. (Learn lots more about this mailer to beat all mailers, at  www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyx4WzcND14.)   
 
Given that I came into this world just a little bit later, the first catalog I pined for was the Speigel catalog (www.spiegel.com/catalog).  
 
That’s probably because every TV game show I watched as a little girl gave out gift certificates from this Chicago-based company, which specialized in fine women’s apparel.  And since I’d learned all about the wonders of Speigel from a magic box, it somehow seemed that its clothes must be the chicest and most sophisticated ever made, sprinkled with a dash of enchantment that wasn’t available anywhere else.    
 
(Of course, this was long before I actually had the good fortune to work in television.  This turned out to be as satisfying as any job I’ve ever had, but it was never magical. Indeed, when I finally got a Speigel catalog in my hands, I was stunned at how shoddy the products looked.)     
 
As a young adult, my next love was The Vermont Country Store (www.vermontcountrystore.com).   
 
One word describes its brand: nostalgia.  Flip through its pages, then order the candy and lotions and other sundries you remembered as a child, as well as the sturdy jumpers and practical bathrobes your grandmother might have worn. 
 
Once, I saw (and bought) coffee syrup to stir into my cold milk.  It was yummy, and because this was pre-Internet, not available anywhere except New Hampshire (or so the mailer said).  The Christmastime edition is always extra fun, advertising dense fruitcakes, chenille slippers and a dazzling array of holiday themed flannel sheet sets.  
 
Then, in the years I was longing for a baby, and for a time after I brought my girl home, I couldn’t wait to get my
Lillian Vernon catalog (www.lillianvernon.com). I especially loved Lilly’s World, which still features brightly colored sleeping bags, lunch boxes and backpacks, all of which scream the need for personalized monograms. I had a Lillian school bus themed coat holder on my bedroom door (naturally, with my name on it), and when my daughter was very small, a friend ordered a set of personalized wooden blocks for her, which I think I enjoyed more than she did.  
 
But by far, my favorite catalog is Hammacher Schlemmer (www.hammacher.com). 
 
Maybe it’s because the name is funny, or maybe it’s because it’s mentioned in “Goodbye to All That,” arguably the most famous essay by Joan Didion.  Or it might be because radio superstar Fred Allen sang “Hammacher Schlemmer, I Love You,” on Broadway in the 1929 staging ofThe Little Show (check out a recent audio clip here, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olc_VzqXIV0).
 
As it turns out, the Hammacher mailer has been around for nearly 170 years, which makes it the oldest surviving catalog in America. 
 
Once marketed to electricians, builders and mechanics—in 1916, every piece of hardware it sold was purchased by the Russian government—Hammacher now offers unexpected products for those who don’t know what to do with all of the extra money they have lying around. 
 
So, it’s here that the yacht and polo set can find The 55 Language Translating Scanner (every item description begins with “the”); The Movable Feast Cooler Cart, and at only $40,000, The Three Dimensional Labyrinth Orb.  I doubt I’ll ever order anything from this New York City company, but its imaginative—and sometimes pretty crazy—items are always fun to peruse.
 
I’m not looking forward to what will probably happen to all of these catalogs I so love.
 
Yup, I expect that sooner than later, these terrific mailers will no longer be personally delivered by my mailman.

​As The Olden Days group passes on, going paperless will no doubt save a lot of trees, and will absolutely appeal to customers my daughter’s age.
 
But that doesn’t mean I won’t miss them… and the memories they’ve brought with them.   
 
What’s your favorite catalog, and why?  I look forward to your comments and stories!     
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12 Comments
Loree
6/25/2016 02:10:41 pm

LOVE getting catalogs. I save them up and then treat myself to a lounge session scanning pages and pretending i have unlimited funds to purchase anything that catches my eye. If I receive no satisfaction they get recycled, if I find things I like the catalog is spared until the next lounge session. They have to be outdone in order to be exiled to the blue can. My lounge sessions seem to be lagging looking at my current stash of "new for spring" editions lying on my end table. I need to prioritize some me time.

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Hilary Grant
6/25/2016 02:46:33 pm

HA! Yes, it sounds like it's definitely time for another lounge session. And, you've also come up with a great way to window shop without ever leaving your house; for that, I am impressed! ;)

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Patti
6/26/2016 12:23:21 am

A few months ago I took a flight to attend a wedding. It was my first flight in several years, and I was saddened to learn that they no longer had the Sky Mall magazine. I remember many flights where it kept my young sons entertained for hours. We used to have fun pretending what we would buy if we had all the money in the world.

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Hilary
6/26/2016 11:18:37 am

You know--you're right! There was the in-flight magazine when we flew to New York a few months ago, but no Sky Mall. But I'm pretty sure that international carriers still offer their own versions. Lloyd is just going to have to take you to Paris so you can find out. :)

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leslie spoon
6/26/2016 08:39:27 am

Hilary I really enjoyed the Spiegel catalog. I got some very nice stuff for my first apartment. The other catalog that I have always enjoyed was from Penny`s. They are great for bedspreads, etc. Now I like Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. I like catalogs better that looking at things from the internet.

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Hilary
6/26/2016 11:20:55 am

I have a good friend who swears by Penny's. It was always on a par with Sears when it came to clothes and bedding. In fact, my college roommate got married in a Penny's wedding gown. The marriage didn't last, but the dress was beautiful. :)

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Fran
6/26/2016 12:24:00 pm

Here in Canada, there is still a Sears Wish List xmas catalog. Also up here the store is Simpson-Sears, rather than Sears Roebuck.
My two favorite catalogs at xmas time were Neiman Marcus and FAO Schwarz. Both had exciting, one of a kind, beyond my reach, items. Always fun to see what special things these stores offered through their catalogs.
Like Hilary, I now love viewing the Vermont country store catalogs that sell childhood memories. Priceless.
Because I spend half the year in two different places, I don't get catalog deliveries anymore. No free forwarding, so I rely on the internet, but I do miss browsing through and circling those items of interest.

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Hilary
6/26/2016 01:14:41 pm

I wonder where the name Simpson comes in? Interesting--I will have to research that. :) You also mentioned something wonderful about getting hard copies of these catalogs. You can CIRCLE items you want, and in my case, also fold the corner of the page where the item is and/or use a paper clip. I'm sure you can bookmark items online, but it's not the same, especially for someone like me, who does much better with a in-my-hands, paper copy.

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Susan Jordan
6/26/2016 05:56:00 pm

SEARS by far! I'm actually a Sears catalog collector of sorts. I've had my family's originals since the early-mid-1970s until the 1990s, when Sears stopped sending it out. One time when I was about 14, I found a Spring-Summer 1970 catalog being tossed out (atop a stack of magazines and boxes) in the parking garage at my grandmother's apartment building. I felt then as if I'd won the jackpot. Later, when eBay came along, I gave a co-worker money to bid on a few for me. My oldest original catalog is from 1943. There are still several I'd like to get, including many "Wish Books" (Christmas toy catalogs) from the 1960s and early 1970s. I love the Sears catalog because it's a History book of American material culture throughout time. You can track changes in American culture from what's in its catalogs, and very much from old Sears catalogs. Sometimes it's fun to laugh at how much has changed in America over the decades, and sometimes it's a bit sad to see what we've lost. They take up space, but each one is a treasure trove, in my estimation.

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Hilary
6/26/2016 06:45:29 pm

Ohhhh, then, you must watch the YouTube link I provided! It's a one-hour PBS documentary titled Mr. Sears' Catalog, and tells the story about how this one book changed America. In fact, I bet that somewhere, there's a college history class on the Sears and Roebuck catalog. From watching the doc--which also has some great footage and photos--you'll also find out that Mr. Sears got into this business completely by accident. Most interesting!

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Larry Grant
6/26/2016 08:54:04 pm

Our rural Ohio home in the 50s and 60s always had a Sears and Roebuck catalog and a, as my dad called it, Monkey Ward catalog. Except for food, there didn't seem to be anything a person could ever need that wasn't to be found in one of those two big city phone book sized catalogs. In our house they were the Amazon.com of their day.
My favorite print catalog that we receive today is the Vermont Country Store catalog.

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Hilary
6/26/2016 09:46:45 pm

My Aunt Tillie also called Montgomery Ward Monkey Ward! She considered it inferior to Sears, though, and when she was teaching me to sew, would say, "Do you want this to be made well, or look like something you got at Monkey Ward?" And, agreed: those catalogs had everything anyone could possibly want. Of course, the Vermont Country Store now has the food! :) xo

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    Hilary Roberts Grant

    Journalist, editor, filmmaker, foodie--and a clown! 
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