The Christmas season was always a special time in my house, despite my parents' relationship being a bit of a struggle, to say the least. Mama and Daddy always made sure to make it special for my sister and me. While there was plenty going on on TV as well as the radio, I would sometimes spend hours next to the Christmas tree, at the kitchen table, or in my room flipping through catalogs, making lists for my upcoming letter to Santa. Back when we lived in our little yellow rented house on Easter Lane in Mobile, Alabama, my parents began to collect catalogs from stores like JC Penny, Spiegel, Montgomery Ward, as well as the holy grail of catalogs, Sears—most notably, the Sears Wish Book.
The catalogs never seemed to be thrown away even after they were outdated, and they followed us from the yellow house to the house we moved into two doors down a few years later, and also when we moved to Pace, Florida. Each year, new additions would arrive, inspiring more Christmas wishes for me. I tried to preserve the catalogs as best I could, never marking in them unlike most children who circled what they wanted. Instead, I made lists, noting the store, catalog number, page number, a description, and the reason I wanted the item. Although I knew I wasn't going to get everything I asked for—sometimes not a single thing on my list—it was still a fun and exciting activity that filled me with holiday spirit.
After I left home, my love for catalogs remained strong. While many of the catalogs from stores of the past are no longer printed due to the businesses going under, focusing on brick and mortar sales or simply transitioning to online sales, I still occasionally receive catalogs. Companies like Ginny's, a part of the modern-day Swiss Colony and Montgomery Ward, still send out catalogs, and there's also the massive book from a company that seems to tickle everyone's funny bone, Fingerhut. I also enjoy looking at the old catalogs on pages like Wishbook Web, where I can relive those nostalgic memories and daydreams.
Even as an adult, I find joy in flipping through these catalogs, reminiscing about the simpler times when I'd dream of Christmas gifts by the light of the Christmas tree. The tradition of catalog browsing may have evolved, but the magic it brings remains the same. Whether it's making lists or just admiring the variety of products, catalogs have always been a source of excitement and holiday spirit for me. How about you? What were your favorite catalogs?
