Anyone remember catalog stores?

[bcla]

Didn't Wheel of Fortune pay out it's prizes in the form of Service Merchandise Products and gift cards when it first was on the air? I remember a set filled with items and prices on them, and the winner had to 'spend' their prize money on items from the display or take the gift cards for the balance. That was Service Merchandise? Right?

It would have been a gift certificate. Gift cards weren't available until the mid-90s. One of the primary reasons for gift cards was that gift certificates were somewhat easy to counterfeit and the whole idea of using a bar code (such as a print at home coupon) or matching a serial number (even though many gift certificates had serial numbers) was kind of new. I have gotten gift certificates for independent stores or restaurants, since it's too expensive to set up a gift card infrastructure for one or two locations.

 

[njmom47]

I remember Service Merchandise and Consumer's Distributors too.

Our wedding bands came from one of them, and this was in 1996, but I don't remember which one.

 

[crz4mm2]

Oh the joy in the 1950's when the Pennys, Sears and Monkey Wards catalogs came, especially the Christmas ones. Hours and hours spent spending pretend money on things you just.had.to.have. Then we could cut the figures out and make paper dolls out of them.

There was another excellent use for those catalogs. I can remember as a small child going to my great-grandparents' farm. In the outhouse, there was a Sears catalog hanging on a string. I assumed it was for reading material. It wasn't. You didn't want to use the shiny pages, though.

It was great to get the xmas catalogs in the mail! The kids circled everything they wanted!
DD used three of them as "dolls" once. Even named them. LOL> (and she had PLENTY of dolls!).
I also remember green stamps. My Mom bought lots of stuff with them.

 

[bcla]

It was great to get the xmas catalogs in the mail! The kids circled everything they wanted!
DD used three of them as "dolls" once. Even named them. LOL> (and she had PLENTY of dolls!).
I also remember green stamps. My Mom bought lots of stuff with them.

I've gambled a bit, and there was a video slot machine with an S&H Green Stamps theme. This one is available used:

However, the main one I remember from my youth was Blue Chip Stamps. The history I'm reading is that they're technically still in business as a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4185494

 

[crz4mm2]

I've gambled a bit, and there was a video slot machine with an S&H Green Stamps theme. This one is available used:

However, the main one I remember from my youth was Blue Chip Stamps. The history I'm reading is that they're technically still in business as a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4185494

My MOM would LOVE that slot machine!! Where is it for sale?
I am not familiar with the blue chip....
I do sort of remember some other stamps that were gold? Anyone else?

 

[bcla]

My MOM would LOVE that slot machine!! Where is it for sale?
I am not familiar with the blue chip....
I do sort of remember some other stamps that were gold? Anyone else?

This is a real slot machine, so it may not be legal in all states. I know that in California a real slot machine (and not a demonstration mockup) has to be an "antique" at least 25 years old for private ownership. Other states it would be legal as long as you don't use it as a gambling machine.

http://www.worldwide-gaming.com/2009/07/15/slot-machine-sale-by-state/

This is the specific machine in the photo. It's $1299.

http://crslots.com/slot-machines/sl...&H Green Stamps <BR> 300 Coin <BR> Item #6209

I thought that I found other listings, but apparently it's the same machine with the same price. I guess it's like a network where everyone is essentially a broker even though they all list machines that others might list.

 

[crz4mm2]

This is a real slot machine, so it may not be legal in all states. I know that in California a real slot machine (and not a demonstration mockup) has to be an "antique" at least 25 years old for private ownership. Other states it would be legal as long as you don't use it as a gambling machine.

http://www.worldwide-gaming.com/2009/07/15/slot-machine-sale-by-state/

This is the specific machine in the photo. It's $1299.

http://crslots.com/slot-machines/sl...&H Green Stamps <BR> 300 Coin <BR> Item #6209

I thought that I found other listings, but apparently it's the same machine with the same price. I guess it's like a network where everyone is essentially a broker even though they all list machines that others might list.

A little out of my price range.... But she would love it.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

wishbookweb.com

This site brings back some memories. Yes I will admit being over 40, I remember spending hours and hours digging through the Sears Christmas Catalogs when I was a kid.

 

[LBIJim]

I'm guessing probably not at that time. Trade with China around then was limited to maybe a few things like food. More likely made in Taiwan or Korea if they were lower end.

Most of the stuff I was drooling over in the catalog were well-known brand names or at least fairly nice items. The microscope I mentioned was made in Japan, although even then they were getting out of their reputation for shoddy manufacturing.

Ah, the metamorphosis of junk manufacturing. Yep, when I was a kid in the 1960s "Made in Japan" still had a negative connotation, even though there were some quality products, especially in TVs and electronics. Then in the 70s and 80s Korea and Taiwan became the big producers of low end goods. And China finally took a stranglehold in the 90s.

I enjoy the unexpected surprise of something NOT made in China. For instance, the handle on my Gillette razor was made in Poland, and a set of colored Crayola pencils was manufactured in Brazil, with the sharpener made in Germany.

wishbookweb.com

This site brings back some memories. Yes I will admit being over 40, I remember spending hours and hours digging through the Sears Christmas Catalogs when I was a kid.

Yep, the Christmas catalog for toys, and the summer catalog for swing sets, swimming pools, and other outdoor stuff.

 

[bcla]

Ah, the metamorphosis of junk manufacturing. Yep, when I was a kid in the 1960s "Made in Japan" still had a negative connotation, even though there were some quality products, especially in TVs and electronics. Then in the 70s and 80s Korea and Taiwan became the big producers of low end goods. And China finally took a stranglehold in the 90s.

There was actually quite a lot of good stuff amongst all the cheaply produced junk. Sony made an affordable and reliable transistor radio that could fit in a pocket. Japanese motorcycles from Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki were inexpensive and reliable. And who could forget cameras?

General Jack D. Ripper: Were you ever a prisoner of war?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Well... yes I was, matter of fact, Jack. I was.

General Jack D. Ripper: Did they torture you?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Uh, yes they did. I was tortured by the Japanese. Jack, if you must know; not a pretty story.

General Jack D. Ripper: Well, what happened?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Oh, well, I don't know, Jack, difficult to think of under these conditions; but, well......what happened was they got me on the old Rangoon-Ichinawa railway. I was laying train lines for the bloody Japanese puff-puff's.

General Jack D. Ripper: No, I mean when they tortured you. Did you talk?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: Ah, oh, no... well, I don't think they wanted me to talk really. I don't think they wanted me to say anything. It was just their way of having a bit of fun, the swines. Strange thing is they make such bloody good cameras.

And of course the line from Back to the Future:

Doc: No wonder this circuit failed. It says "Made in Japan".

Marty McFly: What do you mean, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan.

Doc: Unbelievable.

 

[sasywtch]

I'm guessing probably not at that time. Trade with China around then was limited to maybe a few things like food. More likely made in Taiwan or Korea if they were lower end.

Most of the stuff I was drooling over in the catalog were well-known brand names or at least fairly nice items. The microscope I mentioned was made in Japan, although even then they were getting out of their reputation for shoddy manufacturing.

You are probably right. I had completely forgotten about "made in Japan". I've heard made in China for so long now. I was refering to the coffee cups, the wood holders for the 4 coffee cups, those type of things. I had tons of their products in my home.

 

[sasywtch]

I've gambled a bit, and there was a video slot machine with an S&H Green Stamps theme. This one is available used:

However, the main one I remember from my youth was Blue Chip Stamps. The history I'm reading is that they're technically still in business as a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4185494

OMGoodness-thank you for the photo of the blue chip stamps. I never thought to look them up until now. They are such a huge reminder of my mom that passed years ago.

 

[bcla]

You are probably right. I had completely forgotten about "made in Japan". I've heard made in China for so long now. I was refering to the coffee cups, the wood holders for the 4 coffee cups, those type of things. I had tons of their products in my home.

I forgot all about the no-name stuff that was all over the pages of housewares.

I just remember that there really wasn't that much trade in that sort of stuff with mainland China until maybe the 80s when things started to open up. I do remember that you could walk into Chinatown and there was lots of stuff like condiments made in China. And the illegal fireworks that my friends bought (I didn't know where to get them) were from China. And coffee cups - maybe. However, there wasn't much of a trade in things that were bigger or more expensive, such as furniture or electronics.

And of course there was that scene in Toy Story where Buzz realizes that he's a toy when he lifts up the hatch on his arm and it says "Made in Taiwan".

I heard the original plot of Toy Story 3 (to be made without Pixar) centered around Buzz Lightyear toys being recalled and Buzz being sent back to Taiwan to be repaired. The only catch was that they were just going to destroy the defective toys and replace them with new ones.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I used to love pouring through the Sears catalog when they put out the Christmas edition. I would daydream about the toys I wanted.