Finding inspirations for Santa’s wish list (Second of two parts.)
Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 8, 2001
One way to make life interesting for the younger generation 35 years ago was to give them a copy of the Wards or Sears Christmas catalog.
Saturday, December 08, 2001
One way to make life interesting for the younger generation 35 years ago was to give them a copy of the Wards or Sears Christmas catalog. Then the children could create lists of presents to hopefully be brought by Santa Claus.
With the multitude of illustrations and gift suggestions in the 1966 Wards catalog, there was a real challenge for the children and their parents. The possibilities for presents to be left under the Christmas trees on Dec. 25 were seemingly endless. For some parents the solution was to limit the choices to be placed on the wish lists to hopefully eight or ten items.
This particular practice of that era could possibly help Santa’s helpers (the parents, relatives and friends) to better understand what children really wanted on Dec. 25, thanks to the then annual Christmas catalogs from the mail order and retail store firms.
One page in the 1966 Wards catalog was devoted to bicycles. The Wards Hawthorne brand featured four bicycles. One was a 20-inch sidewalk bike with a headlight for $29.99, plus shipping charges. Three other bikes were 16-inch models with removable training wheels. Also on this page was the pedal-powered Super-Sonda Scooter, plus a unicycle.
On another page was a selection of five Wards Hawthorne tricycles. As a bonus, there were two battery-powered small &uot;motors&uot; which could be attached to the handlebars of any trike or bike to provide sound effects.
More adaptable to the actual season were three sleds,a ski sled, skis and snow-skates, sno saucer, baby sled, sno jet toboggan, sno-wing, saucer sled, and an outdoor recreational device labeled the new SNO-A-GO-GO.
This last item was described in the catalog with, &uot;Your children will have a ball on this fun-packed SNO-A-GO-GO. Combines the thrills of bob sledding and skiing. Styled in the latest Hot-Rod fashion. Features include banana seat, ‘hot-rod’ handlebars with large acetate windshield and metal ski runners. Steering may be handled by feet or by handlebars. Red, white and blue colored, 41 inches long, 25 inches high. Easy to assemble.&uot;
This catalog featured pedal-powered tractors, cars, fire trucks, and even a scooter wagon. There were three sizes of pull-along wagons, plus two deluxe (wooden) stake wagons. On this page was also a traditional scooter with 7 1/2-inch wheels with hard rubber tires, 38 inches long, with handlebar streamers and parking stand on sale for $5.95.
Other recreational and sports items in the 35-year-old catalog included roller skates, bop bags, barbells (junior version), boxing gloves and punching bag, basketball and football equipment, badminton and volley ball sets, table tennis, archery-dart sets, and even several pool and pocket billiard tables (again, lighter junior versions).
Books have always been logical Christmas present choices for recreational and educational reading. In 1966 the Wards catalog had a choice of nine Dr. Seuss books and six little books based on the &uot;Peanuts&uot; newspaper comic strip. There were cloth picture books, washable cloth books, three pop-up books, and a three-book set featuring Winnie the Pooh and friends.
&uot;Zowie,&uot; one kit consisting of a magazine and LP record explained how Bruce Wayne became Batman and Dick Grayson became the boy wonder, Robin, All this and more cost just $3.19, plus Batman sunglasses for $1 more.
Maybe Harry Potter wasn’t around 35 years ago to create more reader interest in a series of books based on one or more main characters. Yet, there were several favorites with possible present potential which were featured in several series of books then selling for 99 cents each volume.
The Hardy Boys Adventure Series were available in 36 different books, and the newest one in the set for 1966 was the &uot;Mystery of the Spiral Bridge.&uot;
There were 15 of the books with approximately 200-pages each in the series based on the boy genius, Tom Swift Jr.
One series of still available books was based on the adventures of girl detective Nancy Drew and consisted of 36 of the 99-cents-each volumes.
There were the then still popular and now nearly forgotten books about the Bobbsey Twins from a mythical town somewhere in New England named Lakeport. Again, there were 15 books available, with the newest in the series being titled, &uot;The Bobbsey Twins and Their Camel Adventure.&uot;
Games galore were shown in the 1966 Ward Christmas Catalog; 14 pages of wintertime indoor fun. These included electrically operated football, baseball and hockey games, Monopoly (at a cost of $2.72), a wacky game with a medical theme named &uot;Operation,&uot; and something with an African theme called the &uot;Silly Safari.&uot;
For just $3.33 there was a game which could reportedly tie the players up in knots. The catalog description said, &uot;Twister – the new stocking-feet game that’s a riot for everyone – youngsters or adults. It puts two players face-to-face in a fantastically funny test of pretzel-ability. Each spin requires players to move a hand or foot into a different colored circle on the vinyl game rug. As play continues it becomes harder to stay in balance. First one to fall is the loser.&uot;
For the game-loving child limited to just a few choices for Santa’s list based on the 1966 catalog, there were two interesting options. Hopefully, either option could be considered as just one present.
One option was a 70-game chest. This item, selling for $1.99, included &uot;a treasury of year ’round family fun.&uot; Illustrated with this option were Chinese checkers with 60 marbles, bingo cards with spinner, plastic checkers with board, and tiny plastic horses for a racing game.
The second option, costing $3.99, was a 102-game set. Additional games included skill ball, chess, and magnetic darts with metal board.
For a visual surprise on Christmas Day and for the wintry days and evenings to follow, two pages in this catalog featured the View-Master. One version was the battery of electrically operated viewer which was held up to the eyes like field glasses. The other version used a 30-watt projector and viewing screen. For both versions of the View-Master the Wards catalog listed 115 different reels. The reels were based on cartoon characters and children’s favorites of this era. nations of the world, U.S. travel, and general interest topics.
There were several ways to order merchandise from Wards 35 years ago.
One was was to take the child’s wish list (which in many cases included the catalog’s page number for the desired present) to the nearest Wards retail store. In this area those stores in 1966 were located in Albert Lea, Rochester, Fairmont and Mason City, Iowa. As a bonus, there was a catalog order counter in each store. Items ordered at this counter could be sent directly to the purchaser’s home by parcel post, or picked up at the store a few days later.
There were also Wards Catalog Stores in Austin, Waseca, Mankato, Blue Earth, Owatonna, and Osage, Iowa. These smaller stores displayed some merchandise, but the main focus was on taking orders and serving as a pickup point for deliveries.
A third category was the Wards Sales Agent. This type of operation was part of a business, such as a pharmacy or hardware store, which had the catalog sales and pickup service as a sideline. The only area Wards Sales Agent was in Wells 35 years ago.
Orders could be placed by telephone to the nearest Wards store or sales agent. However, one still popular option for many people was to order the merchandise, which included the shipping costs, by mail from Wards regional center in St. Paul. Then, a few days later, the delivery of the future Christmas presents would be made by the mail delivery person.