When I was young my dad would bring home a three-inch thick Sears Catalog with the toy section bookmarked. That was fun. Our eyes would get wide as we perused those pages, making our little Christmas lists for Santa.
Today, our interest has turned to big boy toys. Maybe we don't believe in Santa anymore but we can still make Christmas list ideas, can't we?
I mention all this by way of introduction to this guest post by The Car Guy.
The 2020 XDP Diesel Performance Catalog.
https://www.xtremediesel.com/
Looking back; the advent of catalog shopping brought emerging trends, products, and technologies as a new marketplace for the consumer. It comes as no surprise that the pioneer of catalog merchants was likely Benjamin Franklin who, like Amazon today, first sold books by mail back in 1744.
But it wasn’t until the post-Civil War era when Aaron Montgomery Ward cut out the middle-man pricing by taking manufacturer discounts straight to the mail order consumer. While his focus was on anything sold in his stores, it was more of the enterprising spirit of Richard Warren Sears and his partner Alvah C. Roebuck, who added Christmas specific items in the form of decorations, lights and trees to their catalogs at the turn of the century.
The very first Sears Wish Book, known as the Sears Christmas Book catalog, came out in 1933. Featured items in this first catalog included the “Miss Pigtails” doll, a battery powered toy automobile, a Mickey Mouse watch, fruitcakes, Lionel electric trains, a five-pound box of chocolates, and live singing canaries.
But that wasn’t their first. The 1896 Sears general catalog included wax candles for Christmas trees. The 1898 Sears catalog added Christmas cards, and the first Christmas tree ornaments appeared in 1900. Sears began selling Christmas stockings and artificial Christmas trees in 1910. Electric Christmas tree lights made their debut in the catalog two years later.
The 1933 Christmas Book catalog started a tradition that made the Sears Wish Book an American icon. The Sears catalog and the name Wish Book were closely linked over the years. Prior to 1933, Sears customers often affectionately referred to the large, semi-annual, general catalogs Sears issued as the “Wish Book” or “Book of Wishes.”
Many people nostalgically think of the Wish Book as filled with nothing but toys. The 87-page 1933 Christmas Book catalog featured 25 pages of toys and 62 pages of gifts for adults. In 1968, the Wish Book totaled 605 pages, with 225 pages devoted to toys and 380 pages to gifts for adults.
A discussion of Christmas catalogs would be incomplete without an exploration of Neiman Marcus, famous now for not only operating snooty department stores but also for publishing an annual catalog of the outrageous in Christmas gift giving.
Neiman Marcus launched their catalog as far back as 1926 but it wasn’t until a radio interview with radio legend Edward R. Murrow asking Stanley Marcus if the store would be offering anything unusual that might interest his radio listeners; Marcus invented on the spot an offering of a live Black Angus bull accompanied by a sterling silver barbecue cart, subsequently altering the catalog to include his new idea, priced at nearly $2000. In 2005 they offered a private concert with Elton John for $1.5 million.
Toys and gifts for adults are still really popular. Check out the 2020 XDP Diesel Performance Catalog.
Xtreme Diesel Performance (XDP) is a retailer and distributor of quality diesel products designed to complement the Dodge, GM, and Ford lines of diesel pickup trucks. They carry an extensive inventory of diesel performance products designed to help you meet whatever your needs may be.
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It the mission of XDP to satisfy the vehicle owner’s desire to enhance the performance, efficiency and/or functionality of their vehicles. They will achieve this by being the preeminent source for quality parts at competitive prices, friendly and knowledgeable advice, and outstanding customer service.
Since XDP has all the items in stock and on shelves, they are able to offer you better selection, service and price, making them a true "One Stop Shop for Diesel Power". Their inventory is n multiple locations which allows them to get the product shipped directly out extremely fast.