January 29, 2013

BEAUTIFUL 1974 JOHNSON SMITH CATALOG COVER

Via ebay. Someone bought it for fifty-six bucks.

8 comments:

Dex said...

Those shirts are...interesting. lol

Jeremy said...

Interesting catalog cover. Other than Archie Mcphee, I can't think of any current mail order catalogs that have covers of note.

Have you ever done a write up about Johnson Smith before? I have recently discovered them after seeing them mentioned through the Whole Pop Catalog (which I recently purchased on eBay.)

Brian Barnes said...

I had the U-Control 7-Foot Monster Ghost as a kid, and I don't remember being terribly disappointed by either the ghost or number of words used to describe it.

That said, I was obviously pretty easy to please. I think my balloon was of the monster variety and didn't last long.

Replace "acts like he's really alive" with "acts like he's possessed by vile horror from the pits" would be more accurate.

Kirk D. said...

Dex- Yeah, quite '70s.

Jeremy- I've covered quite a bit of Johnson Smith product but no, I've never given them a dedicated post. That would be fun. The Johnson Smith Wikipedia page has quite a bit of good info on them. They're one of the few old mail-order companies that's still in business. (see johnsonsmith.com)

BTW I've got that Whole Pop catalog too- it's a great resource.

Brian- Good for you childhood-you for seeing the value in the ghost. I wonder if I would have done the same. I like the U-control ghost art on this cover in particular. The ghost looks about 20 feet tall!

Chris said...

Another great image Kirk. I re-posted it to Plonsky 9, which is a great place for you to share some of you images and find new ones. Chris
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200448134870023&set=oa.546478648704932&type=1&theater

Stefan Jones said...

I was aware of the J-S catalog through their comics ads of course, but found out about their long history via an entry in The Last Whole Earth Catalog. It mentioned that early catalogs offered things like indoor fireworks and lion cubs!

I got my hands on a early-70s catalog as a young teen. It might have been 72 or 73. It had some cool stuff, but nothing compelling enough to spend my precious pocket change on.

I've managed to get my hands on the 1929 Chelsea Press reprint, and an actual 1949 J-S catalog. These have a LOT of the same items, particularly the magic tricks and gag items.

Ze Mastor said...

Ah, Johnson Smith catalogs! So many memories! Bought a lot of junk from them back in the day. About 5 years ago, my brother was cleaning house and tossed his Johnson Smith catalogs (from 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1981) into the paper recycling bin. I asked him if he really wanted to dump them. he said "yeah" so I asked if I could have them.

They're mine now! I've been thumbing through them for the entertainment value. They're not "collector quality" because we used to cut out the order blanks, or we used to fill in the order blanks but never sent them in, or cut out the some little ads themselves.

Still a lot of fun to browse through. I never knew that there were so many Johnson Smith catalog enthusiasts out there.

Kirk D. said...

Ze Mastor- Those were a great find!
I filled out many an un-mailed blank myself.

PS, I glanced at your blog and it looks way fun. I'll try to remember to take a closer look when I get more time.

KD