Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Treasure Chest of Toy Catalogs

I suspect I will never tire of toys, nor toy catalogs. This favorite Flickr find from 1937 is from Paul Malon. The illustrator is listed as F.E. Phares. 

This charming 1946 FAO Schwarz cover is from Vintage Catalogs. Others below can be found at Antique Toy Collections. All of them are real standouts of design and lettering. Due credit goes unlisted.





The 1931 Magic Toyland catalog from the JC Penny Co. The back cover and an interior are below. All from Antique Toy Collections


1950s Spielpuppen puppet catalog from eBay.


1935 Tinker Toys catalog from Newhouse Books via Number of the Day. Below is an interior page from a TT catalog which is most likely from the 1930s. A Flickr find from baikinange.
1947 Firestone catalog for all your tire needs. From Zaz Databaz


The very first Billy and Ruth toy catalog from 1930.  

1952 Billy and Ruth toy catalog from Compact Collection. Below is the back cover and interior pages.




The 1956 cover of Billy and Ruth from Antique Toy Collections. An interior spread below shows the Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw Outfit" in lower lefthand corner—as seen on TV! I once cherished this same boxed set when I received it for Christmas as an 8 year-old. I seem to recall making a lot of charcoal drawings of desert cactus scenes with burros in the foreground and drawing trains in perspective on really cheap paper. In retrospect I might have preferred the Handy Andy Mechanical Drafting set or the Plasticville Master Village Set. 


1962 Bill and Ruth catalog from Toyland, in Sherman, Texas. Below is an actual photo of the Toyland store from 1951. It had a curious mix of half toys/half sporting goods for sale. ::Via Joel Gillespie.


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