Vintage catalogs are one of my favorite things to find at estate sales but they don't turn up all that often. I think they are one of those collectibles that were treated as ephemera and were often thrown away. I know there are a lot of people out there who collect the old Sears Christmas Wish Book catalogs. Personally, I don't think one ever survived my "wish list" building without having many, many items circled in ink when I was a kid. I can't even imagine anything like a mint copy getting by me as I prepared for the holidays. The older generation always told us that the Sears catalog is what they used to stock the outhouse with paper back in the day. Really. I don't think I could make that up. That is yet another strike against the odds of one surviving in good shape.
photo credit: AZAdam
On eBay, old catalogs are quite a popular find. As I mentioned, the old Sears Roebuck items are snapped up very quickly, but they are just the beginning. Auction catalogs are incredibly popular. I picked up a box full of Sotheby's literature once and couldn't get it listed fast enough. Once people saw that I had three or four of them listed one week, the emails started pouring in asking me if I had specific publications related to certain auctions. Unfortunately, that just isn't how this end of the business works. You dig and dig and go all over and then you buy up what you manage to find.
photo credit: adifansnet
Other specialty catalogs also do quite well. These sometimes fall into the "who ever would have though" category. A General Electric parts catalog recently went for close to $350. I knew that there was a solid core of collectors for General Electric though. One woman asked me to notify her any time I found ANYTHING GE. She said she would buy it on the spot. Sight unseen.
Car parts, fashion prints, catalogs referring to products that contain asbestos, TVs and radios, vintage seed catalogs...they all go.
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 1953 Montgomery Ward Catalog Spring Summer VINTAGE  US $22.99
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 VINTAGE 1963 MOON MUSCLE CAR EQUIPMENT CATALOG HURST US $79.99
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 Lenox China Vintage CATALOG PRICE LIST 1967 VG Cond US $28.01
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 2 Vintage Sears Christmas Store Catalogs 1973 1975 US $35.00
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Some people collect these to keep as display pieces that go with a larger collection following the same theme. Others collect the catalogs as part of a vintage catalog collection. There are also those creative types who love the old artwork and they will turn one vintage catalog into several artistic works with a little bit of cutting and pasting. I have a friend who does this with scrapbooks. It looks very nice.
Whatever the reason, vintage catalogs are a good seller. If you are a collector, I hope you find something you like in the listings above (or their following pages underneath). If you are a potential eBay seller, your tip for the day is to grab those old catalogs when you see them in decent shape. They are tough to come by outside of eBay.
This is a great video I came across on YouTube showing off an old catalog...
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