Christmas Hard Candy

1937 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Hard candy. Boiled sweets. Teeth Crackers. Call them whatever you like, these colorful, iron hard confections remind us of Christmas at Granny’s house. Whether they be fruit or mint flavored, drops or ribbons, tinned or jarred, we kept going back for more! And if mom or dad told us we’d had enough, granddad had a private stash by his recliner that he’d share on the sly.
This is a tribute to that time honored holiday goodie. Taken from the pages of vintage Sears catalogs from 1937 through 1979, these colorful pages are almost good enough to lick. I again extend my apprciation to the folks at Wishbookweb.com for making these scans available. If you’re into 20th century advertising design, department store history or just enjoy looking at the Christmas catalogs from your childhood, this is an amazing website! Go there!
As always, click any image for the full page scan.

1940 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

1940 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Ten pounds of candy for a buck and change. I feel like that was a bargain, even for 1940. I could be wrong though. It’s possible you could have bought a car for a dollar fifty in 1940. I don’t really understand inflation.
I like that the pail depicted above is divided into multiple sections. This is the precursor to the modern flavored popcorn cans that are so popular around this time of year.

Christmas Hard Candy

1940 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a tub of candy. Jack munched down and broke a crown and Jill just swilled some brandy.

Little girl christmas candy

1942 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Okay, let us be clear. This little girl is greedy. The photographer didn’t need to say, “Okay Clarissa, we need you to hold the candy bucket like it’s your prize dolly.” She was way ahead of Fred the Photographer on that one.

Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

1942 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

I like the chopped stick candy with pictures running through the center. Reminds me of British ‘Rock’ stick candy that they sell by the seashore. I assume it’s made exactly the same way. Take that Brits! Sears stole your rock candy! Or did you give it to us during Lend-Lease?
Also, regarding the stick candy chunks in the image above, does that one near the middle just say, “OK”? That’s a bit of a bore, isn’t it?

Christmas Hard Candy

1947 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Starlight mints? Get those out of there! We have candy canes on the tree! Who, in their right mind, would reach for a starlight/pinwheel when there’s a lovely curved stick that you can suck to a point? They taste exactly the same, and the candy cane has the added benefit of being able to torture little brothers and sisters. The candy cane is a multitasker!

Christmas Hard Candy ribbon candy

1952 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

More broken sticks of rock, these with flower images inside. And an overabundance of  starlights! Space fillers, all of them!

High contrast christmas candy

1956 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

You know, for as much holiday candy as I’ve eaten, I don’t think I’ve ever been presented with a piece of ribbon candy. They’re all the rage in these ads. Also, the above ad may be my favorite from all of these. I love the high contrast. It’s like they painted black into all the nooks and crannies between the candy. I just love it.

Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

1958 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Candy that comes in a collared tin, like the ‘Diana Stuft’ tin above, seems slightly impractical. I’m from Florida, and the humidity here makes just about any sugary substance extra sticky, extra quick. I imagine that any confection left in there by January 1st is going to have to be chiseled out with an ice pick.

Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

1962 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

 

Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy french creams

1964 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Woof, this is a motley combination of hards and softs. There are hard candies mixed in there, but they’re being overtaken by jellies and, ick, french creams. What’s wrong with you, 1964? French Creams just look like the 1960s, folded into a confection. French Cream: The mod dress of the candy world. Except I actually like mod dresses.

Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy country inn confections

1972 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

Color! May your eyes be be ever seared by Christmas red! Also, Country Inn makes a big bold appearance! See my Christmas fruitcake article for lots of Country Inn. I still don’t know if it was a Sears and Roebuck brand, but I’m hoping one of you will fill me in! Comments below!

Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy tin

1979 Sears Catalog – Christmas Hard Candy

And as we depart the 1970s, the blandness of 1980s catalog coloration and design begins to bleed backwards. Still, those Country Inn tins remind me of my youth. My family had tins just like this around the holidays and it fills me with warmth.

Also Check Out….

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out my other Department Store Christmas catalog tributes. More to come in over the next few weeks.
Those wonderfully tacky Sausage and Cheese gift packs!
The gift that everyone dreads, the Christmas Fruitcake!
And don’t forget to visit Wishbookweb.com! It’s the best place to make the fantasy Christmas list that the 11 year old you would approve!

vintage catalog fruitcake

1942 Sears Catalog – Christmas Fruitcake

Tis the season for a new batch of classic department store Christmas catalog time travel! And today, I bring you that classic Christmas cliche, in all of it’s kitschy glory: The Christmas Fruitcake. These images are culled primarily from Sears Catalogs, from 1937 to 1988. The catalog fruitcake is a perennial favorite, though I don’t recall if I’ve ever once tried a slice. Given that it’s reputation precedes it due to negative reinforcement from movies, tv shows, comics and general vibes from other humans, I’ve always shurgged it off. Yet, there’s nothing about the ingredients of the standard fruitcake that really offends me. I like cake. I like candied fruit. I like nuts (within reason). I like Christmas. What is there for me to dislike? Maybe this year, I’ll give fruitcake a try. Until then, enjoy these colorful representations of that classic seasonal doorstop. Click any image to enlarge to the full page catalog ad.
Oh, and don’t forget to head over to Wishbookweb.com where I found these fantastic images. If you’re into 20th century advertising design, department store history or just enjoy looking at the Christmas catalogs from your childhood, this is an amazing website!
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Delta Dreamflight Press Kit

The cover of the Delta Dreamflight press kit, 1989.

Delta Dreamflight was a ride at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Opened in 1989, it replaced one of my favorite rides as a kid, If You Had Wings, which was sponsored by Eastern Airlines. When Eastern dropped their sponsorship, Delta stepped in and became the official airline of Walt Disney World. This media package was released during the opening festivities and contains promotional materials, Delta collateral and a photo. I’ve scanned some of the more interesting material. Click to enlarge.
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rockefeller center in 1939
This is a collection of all the pages from a 1939 booklet, “The Story of Rockefeller Center”. It’s a tourist guide coinciding with the 1939 New York World’s Fair, and it covers the development, design and attractions of the building. In 1939, Rockefeller Center was only about nine years old, but it had gained a reputation as a cultural hot spot in New York City. The source of many of NBC’s radio broadcasts and home of the Radio City Music Hall, the building was known to millions of Americans. This booklet is an interesting time capsule.
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six gun territory ocala florida stage coach
When I was child in the 1980s, I used to visit my Grandmother in Ocala, Florida. An hour or so north of Orlando and it’s multitude of tourist attractions and themeparks, Ocala was fairly sleepy. Beautiful rolling horse land was the main attraction for a visitor. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some vestiges of the old Florida tourist trade. Silver Springs and its natural wonder was of course the main draw for visitors, but I will never forget my visits to Six Gun Territory. I just recently stumbled across this collection of promotional photos at an estate sale and I wanted to share. It took me right back. Read on, and click the images for higher resolution.
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Outside a Burger King in the 1980s
Repost from November 2010. I found a trade journal put out by Prosperity International in 1984 called, “FLORIDA: In Shape for The Future”. It’s filled with all kinds of promotional materials for Florida companies. (Ironic note… it was printed in Japan. I guess there were no Florida printing companies that would pay for advertising?) In it I found some fun Burger King photos. I loved Burger King in the 1980s. Hell, I can’t help it, I still love it! Click photos to make larger.
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Personal Computers In the 1980s atari 800
From the 1980 J.C. Penney Christmas Catalog. Featured here is the Atari 800. With a whole whopping 16k of RAM. Holy mackerel, it’s monstrously huge! Looks like it was built into an IBM Selectric chassis.

Reposted from June 2011. This is a brand new selection of vintage personal computers in the 1980s from Department Store catalogs. As usual, I dug through the magnificent selection at Wishbookweb.com. Go there. Wait, finish looking at this post. THEN, go there.
As per usual, click the image to view the entire catalog page and a lot more cool imagery of Ye Olde Computers. More after the fold.

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I still have never been to Weeki Wachee, but it’s one of those old Florida attractions that I feel I have to see. It’s a shame, because I wasn’t far from there yesterday when my wife and I did a day trip for our eleventh anniversary.
Being in close proximity reminded me of the huge amount of Florida ephemera that I’ve collected. As I was going through it, I found this Weeki Wachee pamphlet. What I particularly love about it are the celebrity endorsements.
Click the image below to see the front and back of the pamphlet.

Arthur Godrey says, “Weeki Wachee is one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World”.
Bob Hope says, “The live Mermaids are the greatest at Weeki Wachee… and it’s fun!”
Ted Mack says, “This is the finest underwater talent in the world.”
Don McNeil says, “What a thrill. What a joy. You’ll love the mermaids at Weeki Wachee!”
Weeki Wachee is still around today. If you’re visiting Tampa or nearby cities, it’s a great place to take in a little of that classic Florida tourist attraction nostalgia. Here’s their homepage.

This is just a small project I’ve been working on, for fun. Two of my heros. Still a work in progress.

I was going through some old backups today and I came across some images that took me back. In 1996, I was a founding member of the Triple Dub Club Cyberneighborhood. (WWW, three Ws, get it?) This was an online Disney community founded by a number of individuals from the Disney Fans Bulletin Board (DFBB) on Prodigy. Remember Prodigy? The Web was young, and we all thought we could create a truly interactive online neighborhood, themed around Disney history. It was a fun experiment, though it didn’t last very long. When Prodigy switched to a web based platform, the DFBB died.. It’s ironic, but while we were trying to create a web based environment, to build up our Disney fan community, as soon as the old ASCII based forums disappeared, our community sort of fell apart and so did the TDCC. Still, I’ll always remember that time fondly.
Here’s some of the graphics I created for the TDCC.

Triple Dub Club Cyberneighborhood. This was my first ever piece of graphic design. I created it entirely in Microsoft Paint. Thank goodness Photoshop eventually came into my life. Triple Dub Club Cyberneighborhood. This was my first ever piece of graphic design. I created it entirely in Microsoft Paint. Thank goodness Photoshop eventually came into my life. My handle on the Prodigy Disney Fans Bulletin Board was J. Thaddeus Toad. So when I created my own page for the TDCC, it only made sense to call it Toad Hall. My handle on the Prodigy Disney Fans Bulletin Board was J. Thaddeus Toad. So when I created my own page for the TDCC, it only made sense to call it Toad Hall. An animted gif of the Wedway Peoplemover that I created. This was to be the graphic that displayed when you were moving between themed sections of the TDCC. An animted gif of the Wedway Peoplemover that I created. This was to be the graphic that displayed when you were moving between themed sections of the TDCC.