For years, one of the earliest signs Christmas was coming up fast was the arrival of the JCPenney catalog in the mail. Filled with images of everything from home furnishings to the hottest toys, children pored over it circling the picture of all the items that made up their wish list. Though times have changed, Christmas shopping catalogs are still a part of the holiday season.
The tradition first took root in 1926, when Neiman Marcus put together a 16-page guide highlighting some unusual – and expensive – options for those with selective taste in search of a rare Christmas gift. From then forward, retailers began to see the value in doing more than just waiting for customers to come in: showing them what was available ahead of time would increase interest, as would the chances they would spend their money in the store offering the catalog.
The Sears and Roebuck catalogs at the turn of the 19th century had featured holiday-themed items, as well. At the time, Christmas cards and ornaments appeared a couple of years apart. A decade later, stockings for the fireplace were added, followed by electric Christmas tree lights in 1912. What we associate with the holiday didn’t appear as a specialized gift guide for another twenty years. However, in 1933, the Wish Book was first published – featuring 25 pages of toys among 87 total – and quickly became an American icon. Filled with items that were substantially more affordable than Neiman Marcus’ offering, the possibility of ordering the perfect gift became real for many more people. The big book was here to stay.
With the advent of the Internet, the catalog moved into the digital age. Sears created a specific Wish Book website for the first time in 1998 and has since gone through several iterations to create a computer-based experience similar to the feel of waiting on the postman to bring the catalog. (Customers join an email list, then click through the pages as soon as they can.) The added benefit of a world wide web-enabled catalog is two-fold: 1) customers can produce wish lists that are easily seen by relatives all over the world and 2) the savings on printing and postage are substantial. And, as smartphones grow in popularity, customers are now able to thumb through the catalog on their mobile phone as they move from one department in the store to another.
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