May 6, 2009

Like a Sears catalog cowboy

Jezebel has an amusing and entertaining look at the spring, 1972 Sears catalog's children's clothing section. This reminded me of how every winter during the 1970s, I anticipated, and then consumed (at least the toy section) the annual Sears Wish Books. I look at examples of them now, and the amount and clarity of sensory memories I receive is almost too much to bear. As I scrolled down the Jezebel post, I saw just this, and thought it seemed vaguely familiar:

An odd sense of déjà vu continued, and then, this:


My parents got my sister and me sets like the red one with chaps, for what must have been the Christmas of 1972. I had a green version, and she had the red one. They came with a hat, frilly, plastic-like gloves, chaps, pants, a belt, a bandanna, and a matching checkered shirt. I remember going to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo the following February (probably in the Astrodome) with my parents, and my sister and I wore them (of course!). My little sister got kicked by a calf, behind which she had unfortunately stood, so her memories of that day may not be all that good. For whatever reason, my parents held on to those little Sears cowboy outfits, and a couple of years ago, they had them framed. Here's what was left of my sister's (the picture I took of mine was blurry, so I deleted it):

3 comments:

Retro Hound said...

"I look at examples of them now, and the amount and clarity of sensory memories I receive is almost too much to bear."

I know what you mean. I get that feeling all the time at Paco Camino's blog. I remember the exact page and layout of the catalog. It's wild.

Retro Hound said...

I meant Plaid Stallions, not Paco Camino.

Chris said...

Paco Camino, Plaid Stallions - it's all good.