The first Sears Christmas Book, in 1933, was a modest 87 pages. It offered fruitcakes and Mickey Mouse watches and live canaries. By 1968, the catalog had ballooned to 608 pages, and sold quilted r… ...

Sears launched its first Christmas Wishbook catalog since 2011 this year. To take a look back at holiday catalogs since they began in 1933, the Tribune visited the Sears catalog archives in ...

Like an analog Amazon, the 1968 Sears "Wish Book" sold an unrivaled assortment of mail-order goods, enough to fulfill every Christmas list at a time when trends started on department store floors ...