10/03/2007

The Sears 'Wish Book'


“For decades, the Sears Wish Book was a holiday treat, scrupulously studied, dog-eared and circled by generations of children hoping for the best on Christmas morning.

“Now, 14 years after Sears shelved the catalog, the retailer is reviving the holiday tradition as it struggles to attract new shoppers.

“‘We all get lots of gifts, but wishes are a special thing,’ said Chief Marketing Officer Richard Gerstein. ‘And, I think that's what this book used to embody and that's why we're bringing it back.’"
- The Associated Press, 3 October 2007

One of life’s great joys, even more than those of childhood, is the parents’ role as Santa Claus. My sons Michael and Ladd were always very specific about their Christmas wishes.

Family photo albums aren’t complete without those photos of your children sitting on Santa’s lap.

One of my favorites is of my boys going through the Sears “Wish Book” with Santa to be certain the jolly old elf made good on all their wishes. They had insisted on taking the catalog along to the local Sears store.

The magic book is back! What’s your wish?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Frodo's wish is that this time around the catalogue only be used as intended.

Anonymous said...

Hey B;J.,
I loved the picture of Michael and Ladd with Santa.
My wish is that it gives Children as much happiness daydreaming of the wonderful items in the book as it did me so many years ago, and hey at my age (54 in 4 days) I might just have some more wishes from that great book...
I love you, Deb

Anonymous said...

I wish I had a 1969 to 1971 Corvette and no one would accuse me of trying to compensate for a small penis!

I wish our mutual friend would be let off the hook, keep her house, and get ample support from her husband.

I wish you could see clear as a bell!!!

I wish I could remember my user ID and password for you blog.

Love, Richard

Anonymous said...

The precious picture of your little ones reminds me of the
many pictures of my own children sitting on Santa's lap. It also reminds me of my childhood years when I poured over those old Sears catalogues wishing for a new doll for Christmas because mine had mysteriously disappeared.

And sure enough on Christmas morning there was a new doll under the tree. I was grown with children of my own before it dawned on this ole Santa that I was getting the same doll each year. That's why my new dolls always had dresses made from the same fabric as my own dresses. I
just thought Santa was like God and knew everything.

Bless my dear sweet mother for her labors of love, cleaning up old porcelain dolls to look like new, her late nights of sitting at the old pedal Singer sewing machine, and her love to make sure us children had a good Christmas.

I wish every child in the world that kind of love and happiness
on Christmas and everyday of the years. However, I have to
speak my mind here concerning GW Bush:

He claims Jesus is his #1 philosopher. But,

Jesus said: "Suffer the little children to come unto me..."

GW Bush says: "Let the little children suffer under me..."

Bush prefers big bucks to bomb them off the face of the
earth than to let children have the health care, food, shelter,
clothing, education, etc. at the same time he gives lip service
to being pro-life.

Jan wants to know, what's wrong with this picture?

Anonymous said...

My father worked for Sears all his life, and so we had the catalogs there all the time. Yes, wishbooks, all of them. And part of the family. All glossy and nice, and we loved it. Daddy home from work, the fire in the fireplace burning, our life was secure and happy. I love to think of those days and the secure life it afforded us--security and happiness were measured in terms closer to home then. He'd bring the old pattern books home, and I'd have my cut-outs. My sister had a used "model doll" with all the clothes, still has it. We had a good life based there.
And, yes, Jan, it shouldn't be so openly different now, no matter where the children live. But with the changes in society that allow this to happen, to allow the president of the United States to be what he is today--what then do we do? It's an awful thing to see the generations change this much. To see it drift this far is scary. Eowyn

Unknown said...

I wish you would send the photo to Sears! Then everyone could cherish it as we do!