Sierra Trading Post

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Sierra Trading Post was started in 1986 by Keith Richardson in Reno, Nevada, and today has four retail stores and mails tens of millions of catalogs. The company purchases name-brand overstocks, closeouts, and seconds and sells them at savings of 35 to 70 percent.

Sierra sells such things as outdoor recreation and adventure gear, dress, casual and outdoor clothing, footwear, and even home furnishings. Name-brands include The North Face, Patagonia, Timberland, Carhartt, Columbia, Rockport, Dr. Martens, and Birkenstock. In all, Sierra Trading Post sells overstocks and closeouts from more than 1000 vendors.

The Sierra Trading Post catalog which started out as a 16 page mail-order catalog has grown to a collection of nine different catalog titles.

Sierra Trading Post has everything you need for sports and outdoor fun. Camping and hiking gear, climbing gear, hunting gear and more. Baseball accessories, Basketball accessories, Skating gear and golfing gear.

Sierra Trading Post also offers products ranging from clothing and shoes to home furnishings.

Burpee Gardening Catalog

Burpee Seeds began in Philadelphia in 1876 when 18 year old Washington Atlee Burpee borrowed $1000 from his mother to start his own seed company. Originally Burpee sold not only garden seeds, but also farm supplies, tools, and even livestock. By 1915 W. Atlee Burpee & Co was mailing a million catalogs a year.

David Burpee, the founder’s son, took over the Burpee Seed when his father died in 1915 and made flowers one of the company’s highest priorities and initiated several flower breeding programs. He sold the company to general foods in 1970. David Burpee remained as a consultant until his death in 1980.

The Burpee Gardening Catalog offers a wide variety of vegetables and plants, perennial and annual flowers and plants and seeds, and herb seeds. Products in the Burpee Gardening Catalog are available for all growing zones and all seasons. Burpee products are fully guaranteed.

Burpee Gardening Catalog

The Burpee Catalog on Amazon

Magellan’s Travel Catalog

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In 1989 John and Gloria McManus started Magellan’s Travel Catalog from their kitchen table. The first catalog was printed in black and white and was only 32 pages.

John and Gloria worked for Pan Am Airways and were well aware of the inadequate supply of many essential travel supplies. John wrote detailed descriptions of their hard-to-find travel supplies and how each addressed a specific travel problem. The company grew quickly and now has over 100 employees.

Magellan’s Travel Catalog offers travel supplies such as overseas electrical adaptors, third world health and hygiene porducts like water purification and insect protection, noise reduction headphones and earphones, RFID blocking wallets and bags, money belts,comfort pillows and travel blankets, wrinkle-resistant clothing, and much more. All products offer a 100% money back guarantee.

Magellan’s Travel Catalog is a great source for unique and useful gifts.

Frederick’s of Hollywood

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Started in 1946 by Frederick Mellinger (the inventor of the push-up bra), Frederick’s of Hollywood was successful in creating lingerie that was sexy and made women beautiful. It was an immediate hit with actresses and models who came to rely on Frederick’s of Hollywood for the sexy glamour that embodied the Hollywood lifestyle.

Today, Frederick’s of Hollywood is still a leading trendsetter in intimate apparel, with stores in shopping malls across the US.

Frederick’s of Hollywood

Current Catalog

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Current Catalog began in 1950 in Colorado Springs. Orin and Miriam Loo. Orin Loo owned a small publishing business and his wife Miriam began a mail-order campaign to sell his postcards to church groups to use for fundraising. Her project was very successful, and they expanded began producing a mail order catalog filled with greeting cards, recipe cards, and other paper products.

Today Current USA, Inc., is a multi-brand direct marketing company with more than 2,000 products and millions of customers. Yet the company still retains its friendly family feeling. And, while they still have a fundraising division, most of their products are sold directly to consumers who enjoy keeping in touch with their family and friends. Current is your best source for unique, thoughtful, affordable gifts, warmhearted cards for everyone, and the thickest, peekproof gift wrap around.

You can find the Current Catalog on Amazon by clicking here, or you can go to their website by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post. Either way, you’ll find a great selection of gifts for any occasion.

Current Catalog Website

Harbor Freight Catalog

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Harbor Freight Tools was started in Los Angeles in 1968 by Alan Smidt. The company originally bought damaged freight goods and sold them to contractors from the back of a truck. Soon a small army of telephone salesmen were hired and the company began to grow.

The Harbor Freight mail order catalog started as a single sheet of paper in a standard envelope, and after massive success with that, the company rolled out a full-blown catalog in the mid 1980’s.

Now based in Camarillo, California, the company offers a large variety of tools through its mail-order catalog, web site, and retail stores. The Harbor Freight website claims to have “one of the largest selections of brand-name tools, plus many items you just can’t find elsewhere.” Brands offered include Chicago Electric, Pittsburgh, Central Machinery, Central Hydraulic, and Central Forge.

Harbor Freight Catalog

As a Harbor Freight Catalog fan, we know you enjoy shopping for tools and supplies for home improvement from the comfort and convenience of home, so here are a few More Great Tool Ideas you need to see.

Find Your Favorite Gift Catalogs Here !

Are you looking for the hottest gift catalogs that all your friends are talking about? Have you lost track of a favorite catalog from years gone by? All the best mail-order gift catalog businesses are still around and better than ever.  Here’s your chance to shop all your favorite catalogs… online !

Those highly sought after “hard-to-find gifts” can often be found in mail order catalogs. Don’t drive from store to store looking for those unique gifts.  Many of the custom gift items or gag gifts found in the gift catalogs listed here are almost impossible to find anywhere else.

Browse the list below or use the sidebar links to find out more about your favorite gift catalogs, including company histories, what kind of unique gift items are offered by each, and links to each catalog’s website where you can shop and order online.

Lillian Vernon

Magellan’s Travel Catalog

Collectibles Today

Sierra Trading Post

Plow & Hearth Catalog

Blair Catalog

Country Store Catalog

SkyMall Catalog

Simply Whispers

Harbor Freight

Spencer Gifts

Old Pueblo Traders Catalog

Sears Catalog

Neiman Marcus Catalog

Potpourri Catalog

CHEFS Catalog

Lane Bryant Catalog

Collections, Etc. Catalog

U.S. Cavalry

Sundance Catalog

J.C. Whitney

Real Goods – Solar Products

Burpee Gardening Catalog

Frederick’s of Hollywood Catalog

Things You Never Knew Existed

The Lighter Side

The Lakeside Collection Catalog

Taylor Gifts

    Check back later for more awesome gift catalogs !

 

 


JC Whitney

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In 1915, near the beginning of the automotive age, Lithuanian immigrant Israel Warshawsky started a scrap metal yard in Chicago that would eventually evolve into the company known as JC Whitney. As demand grew beyond what he could supply with used parts, Warshawsky bought failed auto manufacturers to add new parts to the inventory. The Warshawky Company continued to grow and eventually opened a retail store.

Israel’s son Roy joined the company in 1934 and proposed a nationwide distribution for the company’s catalog, which, until then, had been distributed only in the Chicago area. They ran a sixty dollar ad in Popular Mechanics offering a “giant auto parts catalog” for twenty-five cents. Response was huge.

Today the company continues it’s mission to make it easy for consumers to purchase independent aftermarket products.

Categories of auto parts offered on the JC Whitney website include Fuel Saving Products, For Your Motorcycle, Audio Video & Electronics, Lights & Lighting, Hitches Towing & Trailers, and many more. Interior, exterior, or under the hood, JC Whitney has been supplying the world’s auto parts, by mail order, for most of the last century.

Click the banner below to explore JC Whitney for yourself.

JC Whitney Catalog

Things You Never Knew Existed Catalog

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Things You Never Knew Existed

The Johnson Smith Company, officially founded in 1914, is one of America’s oldest catalog companies.

The Johnson Smith catalog was known for years as the “Things You Never Knew Existed” catalog and specialized in unique gifts and gag gifts.

UPDATE: The Johnson Smith Company closed in December 2019.

UPDATE: The Johnson Smith Company brands which included The Things You Never Knew Existed Catalog, The Lighter Side Catalog, and Betty’s Attic Catalog were acquired by Winston Brands in 2020 who were “excited to keep the Johnson Smith Company brands moving forward and blending them into” their current family of Collections Etc. Here’s a link to the Things You Never Knew Existed section of the Collections, Etc. website.

Bonus Unique Gift Catalogs mentioned in this Article:

The Lighter Side & Betty’s Attic (now combined? at Collections, Etc.)

Collections, Etc. (a Great Gift Catalogs post)
The Lighter Side (a Great Gift Catalogs post)

Spencer Gifts Catalog

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The Spencer Gifts store opened in the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, NJ in 1963, but the company actually started life as Spencer Gifts Catalog.

Spencer’s is well-known, (or should we say notorious?), for it’s wide variety of offbeat products. Rock music, Goth, techno, heavy metal and other music paraphernalia and posters abound. Spencer’s has a plethora of pop culture playthings for your shopping pleasure. And now, a friendly warning: Use care when shopping here. Spencer’s is not for everyone. Many items found at Spencer’s could be considered “for mature audiences”.

Shop for the coolest party gear here. Spencer’s has blacklights, fog machines, lights shows and more. The Spencer’s Catalog also offers up an amazing array of funny t-shirts sure to make you laugh. In addition, they also have a personalized t-shirt program called the “Design-A-Tee Studio”. Find belt buckles, footwear, wallets, keychains, and body jewelry here also.

Spencer’s Gifts offers some of the hippest, strangest and most unique gifts around. If you have a hard-to-buy-for young adult, chances are you can find something to satisfy them in the Spencer’s catalog. Check out Spencer’s awesome collection of swag by clicking the links below. Or find more pop culture gift ideas here

Spencer’s Catalog is included in this list of the top 5 catalogs for finding unique gift ideas. Check it out!

Spencer’s Gift Catalog

Spencer’s Store on Amazon