Since we went down memory lane a bit on the Circa 1972 Bachmann thread I figured how about a Nostalgia Thread to keep everything in one reference spot. I start...with a 1995 copy of America's Hobby Center catalog. This one is in booklet form and I remember the newspaper format when I was a kid. I thought I had a copy of it in the basement but I think I threw them all away. There's a slight chance there may be a copy lurking down there somewhere. Take a look at some of those prices! How about TEN assorted freight cars for $19.95? Or FOUR remote switches for $17.95! Post whatcha' got! EDIT: since I couldn't edit the title, I was hoping to keep this thread to PAPER nostalgia, you know catalogs, flyers, etc. No need to post equipment nostalgia as those get posted often.
When I first got into the hobby (1987-88?) I was in HO and ordered ONCE from American Hobby. I know one of the things I ordered was a bunch of HO scale cars and trucks for some super low price...and getting what you paid for, they were cheap junk (like what you would get from a gum ball machine...remember those?). I do remember that nothing that I ordered was worth a dime and never used any of it. That was the day I learned that if something was too good to be true (or in this case, too cheap), it probably wasn't going to be what you thought. It was years before I ordered any trains mail order after that.
I got my first N Scale set in 1968 and have been hooked on N ever since. These are my oldest catalogs, with the one on the left from 1971/1972 and the other from 1973. I also have Arnold (aka Revell Rapido) and Minitrix (aka Postage Stamp Trains) manufacturers catalogs from this era stored away somewhere.
With the sale ads, it was important to be sure the ad said something like "10 Atlas cars" or "10 Aurora ncars" and not just "10 cars" for whatever money. That way, you at least knew what brand you were getting instead of getting anything they decided to ship. Doiug
I posted my post above after I thought I had written it here and forgot to post it but the post was in the "Circa 1972 Bachmann" thread. That's why essentially the same post is in both threads. Doug
Have these two catalogs too. Some of the models photographed are HO stand-ins, as Arnold hadn't yet produced the models and in some cases, never did. Looking at these covers, it hardly seems 50+ years ago.
Thinking of AHM @MK , I remember this TV ad playing on Chicago stations and that tune is still stuck in my mind. It features HO, not N, but I thought it was worth a post.
Their catalog around the same time period. Their motto is on the back cover. I like the second to last paragraph.
@Hardcoaler that is one cool TV ad!!!! When I was a kid we couldn't afford a TV until I was a little older...our first Zenith (remember that brand?) black and white. I think that was in the early 70's. So this is the first time I'm seeing that. Cool!!!
I still remember getting our first 'second' TV...12" portable B&W, but if you wanted to watch something the rest of the family wasn't interested in, it was the only game in town (well before VCR's came around). Can you say 'Star Trek'? I also remember taking the tubes out of the TV when it dies and going to the tube tester (in Thrifty Drugs) to replace the bad vacuum tube. But the topic is trains. I know I have several old JMC and early Walthers catalogues upstairs next time I venture up there.
Isn't it funny that we'd go to the drug store to use their tube tester? I had my Dad's old phonograph (made by Voice of Music in Benton Harbor, MI!) and made the same trips as you did.
Some more old N Scale catalogs I just found. The catalog in the upper right with the NYC scene on the cover in the top photo is a heavy, 160 page, all-color Rivarossi catalog. There's no copyright year in it, but I'm guessing it's from the mid-1970s. In the lower photo is a Kader catalog, found by a friend in Hong Kong in the early '80s. Kader had been a supplier to Bachmann for many years and at the time, Kader had just bought Bachmann outright. They still own it today I think. Bachmann's name appears nowhere in the catalog, as they have no overseas presence.
And as I was scanning the catalog, this card fell out. I doubt they can do that in today's times, especially the girl watcher part. They would be hung out to dry to today's political atmosphere. Yeah, I thought signing the card made it true!
When I belonged to the train club, we had HOGGER walk around power pack DC. When you would open one up, all the componence were different. An electronics guy said they were all surplus parts. A capacitor in this one didn't look the capacitor in that one. We had 7 and no two were-a-like.
I ran into this video showing the same train set my late older brother got for Christmas in 1961, except for road names: And yes, the Atlas track was original to the set. Tyco wasn't selling track with their brand on it, yet. Doug