Comments on: quirky vintage catalogs

quirky vintage catalogs

madamjujujive — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:24:03 -0800

A Crooked Gambling Supplies catalog from 1960, a 1914 Cyclopedia of 5,000 Puzzles, dozens of magic posters from the '20s to the '40s, and more fun ephemera from Old Catalog's flickr sets.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:34:46 -0800

Good lord, the artwork from the 1944 Johnson Smith catalog looks just like it did in the 1970's when I got those catalogs. There was something just so wonderfully crappy about Johnson Smith catalogs that Archie McPhee or Stupid.com have not been able to capture. Thank you for a fine post and more proof that the world, is indeed, a wonderful place.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:36:19 -0800

Link to 1944 Johnson Smith catalog here.

By: cog_nate

cog_nate — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:36:55 -0800

Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia is directly downloadable here. Great post.

By: mattoxic

mattoxic — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:03:44 -0800

I've gotta say, the prices are very steep in 1960 dollars. $45 bucks for fake cards- comes to $304.87 according to my cursory search for an inflation calculator.

By: cj_

cj_ — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:08:18 -0800

Neat, D&D dice.

By: bz

bz — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:10:16 -0800

mattoxic: my thoughts, exactly. Pricey.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:23:20 -0800

$45 bucks for fake cards... I think the price includes the "Fucking Cheating Scumbag" tax.

By: xorry

xorry — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:25:04 -0800

Worst DM ever.

By: inthe80s

inthe80s — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:41:59 -0800

I've gotta say, the prices are very steep in 1960 dollars. $45 bucks for fake cards- comes to $304.87 according to my cursory search for an inflation calculator. Those cards don't cost money pal, they make money! Though if you get caught by the wrong folks, I imagine they cost a lot more in body parts.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:57:11 -0800

Crooked Gambling Supplies catalog! That's mad. Some googling for more info on the K.C. Card Company turned up this great story about a search for someone who could do a 'middle deal'. Here's the relevant excerpt from The Magician and the Cardsharp:

The two doggedly made the rounds, hitting gambling joints, bars, and pool halls. But when they asked about a center dealer, they came up with little except shakes of the head. It began to look as though the Mexican had merely passed along another version of Sprong's fairy tale. When they visited the K.C. Card Company, they were directed to still another gambling den, a tough, rundown joint guarded by a man who kept a .45 revolver openly displayed on his wheelchair. Vernon gave the name of K.C.'s manager, Elbert ("Red") Langworthy, as a reference and got past the guard to face the stern men who ran this backroom dive. What do you want here? they demanded of Vernon, as Miller hung back. Vernon casually stuck to his cover, explaining that he was a mechanic and had heard there was a cheater in town who could deal from the center of the deck. He told them he was eager to get in contact with the man. The men stared at him, and then one of the toughs spoke up. "What mail-order catalog've you been reading? What do you mean, dealing from the center of the deck? It's tough enough to get the second card! That's a lot of hooey. Nobody does that."

I won't spoil the ending for you.

By: Bernt Pancreas

Bernt Pancreas — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:23:34 -0800

That's why some gamblers covet their United Airlines or Eastern Airlines playing cards. Apart from some cigarette gimme decks, these were about the hardest to mark there were.

By: DU

DU — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:34:34 -0800

Johnson & Smith looked like that in the 80s too. I even placed a couple orders and was largely disappointed. Still loved the catalogs, though. I should see if they still put one out and get my kids into it.

By: Spatch

Spatch — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:14:13 -0800

Holy crap, this is awesome. I wish I didn't have anything to do today so I could just keep on looking at (and looking for) this kinda stuff.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:41:06 -0800

This is lovely. Thank you.

By: telstar

telstar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:55:27 -0800

Love this kind of thing, thanks. Added bonus is that the crooked supplies catalog is the same age as me.