Today I was Christmas shopping on the internet - so easy, so convenient, so fast. Yet, wonderful and efficient as this new technology makes gift-giving and wish list-making, I decided it lacks something.
I can't pinpoint what that something is, but today, shopping simply didn't have the same magic that shopping in the Sears Wish Book had. Is it a loss of the sensory pleasures? Maybe. Certainly tapping a few keys and clicking a button doesn't have the same feel as turning every page, listening to its crisp crackle and wondering what would be on the pages that followed. I'd fold down the corners of each page that had an item I wanted Santa Claus to bring that year, hoping somehow "Santa" would see it.
Then again, perhaps it's just a sentimental thing. There was such anticipation, even in waiting for the catalogs to arrive - a veritable fantasy world for a child.
Still, as I clicked and ordered today, I felt a thrill, hoping my loved one would like, whether I had chosen it from the paper page of a catalog or the screen of my computer. The anticipation of giving hasn't changed, thank goodness, even if technology has.
Happy shopping, happy giving and happy Christmas!
Yes, I'm a long-time catalog aficionado too. The original Sears catalog was designed to provide isolated farm families a shopping opportunity. Montgomery Ward too. Now we shop on the internet in order to INCREASE our isolation from the traffic and crowds.
ReplyDeleteBut the lust-inspiring catalogs of my youth were Warshawski & J C Whitney Auto Parts. Therein could be found such delights as dual-barrel carburetors and straight pipes (to replace the muffler on one's vehicle). Those were the days!
Nothing like ye old Sears an MW catalogs to set your mind whirling. The internet has a little of that, but just isn't the same as flipping through pages.
ReplyDeleteI became a fan of Internet Christmas shopping out of necessity--no stores in the Arctic. The first Christmas I spent in civilization was spent at the shopping mall and I loved every minute of it. Still do. Can't get enough, but it will never compete with the excitement of the arrival of the fresh, new Sears Wish Book. Every page in the toy section was marked. I wanted Santa to have plenty of options.
ReplyDeleteed_quixote, I'm sad to say I'm not familiar with your favorites, though lust-inspiring they may have been!
ReplyDeleteOscar - who could forget Montgomery Ward - and JCPenney! Still, The Wish Book was my favorite. I suppose the title was a good marketing ploy - especially for kids.
Patty - you remind me that it's all a matter of perspective. I might enjoy getting out to the malls more if I'd been deprived. I have to admit, there's a certain Christmas spirit that comes with non-virtual shopping at malls - I just hate the traffic and crowds!
Cabelas has a great wish book for those of us who love to hunt & fish. I'm sorry to say they don't have Russell & Connie action figures at this time, but maybe next year . . . .
ReplyDeleteRussell, your "Russell & Connie action figures" comment cracked me up. Right out loud.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jan, thanks for the wonderful memories I too have of the Sears catalog.
I loved your action figures, too, Russell! So clever, as usual! Thanks, Russell!
ReplyDeleteThank you, too, LeAynne. It's funny how so many people have fond memories of looking through the Wish Book!
I always loved the smell of the brand, new wishbook. Ah, for the good ol' days when mama and daddy paid the bill!
ReplyDelete