Sears Wish Books 1937-1975

"The 1933 Christmas Book catalog started a tradition that made the Sears Wish Book an American icon. The Sears catalog and the name Wish Book were closely linked over the years. Prior to 1933, Sears customers often affectionately referred to the large, semi-annual, general catalogs Sears issued as the “Wish Book” or “Book of Wishes.” After 1933, the Wish Book name became synonymous with the annual Christmas Book catalog. In 1968, Sears made it official by renaming the Christmas Book catalog The Wish Book." -from the SearsArchives website

We'll concentrate and the guitars and amps that were offered in the yearly holiday catalog, but if you'd like to check out complete catalogs (and I KNOW you do), head over to WishBookWeb for full Christmas catalogs from Sears, JC Penneys, Montgomery Ward, FAO Schwarz and more!



More 1972. All over the place this year with the acoustics... an A-style AND a gourd-style mandolin, a 6-string banjo that you tune like a guitar, and an odd little 'folk' flattop from Japan.

1973. The Rhythm-Matic makes its Wish Book debut, and the snooze-ification of Sears-offered guitars continues.


More 1973. Flattop City! The only domestic-produced guitar on this page is the black 1217.

1974. Pickins are gettin' slimmer... at least we have a choice of Rhythm-Matics!


More 1974. More folk imports, and the first listing in the Wish Book for an electronic tuner.


1975. Oh, how far we have come from the stylish Silvertones of yore. A sad, sad selection in the guitar department, although it might be cool to own that odd cathedral-style amp at the bottom. Oh, and the Rhythm-Matic enters phase 2.

More 1975. Casting the hook around, Sears caught these two flattops from Korea, and promoted the 'respected Harmony name' for (at least one of) its acoustics this year.


I'm going to end the Wish Book looks here in 1975, as the return of the 600 series shape up there as the Harmony-built and branded model 1239 was the last glimmer of the Silvertone that we knew and loved.




<==== Page 6 ~ ===> Rock on over to page 8 for guitars and instruments from some 'Alternate Universe' holiday catalog pages from JC Penneys and others.

I'm still looking for Wish Book pages to fill the gaps. If you've got scans of  Christmas/Wish Books from Sears for the years 1933, 1934,1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1948, and 1949, I'd sure appreciate you sending them to me. I'll even give you a free pair of Silvertone guitar picks for your trouble!



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