dept store catalog – Skate and Annoy

Aldens 1978 Christmas Catalog

Aldens was a mail order catalog based out of Chicago from 1899 (not a typo) to some time shortly after 1982. This is a page from their 1978 Christmas calendar with three skateboards. I can’t ever remember seeing an Alden’s catalog despite living in the Chicago suburbs during their last gasp. Two of the models […]

Wheels of excitement

When it’s time to kick up your wheels, do it with one of our deluxe skateboards. All are constructed of maple hardwood with silkscreened designs and sand grip tape surface… Each model has 9″ trucks, precision bearings and kicktails. From the 1986 Sears Wishbook, featuring the usual suspects from Variflex as well as a couple […]

JCPenney Catalog from 1993

I’ve featured a handful or two of pages from Christmas catalogs and store advertisements from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, but this JCPenny (1993) is the first from the 90’s. Or it isn’t. I can’t tell for sure. A Bart Simpson skateboard is no big deal, but for the discerning reader of S&A there’s more […]

Black Knight from 1976?

The auction said this Black Knight skateboard appeared in a 1976 Montgomery Ward catalog. I would have thought that was an error towards being too late, but the copy says there are no loose bearings, which would imply precision bearings, so 1976 sounds reasonable after all. I had always thought the Black Knight boards were […]

JC Penney Had Class

Another shot of vintage skateboard equipment from one of my favorite sources, old department store catalogs. These offerings from JC Penney were available in 1977. There’s a generic board, a Free Former brand, and two that I can’t quite make out with the name Class in it, possibly ODO Class or DDO class. (Update: Pro […]

So Sturdy They Support an Adult!

1965 was a good year for skateboards in catalogs. Here’s a page from a Sears catalog featuring Sears branded skateboards, which are essentially Nash-style copies, some like the Spyder are so similar that the were likely made by Nash. The ad copy has some choice bits like “So sturdily built it supports an adult” and […]

Targeted for X-Mas

Retailers are sending out Christmas mailings already. Target has a few skateboard related images in their catalog; A giant skateboard prop for Shaun White’s clothing line, and a posed photo of a little kid who looks like he just released a tail grab. he’s getting some awesome footage of his knees. I want that giant […]

Sears. Still my favorite skateshop

I keep looking for this Sears catalog from 1965, but they always go for upwards of $40 when I’m watching. Too much for me, but I’d never actually seen the page before, but I knew it existed. This one showed up as an ancillary illustration to another Sears Hot Dog board on eBay. The same […]