Yesterday’s post about old sports merchandise catalogs from the collection of former Cubs GM E.R. “Salty” Saltwell reminded me that reader Brad White generously loaned me some similar catalogs about a year ago. I photographed them at the time and then returned them to Brad, but I never got around to publishing the pics — until now. Here are Brad’s catalogs, one at a time:
1971 MLB Gift Catalog
Lots of fun stuff in this one. Also, note the silhouetted-batter logo shown in the top-right corner of several pages — I don’t think I’ve ever seen that logo before.
NFL Pro Central
Not sure of the date on this one, but it’s clearly from the 1970s.
1972 Sports Life, Inc.
A mix of different sports in this one. Be sure to check out the “toddler in a Virginia Squires jersey” photo on the last page.
Button House
Despite the name, no buttons in this NFL catalog.
1972 NFL
I saved the best for last — enjoy.
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That’s it for this round. Big thanks to Brad for sharing his collection with us. Sorry it took me so long to publish these pics!
Those catalogues are absolutely fantastic. Oh to be 13 years old again…
Those catalogs are absolute gold..!!!
I’m a sucker for old merch catalogs (even though I’m not remotely old enough to remember them) so today and yesterday have been great. I need a Commanders stein…
Phenomenal. Almost makes up for Collector’s Corner disappearing. Is it coming back?
Nope. As I announced in early January, Brinke has retired from Uni Watch.
All this vintage stuff lately has been great. So cool to see items I had when I was a kid.
I had all these catalogues as a kid! My bibles, really.
I still have the same Bengals helmet that kid is wearing on the cover of Sports life, Inc.
Wonderful feature on a time when this stuff was still our little secret.
Absolutely love these catalogs! There is a certain goofyness about the products and the models (both kids and adults) that is so charming. From the times when following sports was nothing but fun. Very innocent and sparkling. I want to have all the merch pictured, by the way. Very greedy about that. My favorite pic is the toddler crawling out of the Mets garbage can wearing a Mets hat and reaching out to a Pirates bobblehead doll.
I ordered from Pro Central! Miss that place
1972 NFL merch cat was breathtaking.
I’m currently sitting in a room, surrounded by many items from those catalogs. Also, so many things in those pages set off my OCD: the Washington Senators shirt in the 1972 catalog; the red stirrups with the Cubs uni; there’s a Lions bobblehead that hadn’t been made since 1966 in the 1972 catalog; the goal post with the attached helmets was put in the stand backwards; the upside-down Eagles logo on the football in that same display; etc. . .
Fantastic entry today – one of my all-time favorites. Kudos to Brad & Paul.