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The very first Christmas catalogue was a separate booklet apart from the annual Sears catalogue, and included only a few items: a Miss Pigtails doll; a battery powered Air Max 95 Zebra

toy automobile; a Mickey Mouse watch; Lionel electric train set; a three pound box Air Max 95 Mexico World Cup of chocolates; and of course, a fruitcake.

recreating one's own 'dream book' in tangible form.

While a virtual pin board is certainly the way of the future, one cannot help but lament the loss of flipping through the Wish Book, cutting out pages and Nike Air Max 95 Sunset

Not only as an exercise in imagination, but from a historical perspective, it becomes harder and harder to track prices of goods and what is popular from one decade to the next.

The joy of flipping through the glossy pages, tearing out selections was nearly comparable to receiving gifts themselves.

In 1933, Sears started its Christmas catalogue tradition that, in the decades to come, would make the Wish Book a well known and eagerly anticipated item each year.

influence on children. The top toys of a decade would be based on which toys were displayed in the Wish Book. Across the 20th Century, these top toys included: teddy bears; Pogo Sticks; Scrabble; Barbie; Hot Wheels; Atari; Cabbage Patch Kids; and Pogs.

Today one can download or buy almost anything at the click of a button. This takes the stress out of holiday shopping, as everything can be done from the comfort of your living room, foregoing the lines, or trips around the parking lot finding that perfect space.

Children and what they wished for

Yet, along with the convenience of online shopping, comes the decline of tangible catalogue perusal.

By the 1990s, in America, the Wish Book had diminished in size. What once was a 300 page book, now stood at 100 pages and was renamed Little Big Wish Book.

By the mid 1990s, all distribution had stopped. In Canada, however, Sears has continued the tradition of the Wish Book, although it is now smaller in size, and since 2009 there has been an interactive online version of the catalogue. This has allowed shoppers to easily turn the virtual pages of the catalogue and purchase products instantly.

It was not until 1968 that Sears made it official by renaming the Christmas catalogue the "Wish Book". The Wish Book advertised the most popular toys each year, and had a large cultural Nike Air Max 95 Size 2

All items were priced at less than $2, which today, would stand at under $34.