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danhughes Regular user Champaign, IL 115 Posts |
When I was in the 8th grade (1960) I discovered the Johnson Smith catalog (no hyphen, by the way - the founder's first name was actually Johnson). I had a paper route and made $3.00 per week. One dollar of that went to Johnson Smith (free shipping if your order was a dollar or more!).
I bought lots of little magic tricks and booklets. I think the most expensive magic item I bought was a cigarette chopper for fifty cents. Even though I was buying this stuff in the 1960s, many of their magic books were from the turn of the century. Wish I still had those today! I spent many a happy hour absorbing their contents and dreaming of impressing everybody with my magic. (Never got farther than dreams then, and now at 64 and retired, I'm reliving a lot of that childhood fun.)
---Dan, http://danhughes.net
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Jim Sparx Inner circle Far Out, Texas 1144 Posts |
PM me and I'll tell you where you can find them
Et tu, Spartacus?
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/chispadeelpaso.html |
jnrussell Loyal user Michigan 207 Posts |
I had one of those too! A lot of this "retro" talk sends me back...
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manal Inner circle York ,PA. 1412 Posts |
I was born in 61 and I too spent a good portion of the money I earned from chores on items from the catalog. I lived in Wis. ,Ill. and Mich. as a kid and a lot of kids in the neighborhoods I lived in had the catalog. I can even remember sending change in the envelopes, couldn't do that today. I spent many hours going through the pages and dog earing the ones that had items I wanted .
They have an online website and still carry some of the items they carried way back when. |
danhughes Regular user Champaign, IL 115 Posts |
Manal, you missed the glory years! Johnson Smith is just a shadow now of what it was in the pre-Florida days. They must have had warehouses full of goodies from the early 1900s when they were in Detroit, but when they moved to Florida they left all the old stuff behind - and that was the good stuff.
Example: In about 1963, I paid 35 cents for a booklet on how to pitch a baseball, and it had individual chapters written by Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, and several other legendary pitchers of the early 1900s. It was published in 1914, and the copy I bought was brand new. Wish I still had it! Wish I'd bought a hundred copies! Similarly, many of the magic books they sold for 35 cents and 50 cents were from the turn of the century and still brand new, even though it was 50 years later when I bought them.
---Dan, http://danhughes.net
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manal Inner circle York ,PA. 1412 Posts |
When I began making my purchases I was around 7 or 8 and they were still located in the north . I always thought they were located in Chicago but it may have been Detroit.
Most items were still much less than a dollar. I bought quite a few of those old " treasures " none of which I still have. Most of it was magic or spy related ( I wanted to be James Bond). You are right in that the present Co. is a mere shadow of itself. |
danhughes Regular user Champaign, IL 115 Posts |
They were in Detroit from 1935 to 1986.
Here's a short history of Johnson Smith: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Smith_Company
---Dan, http://danhughes.net
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manal Inner circle York ,PA. 1412 Posts |
Thanks for the link. I see they were at one time located in Chicago and also Racine, Wis. ( where I was born) before moving to Detroit.
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motown Inner circle Atlanta by way of Detroit 6127 Posts |
Quote: wow, I never new they were in Detroit. I loved that catalog when I was young.On 2012-10-28 17:31, danhughes wrote:
"If you ever write anything about me after I'm gone, I will come back and haunt you."
– Karl Germain |
danhughes Regular user Champaign, IL 115 Posts |
Quote:
wow, I never new they were in Detroit. I loved that catalog when I was young. You could have visited IN PERSON! Hog Heaven!
---Dan, http://danhughes.net
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