The Daily Word for August 13, 2021

 

wish book - noun - (N. American, informal) - a mail-order catalogue (Lexico.com)

Here's a term I haven't heard in a long, long time: wish book. For me, it immediately conjures up memories of moments B.I., a.k.a., "before the Internet." What seems like eons ago, there used to be the Sears and Roebuck catalogue, certainly one of the original wish books. As thick as a Webster's dictionary (if you can still picture one), the S&R wish book contained a seemingly infinite amount of glossy, color photographs of everything from the latest Barbie dolls to Craftsman (their brand) lawn mowers. As a child, it was a kind of one-dimensional wonderland of material delights, hoping to spring to life in 3D. If your parents were well off, they made your S&R wish book dreams come true around Christmas via Santa or Hanukkah via Hana, the fairy. If your parents weren't, at least you had the catalogue to stimulate reveries that kept you busy for hours. Don't misunderstand me. There are still catalogues out there, just not the true-blue wish books.

Although I know a serious amount of trees are being saved as a result of the elimination of wish books, I miss them. (I also miss going to Sears, but that's another topic for discussion.) One catalogue, a thin one, I used to get in the mail but don't any longer is out of Sundance, Redford's invention, a general store and resort out in Utah. The actual store used to carry my children's book, Torey the Turkey Goes Skiing. After it sold out in record time, the buyer flatly refused to reorder. Unfathomable, but I digress. Sundance's catalogue still features clothing and handiwork indicative of the Southwest. As I once flipped through the pages of earthy models wearing new denim and peasant blouses, spinning around like The Sound of Music's Maria (Julie Andrews) in verdant fields surrounded by snowcapped mountains, I was able to escape to a different milieu within seconds. I bought the products to make the sensation of being there even more real. Obviously, whatever the catalogue's creators had in mind worked on me and thousands of others since the establishment is still in business.

All things considered, the wish book has not disappeared entirely. There is the laptop or PC. Neither is the same, but it'll have to do. Enough is presented visually on-line to influence the mind to dream. As Billy Joel would croon, "It's just a fantasy; it's not the real thing. But sometimes a fantasy is all you need." 

Enjoy whatever form of the wish book you are perusing on this Friday, the 13th! (Be careful out there.)

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