Sears Wish Book facts for kids

The Sears Wish Book was a special Christmas catalog. It was released every year by the American store Sears in August or September. This catalog was full of toys and other fun things for the holidays. The very first Sears Wish Book came out in 1934. It was different from the regular Sears Christmas catalog.

What Was the Sears Wish Book?

The Sears catalog was often called the "Big Book" or the "Wish Book." It allowed people all over the United States to buy many different items. For 97 years, it sold everything from jewelry and tools to pianos and even entire homes! It was like a giant shopping mall delivered right to your house.

How the Catalogs Were Printed

Sears printed a huge number of these catalogs. At first, they worked with a company called Cuneo Press. Then, in 1928, they switched to RR Donnelley. RR Donnelley even built a special building in Chicago just to print these catalogs. This building printed up to 7 million copies every year! They continued printing until Sears stopped making their catalogs.

Changes to the Wish Book Over Time

In 1993, Sears stopped printing their main "Big Book" catalogs in the United States. The Wish Book also started to get much smaller. By 2005, it was almost gone. Sears then made a tiny catalog called the Little Big Wish Book. This mini-catalog was only about 2.5 by 2.5 inches. Customers could get it at Sears Auto Centers or in packages from Sears.com and Landsend.com. It also came with items delivered to homes.

In 2007, Sears brought back a holiday gift catalog that was more like the original. However, it was still much smaller, with only about 100 pages. The older catalogs often had over 300 pages! Many children loved looking through the Sears Wish Book as a holiday tradition. They would dream about what they might get for Christmas.

The 2007 catalog had half its pages filled with Christmas toys. The other half showed things like appliances, tools, clothes, and jewelry.

The Wish Book Goes Digital

By 2010, the Sears Christmas Wish Book became available on phones. This meant customers could look at the catalog using their smartphones.

In 2017, Sears Holdings, which owned Sears and Kmart, announced they would bring back the Sears Wish Book. It was available online, on mobile devices, and in print. This newer version was 120 pages, similar to the 2007 edition.

Sears Canada's Wish Book

Sears Canada also had its own big catalogs, including the Wish Book. They continued to distribute them until the company closed down in 2018.

In 2012, Calvin McDonald, the head of Sears Canada, personally delivered Christmas catalogs. This was to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Sears Wish Book in Canada.

In 2013, Sears Canada launched an iPad app for their Christmas Wish Book. At that time, it became the most popular free iPad app in Canada in the "Catalogue" section.