Sears Wish Books 1937-1975

"The 1933 Christmas Book catalog started a tradition that made the Sears Wish Book an American icon. The Sears catalog and the name Wish Book were closely linked over the years. Prior to 1933, Sears customers often affectionately referred to the large, semi-annual, general catalogs Sears issued as the “Wish Book” or “Book of Wishes.” After 1933, the Wish Book name became synonymous with the annual Christmas Book catalog. In 1968, Sears made it official by renaming the Christmas Book catalog The Wish Book." -from the SearsArchives website

We'll concentrate and the guitars and amps that were offered in the yearly holiday catalog, but if you'd like to check out complete catalogs (and I KNOW you do), head over to WishBookWeb for full Christmas catalogs from Sears, JC Penneys, Montgomery Ward, FAO Schwarz and more!



1965. The first solidbody Danelectro-built Silvertone hits the stage in the 1450. This is the only time you'd see it in any Sears catalog, but newspaper ad evidence tells us that it was sold alongside its almost-twin sibling, the 1452 ampcase setup. Solid State makes the Wish Book amplifier scene for the first time, too!

More 1965. The Italian-made 698 makes its only Wish Book appearance. Basically a clone (aside from the arched back) of the Harmony-built 6oo series guitar of the same time period, I've always wondered why this odd bolt-neck (most examples) guitar appeared. Maybe someone at Sears had an uncle that worked at EKO, and they needed to move some units.

1966. Quite a selection offered this year. From the just-introduced 1452 setup, to the I-wonder-why-it-didn't-sell 1439, to the mega-selling 1477, to every '60s garage band's amp of choice, the 1484.

More 1966. A Harmonious bunch this year, with a beautiful all-mahogany version of the popular 600 series guitar, along with the 615 and classical 657.


1967. Quite the groovy chick with her 641, and a nice mix of the classical 660, popular flattop 604 and ampcase 1452.


More 1967. The import 1418 sneaks into the lineup, and hey, look! The dude with the 1477 actually knows how to play a chord! The Kay-built 1411 and a couple of Dano-built amps round out the selection.


1968. With the recent influx of imports, and the Silvertone brand on the wane, this varied bunch was offered individually and in combo deals.
1405, 1455, 1460.

More 1968. The venerable 604/1204 makes an appearance, along with the Kay-built 1230 classical, a Harmony-built uke and the flattop 1210.




1968. One more slim listing from that year, featuring the MIJ 1495 'Beatle Bass' and some non-Silvertone 'Space Dot' amps.


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I'm still looking for Wish Book pages to fill the gaps. If you've got scans of  Christmas/Wish Books from Sears for the years 1933, 1934,1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1948, and 1949, I'd sure appreciate you sending them to me. I'll even give you a free pair of Silvertone guitar picks for your trouble!



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