As I recall, they were published sometime in the Fall of each year.
Would the 1954 Catalog be "current" for the Christmas of 1954, or would that be instead the 1955 Catalog? [ like new year car models introduced in September ]
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I got my 1952 catalog in1952 and got my set out of that catalog for Christmas 1952.
Yes, Lionel’s 1954 catalog, which I also have, includes trains for the Christmas of 1954. Just like Bill’s 1952 catalog for the Christmas of ‘52.
The train that I got for Christmas 1938 was in the 1939 catalog. A 224E set.
@eddie g posted:I train that I got for Christmas 1938 was in the 1939 catalog. A 224E set.
Maybe after WW II (Postwar), Lionel changed its catalog policy. 😉
I thought the catalogs came out after the April Toy Fair, and after Summer, following the popularity/orders from the advance/Toy Fair catalogs that came out in prep for the Toy Fair.
Consumer catalogs arrived around late October, early November. Products shown were available for that year's holiday season. The large department stores and local hobby shops had the latest items on display and for sale, at listed prices, during the postwar forties and early fifties. No month's or even year's long wait for trains to arrive from abroad. In the mid-fifties, when the discount houses arrived and fair trade prices were relaxed, marketing strategies changed. The result was a more competitive market and after Christmas sales, were real sales. For example, I remember paying $9.50 for a motorized Budd car. Still have it and it runs like the day it arrived on the property.
Thanks, eveyone!
I have several old catalogs from my dad (passed ove 30 years ago) and I realized I didn't know how they corresponded to the calendar.
--Joe
