Do catalogues still exist and do people still use them?
Posted by DeliciousJaguar3542@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 15 comments
Ive never really thought about catalogues in years not since I was a kid when my parents used to always use the catalogue to buy stuff and buy our Christmas and birthday presents and they’d give us the catalogue to circle out what we wanted. It was mainly the Argos catalogue that we always used I don’t really remember us using any other type of catalogue
GuybrushFunkwood@reddit
The lingerie section in my mums Kays Catalogue was a highly studied section in my young teenage years. Also the sheer joy of getting a Megadrive for only £4 a week for the next 734 weeks …
macros1980@reddit
No idea. But your question reminded me of a time, about 30 years ago, when I was about 15. I was the only one home and there was a knock on the door. I answered it to find a lady standing there with two kids in tow, who immediately and loudly said "Bddrwrbk!"
I stuttered slightly in confusion as I replied something like "I'm sorry, what?"
"BDDRWRRBKK!"
I just stared at her open-mouthed. I literally could not comprehend what was happening.
"If yer dun't give it me back, yer got ter pay f'rit!"
I pleaded with her that I didn't understand what she meant. She rolled her eyes and let out a loud theatrical sigh before speaking slowly and condescendingly.
"Have you got me Betterware book?"
I managed to piece together that she was a representative for what I now know to be some kind of catalogue-based MLM outfit called Betterware. They would post catalogues through peoples' doors and come back later to collect the catalogues and, perhaps, a completed order form. But some part of this racket involved making people pay if they wanted to keep the book.
When I told her that I had no idea where the book was, she started insisting that I pay her. Being a pretty awkward and conflict-averse teen, I stammered, apologised and prevaricated for a bit before she eventually gave up. She tutted haughtily and glared at me, threatening like some doughy, peroxide Schwarzenegger that "I'll be back".
To this day, one of the strangest interactions I've ever had with another human being.
resident_queerdo@reddit
I've had a similar thing as a teenager. My mum had sometimes bought beef from a local farm. The farmer would phone people and ask if they needed anything. She must have been desperate at one point, because she came to our house with her car full of meat apparently and berated me that my mum had not bought anything in a while.
There was also this guy who worked at the tip who would return your rubbish if you had put it in the wrong bin and he could work out it was yours. I had put some old folder in the bin that had my name on it, next thing I knew, he was at our door, returning it. To this day I'm a bit paranoid about my rubbish, haha.
schemmenti@reddit
My Nan is a Damart catalogue devotee. There's still a surprisingly large niche of older people who refuse to do online shopping because it's too intimidating, but for whom there are very limited clothing shops available to them (for older ladies theres really only M&S and Bon Marche in many areas isn't there?) so catalogues are a bit of a lifeline.
probablyaythrowaway@reddit
McMaster Carr still publish a paper catalog. About as thick as a yellow pages in the early 90s and is basically an Argos catalog for engineers.
jamescisv@reddit
The Littlewoods catalogue was super common where I grew up because you could pay for stuff in instalments/weekly.
More than a couple of my friends were grounded for wrecking their trainers before their mum had even finished paying for 'em.
snarkmaiden5@reddit
Oh yeah, mum used to shop from that, and Empire
Soukchai2012@reddit
Paper catalogues are mostly long gone. I remember Grattons catalogue in the 80’s - about 2” thick.
mhoulden@reddit
Old Argos catalogues at https://issuu.com/retromash. I've got one from 2019 which I think was one of the last ones they did. Screwfix discontinued them about the same time. Some motorbike accessory places occasionally have manufacturer catalogues. I suppose the stuff is specialised and it's cheaper to provide a catalogue than to keep a stock of things in store.
Isgortio@reddit
Yes, I've had to unsubscribe my mum from loads of them because she sees it as "they've sent me this so I should buy things!".
broadarrow39@reddit
Littlewoods catalogue was a thing too but nowhere near as good as the Argos book of dreams. I used to go through it with my sibling for hours we'd choose one thing off of each page. Teasmaids, footpumps, carriage clocks, you name it.
broadarrow39@reddit
I recall reading somewhere that the Argos catalogue used to cost Argos around £5 for every copy made.
Dazz316@reddit
Smyths still do them.
We get them near christmas and have the kids circle shit they want.
thistlewold@reddit
I use the David Austin roses spring catalogue.
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