I found these on https://www.wishbookweb.com/. The site has complete scans of Christmas catalogs from Sears, Wards, JC Penney, etc.

I was hoping to find the 531 frame Ted Williams, but no luck.

I had one of those purple Rail bikes in the early 70's. I bought it well used and beat it into the ground, even using it to deliver papers.

Lots of other interesting stuff other than bicycles, too, so have fun!

It's cool seeing the add for that Spyder. I sold a fully chromed one of those awhile back. Mine was from the mid 60s though, so it was a bit different. Wasn't a 5 speed and no shocks in the seat bar for example. Sold it for $60 in rough condition, so it definitely didn't depreciate.

but it did... $60 in '65 had the buying power of $400 in '09

I'd love to find a white Free Spirit Bicentennial 10-speed with the red/blue stripes. It was a sheer teleporter when I had it. 99.99 plus tax. Sold it two years later, $100.

If you get a chance, though, go to the 1975 catalog and check out the 27" 10-sp with hydraulic brakes. Sadly, the 1976 catalog is not listed.

This link was a great Christmas gift in itself! I was just talking about a 1975 Sears Christmas catalog I passed up at a garage sale. It was only $3, but too bulky to keep around. Seeing those crappy 10-speed bikes from the mid-to-late 70's really brings back memories! I had bought one on sale for about $89, but returned it because it was complete junk! Made me appreciate Fujis back then. Fun link...I had to play around with it a bit to bring up the full-size pages, though. I think I'm getting the hang of it now.

Murray made some pretty wacky bikes in 1970. I've seen one of these Swingers with a rainbow fade paint job before - classy.

Can you identify the car? It's a classic too.

1966 Dodge Coronet.

A car with a trunk that big could swallow a whole bike, the folding bike would be unnecessary!

Boy, those scans bring back some memories. I can remember my family getting the Sears catalog every years, and within a week I'd read it from cover to cover.

Hey cool catalog. Looks like my garage. I have 3 tote cycles and just bought my wife a 1969 girls spyder 500 for Christmas.

Here are a few from 1958. I had one of those black JC Higgins Austrian 3 speeds in about 1969. Someone had done a 3 speed derailleur add on, when I got it the rear axle was broken. I put a used rear wheel with a S-A 3 speed on it and rode it for quite a while. It had the same JC Higgins crank set which I thought was totally uncool back at age 11 when I was riding the thing.

That web site is Great! I found the ad for my first full size bike, the JC Higgins in the 1958 Sears Wish book! Thanks for posting it.

Yea Rabid, that's the same one I bought at a garage sale in 1968. Of course sometime in the 70's i changed it to a 5 speed droped bars bike. Rode it into the early 90s that way. Never should have thrown out that crank.

these are great bikes but don't you boys secretly long for one of these?

an officail carbon action 200 shot Red Rider BBgun with a compass in the stock and thing which tells time?

You'll shoot your eye out.

I would love to own a decent Tote Cycle. All of the ones I looked at in CL are all kinda beat up.

PM me Need the space.

Brilliant! I love the old catalogs. I remember looking through the Sears catalog as a kid. I could spend hours doing that.

-Shin

From the 1972 Spiegel catalog. This one made me scratch my head wondering if there were any hipsters circa 1972 that wanted a cheap Iverson, or just cheapskate poseurs who couldn't handle anything more complicated than a coaster brake.

Maybe those unwilling to pony up a few extra dollars for the more exotic Cardinalli?

Do you think they sold any of these???

I have an original 1953 Sear Christmas catalog and really enjoy looking through it. I was 8 years old in 1953 and remember getting a toy service station that is in that book. That's back when we still had service stations.

And I though the Iverson's being sold through the catalog stores were cheap! At least those were running 10-speed gears and Shimano Eagle.

That Cardinelli is interesting. If I'm reading the picture correctly, we're talking an unlugged welded frame that really looks like it was made by Huffy or Murray, rather than being imported. However, we are talking 27x1-1/4" inch tyres which the American cheapies never used. And is that a Simplex Prestige rear? At least it doesn't have suicide levers.

I used to work for a big fashion studio in NYC in the early '80s, the on-figure fashion dept. I recognize some of those models! hahaha

I love the Iverson track bike. It comes coplete with fenders and a kick stand.

And the Cardinelli is imported from Itally, I wonder if they had a Popelli model too.

You have to be kidding me? I had one of those, bought from the local Western Auto to replace my Western Flyer imitation Sting Ray.

Living in a very small town or 800 people when I was a kid the Sears Catalog was a main stay in my house. I too spend hours going through it imaginging what it would be like to get my hands on some of the treasures inside.

There's one in Milwaukee CL right now for $40.
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bik/1524928785.html

My friend has a rusty old Cardinalli with Campagnolo Valentino and Balilla equipment...

Stamped dropouts, I'm pretty positive.

I will get some photos of it and post them in this thread.