Catalogues With Glossy Pages

As an eleven and twelve year old, there was something exciting about the arrival of the latest home-shopping catalogue. It took both hands to lift it on to the table and all day to choose items of clothing, sticking to the given budget. Glossy pages with a distinctive inky smell felt pleasant to touch and were slowly turned from one appealing outfit to another with corners folded down to mark likely purchases. My mother wasn’t well enough to take us shopping and growing girls needed new clothes all the time. The catalogue was a life-line.

Later, when I was considered old enough to go to town with friends, I was given money to buy things from Chelsea Girl – my favourite boutique – and Marks & Spencer for underwear. The catalogue always had a place, though, and as I grew up and raised my own family, it was useful for household items. Affordable credit added to the appeal of the convenience of home shopping.

We used to keep the catalogues in a cupboard with the fat telephone directories. Littlewoods and Grattan along with Argos, Toys’R’Us, and Betterware, when the man came. They’ve all gone now, though sometimes we have Cotton Traders if they think we need reminding that they are there.

The physical catalogues might have ceased to fill the cupboard, but the way of shopping remains. We’re online instead. Amazon has absolutely everything, just a click away. The anticipation of the catalogue parcel has been replaced by the excitement of the Prime van being only three stops away. Marks & Spencer has more appeal online than in store. I was recently disappointed to visit our branch and discover a shop reduced in size by closing off the top floor and carrying limited stock. The food hall was as bad. A wasted trip on my part.

We still get those mini-catalogues stapled into the TV listings magazines, the ones full of interesting gadgets that make me wonder how old I’ll be before I can’t manage without them. They go straight into the recycling.

Haiku for those long ago times,

A nice, grey school skirt
And a navy blue cardy
To start the new term.

Some smart white blouses
A pair of stirrup trousers
That’s what we called them.

Strap under the feet.
And socks and knickers and vests
And some pyjamas.

PMW 2023

Thanks for reading, Pam x