Photos: The Christmas Gifts Chicagoans Wanted In 1944

By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 22, 2015 7:24PM

Montgomery Ward, a Chicago-based mail order company, had a catalog so popular that readers called it “The Wish Book." Above, we've rounded up some of the most interesting pages of its 1944 Christmas edition; in its entirety, that catalog was 150+ pages of clothes, toys, and weird sundries popular at the tail end of World War II.

The catalog wasn't always so long. When Montgomery Ward first started in 1872, it had a one-page catalog (and was the country’s first ever mail-order business, according to the Tribune). By the winter of 1944, its readership and physical size had grown hugely. Circulation had reached the millions, and the catalog was a self-described book, full of potential holiday gifts.

If the clock unexpectedly turns back 71 years, these are the sorts of luxury gifts you’ll get this Christmas: dolls dressed mostly as brides and babies, Monopoly sets, and peep-toe slingbacks with furry white shoe-mustaches. Browsing the gallery above will make you very thankful for iPads, very nostalgic, or, if you are a complex character, both.

One final note: Do not miss the spread called “Feminine Gifts of Lasting Charm," which looks sort of like an occult shrine.

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