The Johnson Smith Catalog

The bible of my youth...

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Johnson Smith's Catalog

I can remember as a kid looking forward to getting the Johnson Smith's Catalog in the mail. Tons of neat things like practical jokes of gum that turns your mouth black, mustard bottles with a yellow string that squirts out five inches faking a mustard attack, faux vomit and dog poo, tiny cameras that actually worked....and rubber butchered off hands. The hand was probably my first major purchase in my life. I'd love to have heard how I asked my mother if I could buy it, and her reply. But she let me and I remember waiting forever for it to arrive. This is the weird part - I can remember seeing the mailman walking up to the front door with a small brown package. This totally means I was watching him like a dog from the window. I heard the screendoor open and close so it was absolutely a package for our address.


It was my rubber butchered off hand. Wrapped in a BROWN PAPER BAG. That was actually how it was shipped. In a lunch bag. A small paper lunch bag.

This morning, someone dropped a catalog on my desk because it had Halloween items on the cover. Yep, Johnson Smith's catalog is still around.

Here's their site.