Novelty and curio catalogues

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One of the more esoteric corners of the Internet Archive is the section devoted to the International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals: “The IAPSOP is a US-based private organization focused on the digital preservation of Spiritualist and occult periodicals published between the Congress of Vienna and the start of the Second World War.” The collection currently comprises over 30,000 items. I didn’t go looking for this while I was reading Nightmare Alley but the IAPSOP archive happens to contain the kinds of publications whose paranormal and religious jargon Stanton Carlisle uses to relieve chumps of their cash. A sub-section of the collection contains novelty and curio catalogues, publications from mail-order companies selling all manner of incense, lucky charms, cheap jewellery and minor items of occult significance. I wish I’d found these catalogues when I was working on the Bumper Book of Magic. The drawings are crude but with things like this it’s the general appearance that you’re after, the finesse you can supply yourself.

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Previously on { feuilleton }
Martinka & Co. catalogue, 1899
Llewellyn occult magazine and book catalogue, 1971

4 thoughts on “Novelty and curio catalogues”

  1. I’ve had a few similar items during my lifetime of collecting books and ephemera. The ones you pictured are a bit more “spiritual” or “occult” than many I’ve seen, which really amounted to “novelty” mail-order catalogues. Items available could range from “whoopee-cushions” to ventriloquism manuals, the omnipresent “dream interpretation” booklet, with maybe a spicy but cheap bit of Renaissance-era literary erotica; and of course many “magic” (illusion) tricks, both props and how-to books.

    Some of these catalogues were thick enough to allow an entire afternoon’s perusal if you were a young impressionable lad. The line art was always fun and always promised just a bit (or a lot) more than what would eventually be received. The issuing companies were in the “re-enchantment of the world” business.

    I’m also reminded of the kinds of “psychic/mysteries”-oriented magazines you could buy off the racks in the late-60s that carried adverts in the end pages for the Rosicrucians. I remember sending a stamp or two for one of their information packs, ha ha.

    Another fun post!

  2. In the 1980s I used to collect cranky religious literature although most of it was never as cranky as I would have liked. I would have preferred whole publications that looked like those Rosicrucian ads.

    The Johnson Smith & Co. novelty catalogue sounds like the kind of thing you’re referring to:

    https://archive.org/details/novelties-johnson-smith-and-co-1951-catalog/mode/2up

    Lots of jokes and other dubious items along with more practical things. A shame there aren’t more of these to look through.

  3. Yes, there’s a lot of crossover in the history of these things between frivolous goods and serious spiritual endeavour. I’ve got one of the old De Laurence catalogues which were published in Chicago. The front of the book is serious occult literature but the offerings soon give way to things like “lucky” hair combs and plastic charms.

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