A numerical dilemma: The Elephant in the Room!

Cover. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.

Greetings vintage mates. Since 2011 TVTA has been diligently keeping track of the number of vintage print advert and catalogue images it has been archiving for your viewing pleasure. To date, prior to this post, our print archive stood at “4,998” images! Why, that’s “Enough print to encircle the planet three times, hot enough to fry an egg, deep enough to contain six Olympic swimming pools, and faster than a cheetah driving a Formula One racing car!!” or so our blurb says!

So… only two print images to go until we reach that magical figure of “5,000” archived images. Goodness! Whatever shall we post here today to celebrate such a milestone?

Well, how about this… a 1967 Corgi Toys advert featuring the Batmobile and Batboat! Bam! Pow! Kersplowie! Cool, “4,999” images! We only need one more ad to reach our 5,000 target!

Corgi toys. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


Fine. So how about print image N° 5,000? What will it be?

How about this one?

The Fright Factory Thingmaker horror kit by Mattel! Y’all know how much TVTA loves horror and Halloween, right?

Fright Factory by Mattel. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


Cool! But, then, how about this… The Sound of Music Dolls by Madame Alexander?

Yodel-me-not, for we do not kid around! Here it is in all its glory:

Madame Alexander Sound of Music Dolls. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


Okay, but how about the splendid joy of the Teleidoscope and Musicalscope… TVTA dares you to look into the eyepiece of toy goodness and not be bedazzled by the sight and sounds which await!

Teleidoscope and Musicalscope. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


However… how can one resist the lure of Lincoln Logs?

Lincoln Logs. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


Or, Winnie the Pooh toys and books?

Winnie the Pooh toys and books. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


Gosh-durn-it on a biscuit, what about the Hound Hotel and Bear Outing playsets that probably no one’s ever heard of but wishes they had?

Hound Hotel and Bear Outing toys. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


Or the Hurricane Galloping Horse toy? Giddy up!

Hurricane Galloping Horse toy. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue


Don’t know about you, vintage mates, but we here at TVTA are finding it hard to simply pick two adverts to reach our goal of 5,000 archived images!

How about some Dinky Thunderbirds toys?

Dinky Thunderbirds. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue.


Or a Bilofix building set? (free pipe included for Dad to smoke on while he helps out building boats and stuff on Christmas day)

Bilofix building toy. FAO Schwarz 1967 1968 catalogue


We could always ask our TVTA intrepid office cat Wooof what he suggests as our 5,000th print image…

TVTA’s intrepid office cat, Wooof (in one of his latest incarnations. Wooof has had more nine lives than you’ve had hot dinners!)

Wooof says: “Miow, mewl, myaw, meeeow, myah, myah, myah, mioooow!”

Translated: “Dear editor of TVTA, why not just post everything you just scanned, and then we can have another week off work? You silly, human twit, you.”

Dang. So, as usual, the cat wins. Hence, TVTA is proud to announce that we have now archived “5,010” print images. Excellent. Right, we’re off to set up the Bilofix and light our pipes! As always, thanks for looking 😁

FAO Schwarz – the unique toy store, 1974/1975 catalogue

Cover. FAO Schwarz Fall/Winter catalogue. 1974/1975. US

FAO Schwarz was established in 1862 in New York and is one of the oldest toy stores in the world, in a spirit similar to that of the UK’s Hamleys.

FAO Schwarz (FAO = Frederick August Otto) offers children and parents a choice of quality and long-lasting toys, games, hobbies, books and crafts. The company continues to operate to date.

Thanks to a very kind donation by our friend Anna (thank you Anna), TVTA is pleased to acquire a number of vintage FAO Schwarz catalogues spanning the 1960s to early 1980s.

Today we present selected scans from the 1974/75 fall/winter catalogue.

Enjoy the toy goodness!

Continue reading

FAO Schwarz – the unique toy store, 1981/1982 catalogue

Cover. FAO Schwarz 1981 / 1982 catalogue. US.

FAO Schwarz was established in 1862 in New York and is one of the oldest toy stores in the world, in a spirit similar to that of the UK’s Hamleys.

FAO Schwarz (FAO = Frederick August Otto) offers children and parents a choice of quality and long-lasting toys, games, hobbies, books and crafts. The company continues to operate to date.

Thanks to a very kind donation by our friend Anna (thank you Anna), TVTA is pleased to acquire a number of vintage FAO Schwarz catalogues spanning the 1960s to early 1980s.

Today we present selected scans from the 1981/82 fall/winter catalogue.

Enjoy the toy goodness!

Continue reading

FAO Schwarz – The Unique Toy Store

FAO Schwarz was established in 1862 in New York and is one of the oldest toy stores in the world, in a spirit similar to that of the UK’s Hamleys.

FAO Schwarz (FAO = Frederick August Otto) offered children and parents a choice of quality and long-lasting toys, games, hobbies, books and crafts. By 1980 the company had evolved from their famous flagship 5th Avenue, New York store to twenty-eight stores across the US.

Below are scans taken from the Fall-Winter 1980-81 catalogue.

FAO Schwarz website and history