We’ve had ‘the first thing you purchased on-line’; now it’s time for the LAST thing you purchased the old-fashioned way.

The world of the internet has certainly improved the distance-buying experience, as the last thing I bought out of a catalogue was a set of bookshelves. These were unfinished shelves made of ‘particle board’ (essentially just sawdust and glue). They were utter, utter shit, yet cost me more than $100 CDN each. That was 2001.

I can now order finished shelves of equivalent size, completely finished, better made, and better assembled, for about £20.

The one prior to that was in 1998 when my motherboard died and I was living in the West Indies. In order to get it fixed, I had to find an ad in the back of Macworld for someone in California, then send it to him using UPS. I then had to wait a few weeks for it to return, and spend half an hour at Kittitian customs proving that it was my computer. Granted the system worked, but my goodness is it ever easy now by comparison.

last year i ordered a bunch of stuff from vehicle wiring products for building a loom using their paper catalogue / ordering form scanned in and emailed to them.

Casio watch, Argos.
Filled the little slip in with the pencil and everything.

I need a new one, might pop down later.
🙂

I tried to book train tickets on Sunday OVER THE PHONE! FFS!

Does the catalogue in screwfix count? They still do the pencil-and-tiddly-paper-form type setup. If so, a tube of silicon goop. Or perhaps a 15mm copper elbow. Or something like that.

Otherwise, God knows, I pretty much switched to internet shopping around the dawn of the internet.

Dunno, but I do remember carefully reading the tiny print of a merlin double page ad in MBUK back in the early nineties and speccing out my imported mongoose iboc comp frame with the finest LX and zoom kit I could afford.

That and joke-shop-by-post.

A pair of Adidas Gazelles. From my mum’s grattan catalogue. About 20p a week for ever.

Pre-internet, I used to get these thick, glossy record catalogues. No idea where from. Last thing I bought was The Replacements ‘Let It Be’.
So that. Couldn’t afford many records back then so just used to browse longingly through it most of the time… ” Oooh, I wonder what Alex Chilton’s solo stuff sounds like. Suppose I’ll never find out.”
We’re so spoilt for music these days, its bonkers.

Does the Screwfix catalogue count? If so, a log splitting maul.

Something from Agros I expect. Or maybe Index.
Don’t remember what.

You still fill in the paper with pencil in Argos to go from the touch screen by the catalogues to check item stock to the payment touch screen where you actually pay.

3 Russian blondes… Lost is the post unfortunately

3 Russian blondes… Lost in the post unfortunately

Have you checked that they aren’t in your bin?

Pre-internet, I used to get these thick, glossy record catalogues. No idea where from.

Did you have something like ‘Columbia House Records‘ here? It was a brilliant club, through which I bought most of my vinyl collection in the 1980s.

Enquired at a travel agent about flights the other day, cos someone told us they had got them cheaply. Didn’t use them in the end, but a few days later they sent me a holiday brochure! I had no idea such things still existed!

Did you have something like ‘Columbia House Records’ here?

Might well have been. Hard to remember now. It was almost definitely via the NME, which was my bible back then.

Didn’t use them in the end, but a few days later they sent me a holiday brochure!

Thinly disguised in the form of the Sunday papers “travel” supplement, these days.

A sanding sponge out the screwfix catalogue. Which after it’s one use function, I cut it up and then used it at a mute un the strings for my bass guitar, good sturdy foam inside, so ideal for that purpose! 🙂

Full blue LX groupset from chainreaction insert in mbuk.

Chainset levers and detailleur still in operation.