Economy Sales Ad – November 4, 1964

Back in the 1960s, many stores ran Christmas ads highlighting potential gifts in early November.

Why? One of the reasons was that back then, layaway was a very popular payment option. Many families (including the Bradys) utilized it. So making those purchases early made sense.

That's the idea behind the nearly full-page ad above for the well-remembered Economy Sales stores, which ran in the Journal back on November 4, 1964. The ad is nicely divided between toys and gifts for adults.

Economy Sales was the Amazon of its time. It carried a wide selection of items and each store was like a little warehouse. You perused the showroom, decided on your purchase, filled out a little card and submitted it. Then, a few minutes later, your selection came chugging out from the back on a little conveyor belt.

(I've written about Economy Sales several times.)

At the time of the 1964 ad, the Oberlin Avenue location wasn't open yet. It wouldn't hold its Grand Opening until November 1965. So the Lorain store was still out in South Lorain, in the former Lorain Street Railway car barn.

Anyway, many of the toys shown in the ad have survived to this day and are available on eBay. Here are a few of them.

And of course, who doesn't recognize the fruit of Fred Flintstone's loins: Pebbles Flintstone.