Remember the Sears Wish Book? Man Goes Viral for Sharing His Copy — and the Memories that Come with It (Exclusive)
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12/25/2024 10:00 AM
In one TikTok video, Ryan Forbes opened a 1996 Sears Wish Book, which has since garnered more than 600,000 views
Candace Forbes; Ryan Forbes
Ryan Forbes with his Sears Holiday books collectionA couple of years ago, Ryan Forbes was cleaning out his grandmother's house shortly after she died when he came across a 1998 Sears holiday catalog in perfect condition.
Upon finding it, Forbes, a writer and illustrator from Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, flipped through the pages. Instantly, he was transported back in time.
"I don't know if it was the smell, the feel of the glossy pages, or all the toys I still kind of wanted as an adult, but it was the strongest feeling of nostalgia I had ever experienced — and it was just flipping through a catalog … so I kept it," he tells PEOPLE exclusively.
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Candace Forbes
Ryan Forbes with his Sears holiday book collectionSince then, Forbes has collected six Sears holiday catalogs. While he has a few from his childhood, he's also managed to find others at garage sales and online. He says the catalogs can range in price from $25 to $150 or more, depending on their condition and the year.
Last year, Forbes brought one out to show his kids. While they weren't interested at all, he found a few items amusing. So, he recorded a quick video of himself flipping through it and posted it to TikTok. Soon, comments started flooding in, with viewers asking to see the toy section and requesting more videos.
In one video, Forbes opens a sealed 1996 Sears Wish Book, which happens to be his favorite catalog he owns. Since posting, the video has garnered more than 600,000 views and 1,800 comments.
"I would watch if you flipped through every single page," one user commented.
"Oh man, I wish my kids got to experience the excitement of the Wish Book coming out every year. My brother and I would spend hours looking through that thing. Good times," another person wrote.
Someone else added, "I miss circling stuff for hours in this and then not getting any of it."
@ryan.elf Like it was just delivered! Opening a sealed Christmas 1996 Sears Wish Book 🎄 #nostalgia#90s#90stoys#childhoodmemories
♬ White Christmas - The Drifters
"It was more than just a catalog; it was a tradition," Forbes says. "Now it's a comforting memory. When the Wish Books came, you knew it was that special time of year. The catalog would sit on Grandma and Grandpa's coffee table, just waiting for the corners of pages to be folded and marked up with circles around everything we wanted."
"A lot of people commented with similar memories and feelings," he adds. "It's cool to see such a reaction and read the comments about how nostalgic it makes so many people feel. The specific memories people share — and how others comment on them — is so neat to see."
"The most common comment has to be about the smell: 'I can smell this video,' " he says.
Ryan Forbes
Inside Ryan Forbes' Sears Holiday collectionForbes also mentions how reading through the catalogs makes him realize how much technology has changed since then. "It's funny to see how things have evolved," he says. "And people are commenting a lot on the prices, how expensive things were back then. It's funny how you completely forget you owned something, and then you see it and think, 'Hey, I had that jacket!' "
@ryan.elf Part 2 🎄1998 Sears Wish Book🎄 Toy Section 😄 #nostalgia#90s#christmas#childhoodmemories#90stoys#nostalgic#sears#searswishbook#searswishbook90s
♬ original sound - Sun and Cheese - Sun and Cheese
While he plans to keep the collection forever and hopes to continue growing it, Forbes adds that his wife isn't thrilled about him spending hundreds of dollars on old catalogs.
"I guess you never know the value of something that someone else might consider garbage," he says. "And you never know the feeling you can give a total stranger by sharing something that's special to you, as silly as it seems."
