Dating Various Mail-Offer Pamphlets
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This article is a long time in the making, as the first question I ever asked(and partially what spurred the creation of the archive) was: exactly when was my 005 pamphlet created?
In the Discovery Set's article, I largely didn't need to date the pamphlet itself as the promotional pictures and outside ephemera were more than enough to demonstrate exactly when the offer, and thus the release of the 005, first took place.
However, at the time of writing, I'm preparing to write my article deep diving on Imaginations Inc. Rather than spend time with a 1,000+ word tangent to just to date these catalogs(yes, that will be required), I've moved it to its own dedicated article.
As a bonus, we'll also be covering the 704 Master Discovery's brochure, as it's similar to my pamphlet and we might as well kill two birds with one stone.
And returning to this article about a month later, now I feel a bit silly. I purposely pushed off the Kraft sets as I didn't think I'd find much consistency when dating them. But when I actually sat down to reconcile the confusion... it was so much easier than I'd thought. You can read about it in the article Kraft Promotion Dates (1968-1972), but the short and sweet of it is that there was a distinct pattern.
There would be materials(brochures, instructions, etc.) prepared in the middle of the year. Then as early as September, being most popular around October and November, sets were being ordered. And order fulfillment would go well into the next year(I've seen as late as April) because the initial sets came with a brochure to order more sets. And while there was not necessarily a declared expiry, the PO boxes these promos were using would change between waves, meaning they were obviously not taking orders for previous offers by then as they'd closed the previous box.
And I've since identified a similar pattern with Oxydol and Parade. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but it also fits within the Imaginations Inc promotion as well (very well, in that I can't think of a way to prove it wrong).
I feel rather silly because I'd missed the pattern beforehand. It's not as if I've had to completely rewrite the article, instead, mostly due to the strict sourcing/claims standards we have for information onsite, I'd just taken the extremely long way around. There are a few things like exactly when in a year something was done that I've since been able to clarify with a bit more confidence, but other than that our analysis has held strong.
With that in mind, the best way to date all these pamphlets and brochures is to lay them out in a timeline, as examining them in a context is much easier than looking at each in a vacuum. Especially in this case.
Which pamphlets are we to cover today?
I've identified seven. Below I've formatted it such that we have the name I will call it, an abridged description, and an image if I have one.
- Oxydol idea book promo: No mention of Imaginations Inc, smaller pamphlet advertising:
- Oxydol 319 promo: No mention of Imaginations Inc, instead an offer for a 319 Truck With Trailer:
- Oxydol 005 promo: Different oxydol pamphlet, formatted in a fold out similar to my 005 pamphlet. Mentions and even gives an address for Imaginations Inc:
- 704 Master Discovery Pamphlet: Another mail offer (but no trial) now for the 704, similar format to mine. The full catalog can be found onsite:
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Imaginations Inc 005 pamphlet: I don't own one, but you can find an image(along with many other rare promos) on Daan's flickr.
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Imaginations Inc catalog: Disguised as an idea book(not the one from the Oxydol offer), this booklet came with (some) mail order 005 Discovery Sets. We'll examine it more closely later:
And of course:
- My 005 pamphlet: Covered extensively in the 005's article linked above. The full version can be found in the Books section of the site.
This is a tall order, but I think it can be done. We'll break off and cover each in groups, then combine them all into one timeline at the end. At least the best we can figure.
Oxydol Promotions
Deceptively, I first thought that the easiest to date will be the three different Oxydol promotional catalogs. The issue is the dates.
The earliest I've found evidence for the promotion is early November 1966. This is one such example:
The promotion then outright disappears until late 1967. This clipping is from late 1967(note now with a mail offer of 74 pieces):
There's only one appearance of the Oxydol promotion in 1968: on January 4th.
From the above, the Oxydol promotion was active in two distinct waves, one in late 1966 and again in late 1967. The form numbers of two of the Oxydol pamphlets fit this timeline (H-2235 & H-2314) and confirms that at least H-2235 was the 1966 offer:
That was the easy part. The issue is that we have two Oxydol documents left and only one timeslot.
Only 1967 newspapers from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Alabama have the 74-piece offer. Which makes sense, as its form number dates it reliably to 1967 and those states are where the 319 mail offer was limited to according to the pamphlet itself:
However, one might ask where the second Oxydol pamphlet comes into play.
Curiously, only in Ohio newspapers the same ad is published except "74 piece LEGO toy" has been replaced with "complete LEGO toy". In my mind, as Ohio was not listed as one of the participating states on 1967's H-2314 for the 74 piece set, but they still have the Oxydol offer(and the advert has been modified), it's likely the second pamphlet we've found was used. You can find the entire pamphlet on the Books tab of the site or by clicking on one of the pages below:
There's an exception where a singular newspaper ad(out of 40+ ads that are readily available) in Kentucky appears advertising a "complete LEGO toy" instead of a 74-piece set. That ad, however, appears much earlier than the 74-piece offer.
It's possible there was some crossover in terms of distribution with the Imaginations Inc pamphlet. Or perhaps the Imaginations Inc pamphlet predated the 74 piece offer during an earlier run. Or it was used in states that had laws prohibiting the promotion, so they used an existing channel as an alternative in those states(which would explain the reuse of the 005's pamphlet).
You may ask why I place the above Oxydol 005 pamphlet in 1967 instead of 1966. Below I share an Imaginations Inc pamphlet that reliably dated to 1966, and the PO box (and entire address) is different between the two, meaning these belong to different timeframes. Thus, 1967.
Imaginations Inc 005 Pamphlet Vs. My 005 Pamphlet
My suspicion is that, because one purposefully mentions Imaginations Inc and the other doesn't, that one predates the other. Several images are shared between the two, but there are some fundamental differences that help indicate this.
Again, you can see images of this pamphlet on Daan's flickr.
The Imagination Inc pamphlet's cover says: "$9.95 (plus postage and handling)–payable in three convenient monthly installments"
Compare that with the text on my copy's cover:
"$9.95 (plus postage and handling"
My copy is missing the closing parenthesis, which indicates to me that the payments was offered first and then removed(sloppily). But that's not the only hint.
There are two images of the set displayed, my copy is much more prominently displayed due to its size:
That's another thing worth mentioning, as my brochure is six pages, the Imaginations version is only one and a third. The Imaginations version also is missing the testimonials section entirely, which further indicates the Imaginations version came before mine.
The Imaginations version is also rather rudimentary in its format(not really something I can show to be true, that's just how it feels). On its inside, it also formats the LEGO logo in a unique way that I remembered seeing in early 1963:
It would not make sense for my brochure to come first, only for the smaller Imaginations Inc version to come later recycling earlier components. The biggest clue, in my opinion, is that the Imaginations Inc version shows an image of two hands connecting two 2x3 bricks, while mine just shows the 2x3 bricks loose. Sort of like an echo.
So is it possible these two pamphlets were distributed at the same time, one for Imaginations Inc and the other for a different purpose function? With all outlined above, I'm confident placing the Imaginations Inc version before mine, as an evolution is clearly evident as shown.
Following the pattern we've seen for all other promotions(Oxydol, Kraft, etc.), the Imaginations Inc version can be placed at 1965, as it is the earliest pamphlet we have for the 005 and we've already demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt in the 005's mystery article that the promotion was available for late 1965. The only caveat I'd present is that the form number is B66, which could indicate the year it was prepared. The other catalogs do not follow that format, however. I own two of NB1, thebrothersbrick's scan is FAOS, and the 704's pamphlet is RBD. A discussion for another day.
The creation of my pamphlet would date the discontinuation of the Imaginations Inc version, so maybe that'll help.
The image of the 005 in my pamphlet appears in a 1967 Discovery Playthings newspaper ad. It's a topic in of itself, but for now it provides an absolute latest date for my pamphlet, December 8th, 1967:
From the above dating of the Imaginations Inc brochure to late 1965 as well as considering all other promotions Samsonite conducted took place late in the year, we can reason that my pamphlet was also prepared for release later in the year. If the Imaginations Inc version covers 1965, and the 1967 Oxydol 005 promotion covers late 1967, that leaves 1966 the odd duck out.
You may be wondering: why are we excluding 1968 as a compilation/production date for my pamphlet?
Many reasons.
For one, the 1968 Parade Magazine promotion uses Creative Building Toys, not Imaginations Inc.
By extension, it cannot even belong to 1967 as while the late 1967 Oxydol pamphlet has a similar format to my catalog, much has been removed and left as whitespace. That's further indication that my pamphlet predates 1967. The image below shows the cover of the 1967 Oxydol pamphlet vs. mine:
In addition, the 005 Discovery Set began appearing at retail in late 1967, take for example the 1967 Marshall Fields catalog. That observation, along with the last known date of Imaginations Inc appearing in late 1967 (via the 1967 Oxydol promotion), it all points to the discontinuation of Imaginations Inc as a label(and by extension the use of the 005 as a mail-in trial offer set) by 1968.
Otherwise, the switch of the PO box from Newark, NJ used in 1965-1966 to Denver in late 1967 would be odd.
So to review, my version would have been produced in late 1966.
What about the Imaginations Inc Idea Book
I haven't forgot, all that was required to get to here. It's a bit on the anecdotal side wherein I can't prove this to you, but I found my idea book in the same lot as the NB1 late 1966 005 pamphlet and an 005 Discovery Set.
Which is good, as it helps what we found in the last section, that just because my pamphlet does not mention Imaginations Inc does not mean they were not the ones managing the campaign at the time. Thus, late 1966 is very reasonable for that pamphlet.
Now we have to determine the date this idea book was compiled. It has no form number, so that's no help unfortunately.
The order form can be found within the pamphlet:
Unfortunately, over the last sixty years the envelope has adhered itself very well to the most important part of the idea book. So I've recreated the hidden part of the order card, as seen below:
The sets being offered here aren't much help, as they're all known to be available throughout 1965-67. The only thing I'd note is the PO Box shown above in Newark, NJ. That address matches both my early 1967 Motor Pak and a late 1966 postmarked 1:87 Cars Box.
So we can at least date that address for Imaginations Inc. from late 1965 to 1966. Remember the late 1967 Oxydol promotion had a PO box in Denver. So it had to belong to one of those two waves.
The images of sets shown will give us a good approximation:
As the 042 is pictured with its final box, it is very unlikely this catalog dates to mid-1965. Most pamphlets/brochures from 1965 only show prototypes:
Instead, the 042's image matches exactly with one from a 1966 Dealer's Catalog. Combined with the 005's image originating from my 1966 brochure, we are indicated a 1966 date of compilation. But interestingly, in the above dealer catalog's image of the assortment, the 002 is slightly out of scale/alignment.
Instead, it matches K-2202's picture of the 002. Again, more 1966 evidence.
Remember this idea book is also in the format of the above linked K-2202, with the first few pages shared verbatim:
And remember both are inherit their format from the 1964-65 Idea Book K-2085R:
As 1966's K-2202 was very shortlived and was replaced within the same year with K-2236(with a complete redesign), one has to wonder where K-2202 got its design from? Did Samsonite invest in reformatting the original K-2085R into the K-2202 just to change it almost immediately, or was K-2202 recycling from an earlier source, thus making the significant change seen in K-2236 more justifiable?
It's an idea, but not one really necessary for our larger point: that the Imaginations Inc idea book had to have been created in 1966.
We have one more thing to suggests that the Imaginations Inc idea book predates the K-2202. The red and yellow colors on the front of the booklet continue onto the back.
Compare that to the other idea book's format:
That to me signals a possible original origin of the red/yellow colors on all later iterations of this idea book, as while a case can be made for the red(it's ubiquitous with the LEGO name), the yellow is much harder to explain without the Imaginations Inc idea book. Otherwise, why have the orangish color there at all. The "HERE'S HOW TO FIT PARTS TOGETHER" has always appeared with a white background before this.
It should also be noted that it is not the same yellow as seen in "Building Toy"(the yellow used is more orangish), instead I see it as directly associated with Imaginations Inc.
Remember the late 1967 Oxydol brochure? Guess what color that one uses for the 005 special offer:
But of course, that's just my own observations.
Instead, we have a very strong case that this pamphlet appeared in late 1966. It also is supported by another (anecdotal) purchase I've made. The lot that contained my early 1967 Imaginations Inc 002 Motor Pak also contained a 695 Bulk Assortment Set and an 005 Discovery Set. Which would make a lot of sense in context of the idea book, as they would've received the 005 in late 1966 or early 1967 and ordered the 002 and the 695.
I never said it'd be easy, but before we celebrate, we have one more pamphlet to cover.
The 704 Master Discovery Set Pamphlet
In preparation for its dedicated article, one must wonder where exactly this set's promotion fits in with everything else.
There's a lot to discuss in regards to the parts within as well its intended purpose, which will help confirm or refine the date of compilation. For now, because we have all this context, we will leave all that to the dedicated article.
First we have to compare the two brochures for the 005 and the 704. They're very similar, but some key differences arise that I believe indicates a late 1967 date:
As is clear by the different covers, the 704's is generally cleaner and includes a white background to make the text on the cover easier to read. It also fixes the issue where the image shown has no margin. More evidence it was not released in the 1966 season.
But how much later? Well, do we have anything that'd help, anything we've confirmed is from late 1967?
The late 1967 Oxydol pamphlet!
It carries the same cover design as does the 1966 version of the pamphlet, which might at first glance suggest the 704's pamphlet came at some point after 1967.
But we should address an important counterpoint: if the 1967 Oxydol 005 pamphlet was reusing the 1966 version's formatting, could it be possible it was a quick reuse and they simply did not bother to update the 1967 pamphlet to match the 704's?
Which is a legitimate point, the 704 pamphlet still could have been developed at any point after the original 005's version. Especially because the Oxydol offer was such a limited promotion, why update the 005's formatting to match the 704's when you could just reuse the original?
So at this point, we're between three years. 1966, 1967, and 1968. It's not likely to be from late 1969 as by then the 004's box was updated to say "FOR ALL AGES" and have eight patents(as you can see in this 1969 JCPenney catalog). The 704's box distinctly dates to 1967 via the combination of two observations: "FOR ALL AGES"(which was new for 1967) and two patents on the front(which was replaced by eight in 1968):
It's also clear that the 704 box featured in the pamphlet was a prototype box, and that box still has the age ranges on the side. More late 1967 evidence.Which would explain why the set first debuts rather unceremoniously at a Capwell's in August of 1968:
Then goes on to later appear in many 1968 catalogs from Allied Stores(Bon Marche, Pomeroys(they share the same catalogs), Jordan Marsh, and various stores in newspapers like Jacobson's).
Evidently, the set has a similar release as the 005 Discovery Set did, where it essentially came out of nowhere and sold at random retailers. Hence why, the same as the 005, the 704's mail offer would have to predate its retail release, as it shows the 704's prototype box.
Of course I'm spoiling the 704's article, but there's much, much more to explore, just as much if not more than the 005 Discovery Set.
So currently, all evidence points to a 1967 release of the 704 Master Discovery Set.
By mid-1968 the 704 set begins appearing in catalogs, which suggests either the campaign did not go well(as it is so soon after) or that was the plan all along.
We needn't rely on conjecture though, as the 704's article goes much more in-depth and not only accounts for when but why and how.