I remember looking through the catalog wishing my folks would get a color tv or a croquet set. The only thing that I remember them getting was a lamp. Not a sexy one like on A Christmas Story.
Of course . I think of them as filling station dishes because about everyone I knew in the 60's and 70's had glasses from there. Back then the catalog was the most printed American publication and they made more stamps than the post office.
To be fair, our generation and even those that came before us were every bit as ineffectual as the current "liberty movement." You'd think people would learn after all this time.