Summer 1985 Catalog #24 and Update
There were TWO updates to the Summer 1985 Wanderlust catalog. The first featured a really fantastic pencil sketch cover from staff artist Rob Stein. Emulating a well worn sketchbook the drawing is very solid and well composed. The painted dragonfly that has landed on the book doesn’t catch your eye until second glance. It’s really handsome.
Inside, the catalog is an exact reprint of the Wanderlust issue, nothing has been changed.
But then there is the second update, which is almost a completely new catalog. It’s unusual in the first place because it’s the only update that is numbered (24). The cover is one of my all-time favorites. It’s a terrifically detailed Rob Stein painting of classic BR gear in a forest scene with giraffes.
This update is very different from Catalog 23. Most of the product is the same, but the layout is quite different. Clothes are moved to different combinations from page to page. This is not unusual, but this update does seem to stand out for the amount of new product that is included. I’ll highlight what is new.
Page 6 and 7 bring 3 new items–The Long Sleeved Ventilated Shirt, Trekking Shorts, surplus French Commando Sweatshirts.
Many of the pages contain the same products and layout, but the images behind the products have changed…but just barely. The background on the denim shirt in catalog 23? A landscape with a zebra. In 24? A different landscape with more zebras. Why bother? Has anyone noticed this but me?
