@artyoung posted:This subject often comes up, but what no one seems to remember are the Day-After-Christmas sales back then. Department stores, hardware stores, appliance stores, etc., used to sell trains as a seasonal item, and the day after Christmas were blow-out sales with trains selling for a fraction of what they sold for on Christmas Eve. My mother used to buy my present for next year at these sales, and as I got older and had my own money I also hit the stores. I still have a GM Emergency Generator car (blue with full stripe) that has the $2.45 sticker on the box from Taubman's Hardware in Baltimore. Yes, trains were expensive back then, but bargains were there if you looked.
I remember those half price sales at the large department stores in downtown Indianapolis when I was a young boy. The trains were mostly items they had on their display layouts but other items were also included. One year I had received the 2412-2416 passenger set for Christmas and my dad purchased another 2412 & 2414, orphaning the 2416 observation car that was on the layout. We also got a 6822 Searchlight car that year. I still have all of them.
Regards, Steve
