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 African forest scene with giraffes–but the parrot, iguana and hummingbirds are all from the Americas, hmmm…matched up with a BR Army Air Corps plane and all the favorites: Gurkha Shorts, a Pith Helmet, a Swedish Bandolier and an Old English shirt.

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 4 and 5 are all about Kikoi cloth. In the first Summer 85 catalog BR featured the Kikoi Scarf on page 46. Here we have a double page spread of shirts, tops and dresses in the colorful African fabric.

Page 6 and 7 bring 3 new items–The Long Sleeved Ventilated Shirt, Trekking Shorts, surplus French Commando Sweatshirts.

This is the first time I’ve noticed this cartoon accompanying the Kenya Convertibles. Pretty great….

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? Does anyone care but me? How much do I really care. Frankly, the more zebras the better, that’s what I say.

One of the more interesting new items is this surplus Clod War T-Shirt from Denmark. Check out the story behind it’s green dot. Amazing times…