The First Thomas & Thomas Catalog

Some while back George Katsar stopped by the shop to say hello. We hadn’t caught up in a very long time but it was good to see him since George and I go back a few years: we were among the earliest employees at Thomas & Thomas when it first opened in Greenfield back in the early 1970’s (if memory serves I think George started there about 6-12 months before I did). Our workbenches were next to one another as we worked and learned alongside Tom Maxwell and Tom Dorsey.

It was a small team  and so in addition to rodbuilding we basically ran everything else as well. During the visit George was recalling putting together the early catalogs from T&T (and doing so on a shoestring budget).

Anyway, some time later he stopped by the shop again and gave me a few of those early catalogs that had been collecting dust in the intervening years. We’re pretty sure that this one is the first catalog that T&T ever put out (and the only reason why it’s still around is because it was returned to sender!).

The “open letter” at the beginning is particularly worth a read.

-Marc