It was July, 1975 and the just arrived, new Sears Fall/Winter catalog went viral.

Yes, even in the 1970's, things could go viral. No, there was no internet, no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or other of todays social media.

But phone lines across the country were buzzing..."Have you seen the new Sears catalog? Have you seen page 602? Wow!"

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People took the catalog to work and showed colleagues page 602. Catalogs were passed around at school. Even libraries filled up with people checking out the new Sears catalog.

Or more specifically, page 602.

Now, remember, this was a HUGE catalog, some 1,492 pages. It included everything you wanted and needed, from exercise equipment to clothes, musical instruments to tools to household goods, and everything in-between.

None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was...page 602.

And, of course, the question: What was that??

The Sears catalog, as you may recall, was as wholesome as apple pie, and the Fourth of July. As a kid I can remember getting the Sears catalog (especially the Christmas catalog) and spending hours checking out page after page of toys. But to be honest, I didn't spend much time in the men's underwear section.

Boring!

Except this catalog, this underwear section, this page 602 was NOT boring. Not for the millions who received that catalog that July of 1975.

The PR guy at Sears explained it was just a printing flaw caused by water, grease or dirt on the plate. The "blemish" was contained in all 15 million catalogs that went out that July.

So, I suppose in the final analysis, it was much ado about nothing. But it sure was a sensation back in 1975!

You can check out the video below and get more info. There was even a hit novelty record about that infamous "Man on Page 602".

Hoaxes.org contributed to this article 

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