# Lets reminisce about Spencer Gifts in the 80s. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669 "2014-10-27T18:08:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/41 "2014-10-29T17:34:04Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > Sheesh, all these posts and no one has mentioned the absolute staple of Spencers (in my mind anyway, aside from MAYBE sexy greeting cards), that weird thing with all the pins that you would put your hand on and it would show the print of your hand. Gross, i just realized that as a kid i probably put that thing on my face… blech… And lightning globes. And greeting cards of morbidly obese women in bikinis. (I’m so old I can remember when Johnny Carson introduced both those things on his show and was entranced with them.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/42 "2014-10-29T17:41:00Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > Sheesh, all these posts and no one has mentioned the absolute staple of Spencers (in my mind anyway, aside from MAYBE sexy greeting cards), that weird thing with all the pins that you would put your hand on and it would show the print of your hand. Gross, i just realized that as a kid i probably put that thing on my face… blech… Pin Art. It is still around. ---
**Author:** ![Abracadebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Abracadebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abracadebra)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/43 "2014-10-29T18:52:19Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Someone opened a store in my small town that was sort of like Spencer’s, but I think without the “naughty” section. I remember going in there and it was just an explosion of bright colors, sounds, and even smells. I really wanted to buy a crazy pen or something. > > But like with Spencer’s (which was/is in our malls) everything was just slightly too expensive for me. Especially because nothing ever seemed to have a purpose. So I don’t remember buying anything at the local shop or Spencer’s. And I don’t know that the local shop lasted more than a year. > > Boy did I love to browse there, though! > > **There’s a chain store now called 5 Below which, to me has the same sort of “burst of color” feeling to it. It doesn’t have all the cheeky stuff that Spencer’s has but you can get your funny magnets and your WWE posters there, your silly tee shirts and candy in weird containers. Plus boring stuff like crayons and basketballs. And everything is $5 or less.** > > I like that for a fun pick-me-up shopping trip, even if I don’t buy anything. My kids convinced me to check out Five Below. I wanted everything they had! I bought a Seinfeld fridge magnet that reads, “She had man hands”. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/44 "2014-10-29T22:45:17Z")
the one in my mall also carried a good selection of band shirts as well. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/45 "2014-10-30T00:28:05Z")
I wonder what percentage of the iconic Farrah posters were purchased from Spencer’s? ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/46 "2014-10-30T02:23:20Z")
One recently opened not far from where I live. It’s in a strip mall, not a regular mall. They now compete with the best of your local sex shops for toys and gadgets, movies too. And with pot being legal in this state, a wide variety of smoking items. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/47 "2014-10-30T15:31:58Z")
Spencer’s in Tyson’s Corner always had [one of those boats shaped like a '59 Cadillac](http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/incredibly-inflatable-pink-cadillac-137217235) high up on a shelf. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/48 "2014-10-30T19:51:04Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Were the Spencer Catalogs from the same company? From the official site: > [@](#): > > Originally a mail-order catalog in Easton, PA, Spencer’s has been the leader in fun and novel products from the Whoopie Cushion to lava lights. In 1963 Spencer’s expanded its reach and opened its first store in the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey where we continue to operate. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/49 "2014-10-30T19:55:39Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > I seem to remember that Spencer Gifts and The Sharper Image had a lot more overlap, but it looks like my memory is wrong. > [@Clawdio](#): > > Sheesh, all these posts and no one has mentioned the absolute staple of Spencers (in my mind anyway, aside from MAYBE sexy greeting cards), that weird thing with all the pins that you would put your hand on and it would show the print of your hand. Gross, i just realized that as a kid i probably put that thing on my face… blech… That’s funny because the pin art thing was the first thing to come to mind when **bordelond** mentioned The Sharper Image. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/50 "2014-10-30T20:05:16Z")
I bought my second favorite possession at Spencer’s: A candle holder in the shape of a ram’s skull (with horns). The eye sockets have clear marbles in them, so when you light a candle (votive size), put it in the little glass vase (so you don’t get wax all over) and slip it in the back of the “skull,” the eyes glow! The longer it sits on the shelf, the dirtier it gets and the better it looks. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/51 "2014-10-30T20:16:10Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > Sheesh, all these posts and no one has mentioned the absolute staple of Spencers (in my mind anyway, aside from MAYBE sexy greeting cards), that weird thing with all the pins that you would put your hand on and it would show the print of your hand. Gross, i just realized that as a kid i probably put that thing on my face… blech… Yep, the display model probably cycled through face, middle finger, genitals all day long. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/52 "2014-11-09T22:24:46Z")
Huh. I just Googled “Spencer’s Gifts”, and Google immediately showed me that there’s one in the mall across the river. I had no idea. I also can’t remember the last time I went to that mall. There was a Spencer’s at the big mall near where I grew up in the early '80s, but I was never allowed to go in. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/53 "2014-11-09T23:11:22Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > There was (is?) a Canadian version of Spencer’s, called San Francisco Gifts. I don’t know if the two companies are related, but the product line is exactly the same. Google is no help - there’s almost no way that I know of to filter out all of the San Francisco _city_ search results. > > I remember perusing San Francisco in the 80’s and 90’s in Londonderry mall in Edmonton. Formative experiences! I used quotes and included the keyword canada: “san francisco gifts” canada > **[Google](https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%22san+francisco+gifts%22+canada)** > > Year in Search 2024! #GoogleDoodle ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/54 "2014-11-10T16:21:17Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > It was THE place to buy gifts for your friends from about 6th grade to 8th grade. And they were the first store (in our area at least) to carry glitter nail polish. Which now, you can buy anywhere. But when it came out (this would be about 1982) it was a BIG DEAL. I saved a lot of allowance money for glitter nail polish from Spencer’s. Me too. Black glitter nail polish, no less. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/55 "2014-11-10T16:39:35Z")
I’ve mentioned this before, but my memories of Spencers goes back much further. I first encountered Spencers in the late 1960s/early 1970s. There was one at Menlo Park Mall in New Jersey, and it looked _nothing_ like Spencers today. The store then was a normal brightly-lit store with its novelties in segmented bins, each with a catalog drawing and description. It was still as tacky and tasteless as it currently is, with the fake dog poo and the risque gifts, but without the darkened, blacklit interiors. And with a lot less clothing. The thing is, we used to get a mail-order catalog even earlier, in the mid-1960s, from a store in Washington DC called _The Game Room_. It had exactly the same stuff that was in Spencers, to the point that all the drawings and descriptions in the bins posted at Spencers were absolutely identical to the ones in the Game Room catalog. There is clearly a connection there, but I’m not sure what it is. According to Wikipedia, Spencers started as a mail-order business in 1947, and opened its first store in Cherry Hill, NJ in 1963 (and the store’s still open). I don’t know if The Game Room was an early tryout for a retail location in DC, or if it was a company that got its stuff from Spencers, or if it was another incarnation of the Spencers mail-order business that operated out of DC. But they were clearly getting their stuff from the same place. Over the years I’d search and find occasional old references to the old Game Room in DC, but there’s nothing now. And Spencers has apparently closed the stores it used to have in DC. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/56 "2014-11-11T00:03:30Z")
I may be able to raise this to a new level. More than 5-6 years ago, I walked into our local mall’s Spencer’s (still there) and was confronted with a large vertical and rotating glass case that held what looked like high-end genitalia piercers and “enhancers”, for male or female genitals. Tongue jewelry that was designed to be used as a tickler. I mean, enamel and silver and bright colors. I was like, whoa. Has anyone else run into this kind of front showcase display? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/57 "2014-11-11T00:15:23Z")
They used to have these tacky “Free Sex” coupon business cards that you could buy. I remember being in 7th grade and buying one small pack of 10 cards. I think that they, my library card, and what money I had earned were all that was ever in that wallet. No, never gave a single one away. ☹ After several years, when the wallet had been worn to shreds and when I had just gotten my license, I looked and found that those cards had all been pulped together and had to be thrown out. The library card, being plastic and used more often, was just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669/58 "2014-11-11T06:19:50Z")
They always had the best assortment of gags and practical jokes. As a kid I used to love the black light stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-reminisce-about-spencer-gifts-in-the-80s/702669.md?page=2)