Thanks to my special powers, I know it's more or less Buttertubs' birthday, some time around now. And that it's a very special one!

Happy birthday. Remember 40 is the new 30.

I don't have much to give by way of a present, but here're small collection of Argos catalogues I stole from a Guardian article found in a box at the back of the cupboard.

1975-76



1976-77



1978-79



1979-80



1980-81



1981-82



1982-83



1983-84



1984-85



1985-86



1986-87



1987-88



1988-89



1990-91



1995-96



1997-98



1999-2000

I love how the first two genuinely look like charity shops.

They liked their Dunhill lighters didn't they?

I think I was totally unaware of the existence of Argos until the 1990s.

I on the other hand was aware of it from its inception, when the Green Shield place turned into it.

I don't think I went into one until I actually got a job there - working in the stockroom of the Shepherds Bush branch in 1989.

I still didn't really know how the shopping experience was supposed to work even though I was collecting the orders and putting them on the conveyor belt.

I got fired for showing a lack of enthusiasm.

In 1989.

I can smell those Argos catalogues right now.