Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

American Science and Surplus, the iconic online, mail-order & instore source of some of the most incredible stuff you have never seen, is closing their warehouse, mail-order and online business after almost nine (9) decades, that is 88 years, in business.

I cannot begin to tell you of the sadness I feel as their catalogs were just pure fun (and funny) to pour through, and they provided me with more than a fair heap of hobby tools and materials, along with a long list of needful and mostly useless items. Heck, they even handled a few Jensen Steam Engines at one point in time.

Their website suggests that September 7th is their last day of accepting orders.

Apparently, all hope is not quite lost in that it seems a couple of their three upper Mid-West stores may remain open, at least for a while, as employee owned and operated establishments, but there is no suggestion that they will be bringing back their mail-order, nor online presence!

If you've never heard of them, I feel very sorry for you! If you've never had the shear enjoyment of thumbing through their catalog, I feel double sorry for you, and if you have never felt the anticipation of receiving a box of goodies from them .... well, by that much, your life has been the poorer!!!

Here's what they have to say:

https://sciplus.com/important-information/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Monday%20Email%20-%208%2F25%2F25&_kx=eG6eORyihxpV424sMdL6ohhOBvwCMyalStB0qKnp1VE.UpSaCU

I recall the great anticipation waiting for our catalogs from Sears Roebuck, Herters, and FAO Schwartz and the joy experienced from reading them. I'm certain I would have felt the same if I had their catalog, too.

Gil

Gil, those AS&S catalogs were classics of wit and humor... almost never a straight line in them. The folks that worked there had imaginations beyond imagining, yet still got the product message across so you knew what you were getting while totally laughing about it! Good graphic artists too!!!

The legend only continues for those close enough to the stores remaining open. The rest of the country that only had access by mail order is SOoL!!!