JOHNSON SMITH COMPANY
SARASOTA, FLORIDA

About Our Company The Johnson Smith Company™ is one of America’s oldest catalogs companies. In 1905, our founder, Alfred Johnson Smith, started selling his novelties and practical jokes in Australia. The company was officially founded in the U.S.A. in 1914, when Mr. Smith shipped his first package from Chicago. The Johnson Smith Company relocated to Racine, Wisconsin in 1926. Nine years later the company made a mid-depression move to Detroit, Michigan with the intention of starting a Canadian subsidiary across the Detroit River. Those plans were abandoned with the outbreak of World War II. The company remained near the Detroit riverfront for nearly 35 years, until it moved to Mt. Clemens, Michigan (a Detroit suburb) in the early 1970s. In 1986 the company made an exciting move to Bradenton, Florida, to a specially-designed building that enables us to serve our customers with state-of-the-art technology and service! Our story is not without sociological aspects and influences. During the 1920s and 1930s, practical jokes and home hobbies provided an escape for people wracked with economic struggle brought on by WWI and the Great Depression. Our 700-page catalog provided hours of "escape," fun and fantasy for the depressed nation, even without having to place an order! Even today we hear from people who remember our catalog and the “relief” we provided! Today, the Johnson Smith catalog is known as Things You Never Knew Existed (TYNKE) and still brings hours of enjoyment to people across the country. Visit In 1998, we added Betty’s Attic® to our family of catalogs, hoping to inspire and thrill even more American households. With its nostalgic and limited edition merchandise, Betty’s Attic is a natural fit for the Johnson Smith Company. Its appeal is limitless, from “baby boomers” hoping to find items that remind them of times past to twenty-somethings admiring the atmosphere of another generation. In 2002, we developed Full of Life®, a catalog dedicated to living healthier and smarter. Full of Life features health aids such as advanced blood pressure monitors, medicated skin care, innovative air cleaners and therapeutic pillows for a good night’s sleep. With every day helpers such as easy-to-hold utensils, the motion sensor wastebasket and the lamp switch enlarger, Full of Life can assist in almost everything you do. Visit Johnson Smith Company