I decided to buy this 30-year-old catalog on eBay just to see what was on offer for trade beads back then.

I scanned in the cover pages and some of the pages that I thought would be of interest here. Most of the beads on the other pages are plain, common seed beads, findings, and other new stock.

A lot of the trade beads are marked Currently Not Available and neither the the previous description nor price is indicated - disappointing!

I've also listed a few of the prices and descriptions that were available. Note that many of the beads are described as 1700s and 1800s, which I believe is incorrect, although possible for a few of them. Some of the prices are almost the same as what is being asked today, but some are higher and some are lower. I found this quite interesting!

For the cover page , here are a few prices:

13. Chevron oval large 1700s $40
14. Hudson Bay Yellow Heart 16mm $6
45. Trader feather bead red 1700s $2.50

If you have any specific bead you want me to look up in the catalog, please let me know.