Back when Amazon and internet shopping hadn't yet been dreamt up, the excitement in the run-up to Christmas for children included the arrival of the latest catalogue from Argos - or Index.
Kids in the late '80s and '90s had two 'books of dreams' from their respective shops from which to choose the toys that they wanted that year, and flicking through their pages was always a pre-Christmas highlight. Obviously, Argos is still going strong but, for a time, it was in direct competition from the Index store which was Littlewoods' answer to the high street giant.
They both had a lot in common. Buying something, involved going to the store and filling in a slip with the codes, paying for the items, and then waiting until the goods came from the warehouse at the back - if they were in stock, that is.
