Transit Museum Issues First-Ever Catalog in Time for Holiday Shopping

With the release of the first-ever catalog from the New York Transit Museum, transit buffs and holiday shoppers have a new and easy way to get transportation-related gift items and memorabilia.

The Transit Museum catalog – issued also to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the subway system – features dozens of items branded with the icons of the New York City subway system as well as MTA Long Island Rail Road and MTA Metro-North Railroad.

Included in the 24-page catalog are unique memorabilia from the system itself, which will take shoppers down memory lane to their first subway rides as children. Items include old conductor and train operator badges, vintage station signs, and the swing handholds from the famous Redbird cars. (The handholds replaced the leather straps that gave “straphangers” their name.)

The catalog has a number of items unique to the museum and its stores, website, and catalog, including an archival collection of mosaic reproductions, available as tiles or plaques and on mugs, keychains, business card holders, pillboxes, and paperweights; a Metro-Card carry-all; and children’s and infants’ tee-shirts. Customers can celebrate the system with luggage or luggage tags; tee-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, or socks; shower curtains or umbrellas; model trains or teddy bears, and even a guide to MetroCard origami. The Museum staff also included books for those who want to learn more about the system and its history.

A new online-only feature allows customers to order individualized, custom-made cups, tee-shirts, mouse pads, or note cards featuring particular stations in the system.

The catalog is also among the only places customers can still purchase New York City subway tokens – available as gift sets featuring all five designs used between 1953 and 2003 and transformed into jewelry, including cufflinks, money clips, bracelets, and necklaces.

For commuter rail fans the catalog features MTA Long Island Rail Road and MTA Metro-North Railroad items, including cups, jewelry, and clothing.

All items in the catalog can be ordered by telephone or through the New York Transit Museum website, www.transitmuseumstore.com. For a copy, contact the Museum at 888-BUY-NYTM (888-289-6986).

“This first-ever catalog allows shoppers to browse all of the items offered by the Museum,” noted Museum Director Gabrielle Shubert. “It will also help the Museum become more self-sufficient through increased sales and new membership.”