Christmas Giving

THERE is a phrase often heard in the wholesale market during those annual merchandise shows at which much of the coming winter’s stock is bought by retailers. The words give a clue to the existence of a somewhat important pitfall lying in wait for unwary Christmas shoppers. The phrase is ‘Especially for the Christmas trade.’ Sometimes it indicates perfectly good merchandise, attractively wrapped for the holiday season; sometimes it indicates completely worthless merchandise, even more attractively wrapped for the holiday season.

An amazing number of items are placed on the market for consumers each year, and since many of them are definitely worth buying, it seems a pity that there should also be so much with only glitter to recommend it. The basis for the existence and promotion of such stuff is unfortunately factual — that there will be many Christmas shoppers who will buy hastily and carelessly, often more concerned with getting something that appears to have cost more than it did than in purchasing something which will mean real pleasure to the recipient. After watching crowds of Christmas shoppers for a number of seasons, I am convinced that everyone from manufacturer to receiver of a gift would be splendidly benefited if the general public adopted a resolution to drop from their Christmas lists names of people to whom the proposed gifts would be merely a gesture. A card would more appropriately make the gesture, and would decrease the temptation of certain manufacturers and retailers to assemble and present in handsome wrappings oddities that are utterly worthless.

Aside, however, from the curious mental cases who are afflicted with what I can only call the ‘gilded stove-lifter’ theory of gift selection, there are many well-meaning buyers who begin in November saying they must start their shopping early; who plan each day from November the first to December the twentieth to do something about it, and who then in appalled haste, which ascends to veritable madness, perform a kind of leaping Marathon from counter to counter. With grim determination they attack the crowds between themselves and distant tables, snatching at a gadget for Cousin Mary which, if it will not please Cousin Mary, will at least not rouse her active antagonism. Crossing her name off the list, the harried shopper seems almost to soar over the terrain, stopping at this or that counter to pluck items which have no more to recommend them than that the shopper cannot remember having seen or given them last year. And so it goes through nightmare days for shoppers and salespeople and nightmare nights for delivery men and wrappers. It ends sooner or later, after Christmas, in that deluge of costly returns which adds appreciably to the expense of retailing.

The Christmas shoppers who really get all the fun and thrill out of the Christmas season are those who make it a time of filling heart’s desires, little or big. Curiously enough, heart’s desires are often not expensive at all, requiring less cash than thought and imagination. Anyone who has ever played this game of being in a small way the magician who fills the secret wish — of giving not just negatively conventional gifts or ‘it will do’ presents, but things fitting warmly into a cherished desire — knows that haste and glitter are inimical to this sort of buying. Time, courage, and inspiration are all needed — along with, perhaps, an armchair preview of the market. But it is worth the trouble.

To find things which are, first, what the recipient will honestly welcome, which will not later betray both giver and receiver by unreliability, and which are either definitely new and unique or have about them a new twist which lifts them from the commonplace and staple — these are the aims which make Christmas shopping merry and joyous.

Without attempting to cover more than a fraction of the story of what is worth giving this year, the following suggestions emphasize some things which readers may buy with the assurance that they fill the last two requirements — worth and novelty.

Take gloves, for instance. This year you will find suède gloves with matching handbags in clear brilliant colors — bittersweet, horizon-blue, jade, coral, gold. They are enchanting and feminine; but never give them to a woman who has not an unlimited clothes budget, presupposing a number of ensembles into which the color you choose will fit. Black suède, when very fine, soft, and silky, and dyed the deepest of velvety blacks, is perennially welcome. But watch both the glove size and the quality. If you ask for Cordoba suède, you will get a universally good grade of suède. If you would like to give a glove that is not only dressy but practical and very new, look for a pair that is ‘twofaced.’ It is of Cabretta kid on the palm side — for wearability and smartness — and Cabretta suéde on the back, with a little slash at the back of the wrist laced up with kid cord. This glove, like others from this manufacturer, carries an identifying consumer information label, either on the glove or on its box.

Ski or snow gloves are always good gifts for children and those who go in for winter sports. Two things for wearability might be remembered: first, that the mitten or glove is best made of woolen worsted because of the longer, tougher fibre; second, that if there is contrasting embroidery or knitting the design should be closely worked, leaving no long loose threads on the surface. For newness, this year’s best-liked snow gloves are of dark backgrounds with multicolor Norwegian picture designs or Swedish weaving. White, on the other hand, is popular with adults, and one of the prettiest gloves in the market is pure white, with a longish cuff, and three bright Tyrolian roses embroidered down the back. These gloves cost about a dollar; you can pay more, but it will be for originality or handwork, probably, not wearability.

Housewares and home accessories make pleasant gifts if they are not the ‘bread and butter’ type, but rather the aristocrats of the kitchen. For instance, I have just come from looking at some oven and top-stove glassware which is nearly as thin as a table goblet. Some of it — notably a casserole and custard cups — is charmingly etched, and all of it is delightful to use and yet definitely practical. Its maker believes it to be as tough and sturdy as its elder brother, the familiar type of heavy glassware. Or perhaps some of the new designs in stainless steel would fit into some home with a proud housekeeper; or the luxury brands of aluminum often looked at longingly by many a woman on a limited kitchen budget. And I find that all feminine gardeners who also like to cook fall in love with the enamelware trimmed with true delphinium blue.

Decorative items, if they have real beauty and grace and not novelty alone, make perfect gifts for those with an eye for home decoration. I discovered recently a unique sort of thing which should have a wide appeal. A chemist has invented a way of treating fresh flowers so that, although they are pressed flat in mounting, they retain all their original color and texture indefinitely. When framed they resemble Victorian flower prints in form, but with all the loveliness of the fresh flower intact. Delphinium, looking so real it is unbelievable, cornflowers, coreopsis, Nicotiana, even orchids are exquisitely mounted; used as decorative prints, they carry an atmosphere of charm hard to describe. They are somewhat costly, but well worth their price. The supply is limited, of course.

Furs and jewels are traditional Christmas gifts, and if you can give someone a silver fox cape, a mink or ermine evening wrap, no problem confronts you. But if you prefer to spend less money and still give fur, wanting it to be both smart and practical, consider the short cape or jacket, needing little fitting, of skunk dyed black. And even less expensive, and adored by college and highschool girls, are coats, chunky and bulky, of sheepskin specially treated. The fur is very soft and fluffy and warm, comes in brown or chamois, and should wear extremely well. But buy any fur where the store stands behind its wearability — don’t hunt bargains.

Jewels, according to one of the country’s great jewelers, should at Christmas time be less investments for the future than gifts with sentiment and atmosphere. Diamonds, he says, are best given on New Year’s Day, to start the year off well; but for Christmas give carved jade or rose quartz, delicate old coral or aquamarines, garnets in antique settings, or, best of all, the star sapphire, which many Syrians believe reflects the Star of Bethlehem. Broad gold bracelets, necklaces, and clips, often using several shades of gold in one piece, make attractive costume-jewelry pieces, and Oriental filigree is so feminine that nearly all women like it.

In looking for things a man would like, try to find other than the conventional gifts alone. But when you do give the conventional item make sure it will have no unhappy aftermath to haunt your friendship. Buy him ties, if you like, but remember that ties are going to be tied; so get them made either of pure silk or of pure wool, both of which fibres have great elasticity and resilience. Wrinkles in such ties will not stay long. If you buy socks, get ones whose label you know and trust — beware of socks for ‘the Christmas trade’! And further, remember that many socks have rayon in them, and that under laundering, unless carefully handled, rayon may become a reproach to the giver. Shirts need a little caution, too. Look out for that ‘pre-shrunk’ label. If you want to be remembered for your discrimination all the year to come, get shirts that are Sanforized-shrunk and will shrink no more.

The current madness for ‘candidcamera shots’ makes the idea of giving man, woman, or child a miniature camera for candid-picture taking a useful suggestion, but do not be tempted by cheap or nameless ones. A good lens and mechanical perfection cost money always. Waterproof watches, and watches designed to be compass, stop watch, and everything else from barometer to radio, seem to be popular with masculine recipients, along with special books on hobbies.

Before going on to suggestions for children’s gifts, let me briefly mention two quite different items which are open to application in many Christmas problems. One is food—epicurean food. For instance, the smoked turkey made by a neighbor of mine and famous all over the country. A smoked turkey, a fine wine, a rare bunch of black grapes packed in cotton — perhaps this is the perfect gift for someone on your list. And the other suggestion, at the other end of the cost scale, is to give a trip. So many heart’s desires seem built around far places! To have the most fun out of this, send a check and travel literature about a variety of places to which the cost of traveling would be covered by the amount you include. Such a gift, with its hours of planning and anticipation, has a long life. I’ve known it to last three years!

And now for the things to give children, the most fun of all Christmas giving. Of course the best things to give are the things to do. You may not find them in gift or toy departments at all, for some of the cleverest have not been designed officially for ‘the Christmas trade.’ I know of one little girl who wanted a set of carpenter tools; and a workmanlike saw, hammer, plane, and nails, with bundles of wood cut in usable lengths for simple construction, were given her last Christmas. Nothing else has ever given her so much or such lasting pleasure.

Another ‘do it’ set is for wood inlay. It includes two wall plaques of artistic design, a cutting tool, proper glue, and various woods for inlay — mahogany, purpleheart, lemonwood, and so on. A small loom for weaving real fabrics is another good idea, and the only caution here is to give the real thing, never a toy. Never give makebelieve typewriters, tools, or work apparatus of any kind. Any child deserves the real thing, even if on a small scale.

The ant palaces, with several new versions this year, are invariably entertaining to children and adults. Watching a tribe of these busy little fellows make their homes, rear their young, go about their strange ways, is enormous fun. Most children like music, and an individual radio for a boy’s room, perhaps, or a small phonograph for a girl is a happy thought. A real phonograph, probably costing not much less than ten dollars, is a good purchase, and sets of records, such as fairy tales, folk songs, or brass-band music, will provide long hours of pleasure. Music boxes are loved by everybody, old and young. There is a tiny new one for a very small person, playing only one little familiar tune. If it plays ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb,’ for instance, across a bit of a window in the front of the box small lambs go frisking past in time with the music.

A gift that I notice even grown-ups can scarcely leave alone is a miniature hurdy gurdy — stuffed monkey, hurdygurdy man’s suit, and all. It plays giddy gay tunes as it trundles along, and is especially fun to own now that even in New York the hurdy-gurdy man is disappearing. Dolls, of course, will be given. Little Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret Rose in their coronation robes and coronets are sure to be popular, and prophets say the Anne Shirley doll, with hair you can brush and comb, is also going to be in great demand. A small gift I found which a little mother might enjoy is an ‘Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.’ A boot perhaps eight inches long holds a nice old party with her many children around her, to be lifted out, replaced, rearranged endlessly. And for brand-new ‘eaters at table’ the Food Master set of silver plate, designed for easy eating when food seems so hard to manage, will be acceptable both for young persons and for their mothers.

Last of all is a gift suggestion which, while intended for children, will be loved and enjoyed by the whole family. This is Charlie McCarthy himself, exactly as he looks with Edgar Bergen, plus a book on ventriloquism. Charlie costs around ten dollars and would be fun on Christmas Day and many days thereafter. How well Charlie’s wooden smile will wear, how long his clothes will last, I could n’t say. But I can highly recommend his disposition!

(Correspondence provoked by Margaret Dana’s ‘Open Your Purse and Shut Your Eyes’ in the October number, will be found in the Contributors’ Column of this issue.)