Gift giving

A few years ago, I discovered a book titled "The Little Book of Christmas" by Dominique Foufelle. It was first published in France in 2014 and titled "Le PetitLivre de Noel," and then in the United States (Chronicle Books) three years later in 2017. It’s an enchanting little book that outlines the history of Christmas and the various traditions we celebrate around the holiday. For example, it was around “1850, (when) the North American illustrator Thomas Nast gave Santa Claus his defining look: rotund silhouette, jovial face, and red and white suit. The Coco-Cola Company popularized the image in an ad campaign in 1931.”

Gift giving, of course, can be traced back to the birth of Jesus and various celebrations at year-end throughout the world. Like everything, holiday shopping and gift giving for both Christmas and Hannukah has changed. Now people shop online, sitting at their computers and then having packages wrapped and shipped. I don’t think this new “tradition” will ever make it into an updated book about Christmas. The idea of gift giving is in the creativity and thought that goes into what is being given and then the festive wrapping and personal note or poem written for the recipient.

I still love holiday shopping, and buy my gifts locally. When I’m in Laconia I shop downtown or in the small shops and places I love in the Lakes Region.   Now on Main Street in Laconia one can spend hours shopping for everything from tropical plants, locally roasted coffee, books, games and beautiful gifts to antiques and eyeglasses. 

People love gifts that are experiences for date nights or just going out with a friend. Now one can stop at the Belknap Mill or at the Colonial Theatre and look at their winter schedule. Doesn’t everyone love going out on a cold, dark January night?

“What was your most memorable Christmas gift?” I once asked a friend when we were having dinner.

“I was taken to the theater. It made a lasting impression because I was young. I have never forgotten the experience,” they said.

And, of course, there is always the possibility of giving a gift certificate for one of the many restaurants in the Lakes Region — there are too many possibilities for me to name. 

The gifts I treasure are a collection of 30 sleds. In 1984, just after Thanksgiving, my Aunt Ruth sent me a small red sled, an ornament for my Christmas tree. Until her death, in 2014, I received a sled, sent through the mail, wrapped in brown paper, and enclosed in a small box that just fit into my mailbox. Each one is unique. The sleds are created out of wood, glass, popsicle sticks, gold metal, silver, and fabric. I treasure this wonderfully curated collection and each Christmas I lovingly take each one out of tissue paper and place them, one by one, on the tree branches. On the bottom Aunt Ruth has placed a piece of tape with the date so I can reflect on the year. 

When I researched the most popular gifts this year the list included several devices, of one sort or another. I know I do not want to find a device under my tree.

I would prefer a pair of fur-lined moccasins, a box of rich dark chocolates, elegant writing paper or something that someone had made.  

Prescott Farm has several workshops in December for making crafts. Although the workshops sell out quickly, there may still be a few opportunities to learn how to make bayberry candles or bake a loaf of bread.  

And, of course, I cannot leave out the church and craft holiday fairs. These are filled with hand-knitted sweaters and children’s clothes and toys, tables of vintage jewelry and other beautiful things that someone is passing along. 

Christmas is not only a religious holiday for Christians, but it has also become a secular holiday around the world. When I was in Japan in November the hotels and retails shops were decorated with beautiful, sparkling, lighted trees. In Dakar, Senegal, last year, when the temperature was in the high 80s just as I was leaving at the beginning of December, strings of light and festive trees were beginning to appear.

There is magic inherent in this time of year, for all of us. There is always that one special gift or unexpected thought that reminds us how important it is to occasionally turn off the computer, pull down the cookbook and spend a day just shopping, the old-fashioned way, that brings us joy as we celebrate, as well, the winter solstice. 

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Elizabeth Howard is the host of the Short Fuse Podcast, found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or through the Arts Fuse. Her career intersects journalism, marketing, and communications. Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited, was published in May 2016.  She is the author of A Day with Bonefish Joe, a children’s book, published by David R. Godine. You can send her a note at eh@elizabethhoward.com.