Club Guide: A few Tips and the History of 'Christmas Gifts'

A few Tips and the History of 'Christmas Gifts'

Tradition says that we must treat each other kindly during Christmas. Maybe that is the reason why the tradition of giving Christmas gifts has spread far and wide. By giving holiday gifts, we show that we care about each other.

Ideas

The history of the Christmas gift dates back to 4th cent

ury A.D. – the time of Saint Nicholas (later called Santa Claus). Even after so many years, people still find it difficult to find the perfect Christmas gifts for the special persons in their lives. But it doesn’t have to be so hard. One just has to anticipate the coming of Christmas and write down good ideas as they occur. For instance, if your dad is frustrated that his old fishing rod broke during summer vacation, he might forget about it after a while, but it is your job to write it down and remember to buy him a replacement when Xmas comes.

Another good tip when looking for good Christmas gifts is to think of alternatives to the common presents. Here are a few ideas for alternative Christmas gifts:

1. Subscriptions (monthly magazine, journals etc.)

2. Food (gift voucher for restaurants, gourmet food basket, and others)

3. Holiday (gift voucher for short vacation breaks)

4. Personal care (facial treatment, health resort holiday, etc.)

5. Entertainment (cinema tickets, trip to a go-cart track, etc.)

6. Gift voucher for a donation

But if you consider that all this seems not right for you or this is not in you’re range you can always check out some online gift shops like The Fabulous Collections

History

Gift giving was common during the Roman Saturnalia. In the 13th century, nuns in France started giving gifts to the poor on the eve of St. Nicholas' Day. Gift giving was soon repressed by the medieval church.

In the beginning, people did not buy expensive Christmas gifts for each other. Gifts could be pieces of fruit or simple toys. The gifts were not wrapped and were just given to each other or hung on the tree since the Christmas tree tradition also became popular.

Gift giving in colonial America was based on class differences, the poor accosting the rich and demanding food, drink, and money. In the 1820's, borrowing from the New York Dutch, the idea of gift giving was transformed to that of parents giving christmas gifts to their children. Moore's poem may have been a contributing factor to the beginning of the commercialization of Christmas. Christmas shopping was encouraged to overcome the depression during the period, 1839-40.

Today, the sales due to the buying of Christmas gifts break records every year. However, some families have started to curb spending, because they think that Christmas due to the unwise spending for Christmas gifts has become too commercialized. The concern about the increasingly expensive tradition of giving Christmas gifts has existed for a long time. As early as 100 years ago, poets and social critics began warning people that Christmas was becoming too commercialized.

The Party Guru SAYS

Planning Early Can Save You Money

Always pay attention to the special interests of your child. In our house, birthday party themes are planned well in advance, this early planning allows me to take great advantage of clearance sales, special prices and discontinued items. Pay close attention to end caps and clearance sales when in department and toy stores; a great deal of money can be saved just making a quick check the toy clearance isles during a shopping trip. It is taking the time, often just an additional few minutes to look for sales that can make all the difference in your budget. So many people tell me that they don't have the time, but when you consider all the money that you can save, how could you not make the time.

Part Guru Tip 2

Shop after Holiday Sales for Basics

After Holiday Sales in grocery and department stores can save you a considerable amount of money. There are always incredible sales in grocery stores after the holiday has passed and often times the money you save can be in the hundreds of dollars. As a party planner, I am always looking for good sales that I can pass on to my customer. Last Halloween, I was able to purchase over $500 worth of Halloween decorations for $35. I happened to be in a grocery store that wanted to sell all of their Halloween decorations as quickly as possible; they offered a sale of $5 for a bag of decorations, whatever you fit in the bag, you paid $5 for the whole thing. I was able to buy hundreds of napkins, silverware, tablecloths, candles, decorations, etc. The colors were in black and orange but that is not a problem. Many party themes, in addition to Halloween, use these colors so I will have more than enough opportunity to utalize all the items that I purchased.

Party Guru Tip 3

When Planning Games, Remember Your Age Group

It is important when planning a party to focus on the ages of the invitees. What may seem like an extremely simple game to an adult could prove to be quite complicated to a small child. Remember that the simple, repetative games are often the most popular for kids because they are familiar with the routine and experience a high success rate. The party games should focus on enjoyment for the entire group and not only on providing competition for one or two winners.