CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27567, 8 December 1950, Page 2

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

NOTES FOR WOMEN

Shopping For All The Family Now that the shock of the Income Tax Department’s assessments has abated, the family budget-makers are considering exactly how much they can spend on Christmas this year. Whether Christmas is spent at home or on holiday, and whatever diminution of ritual there has to be, there must be presents or .it is not Christmas. Fortunately, this year the shops show a good price range. The major items are expensive, but there are attractively wrapped gifts, of good value, for very .little outlay.

At Christmas time the children come first. With one or two exceptions, according to age, do not let their Christmas gifts be clothes. Something very special in the way of a frilly dress, a pretty sun dress or swim suit may well be acceptable to the small girl as an extra present or to the big girl as a main gift, but ordinary every day clothing, even wrapped in attractive paper, is very rightly regarded as a let down on Christmas Day. Dolls, pedalcars, tricycles, and tennis rackets are. all expensive, but they bring such joy to a child that they are worth all the adult economies. Other toys and play things need not be expensive to be appreciated, but toys for children should be sturdily made and should not come apart at the first good tug. It is just as well to consult schoolchildren when considering their presents—though they have by this time usually made their wants well enough known —for there are fashions in possessions at this age. Again, if clothes are given, let them be something very special, 'and not the sole present. Aunts and uncles are at a greater disadvantage than parents, especially if they live at a distance, but book tokens or a ball ■ point pen are usually welcome. Mothers are supposed to accept with rapture a set of new saucepans or a pair of sheets for Christmas. It is a dreadful idea. A present, at whatever age it is received, should be something one wants and yet would .not readily buy for one’s self. It should be a luxury, small or large; but still a luxury. Give a wife, a mother, a

grandmother, an old -lady, something pretty and personal; give her a handbag, gloves, a bottle of perfume, a book, dainty lingerie, or a couple of lace-edged handkerchiefs, but do not give her pots and pans. Never mind if the grandmother or the old lady does not use your gift, but keeps it wrapped in a drawer, she will appreciate your thought of her. Fathers are more often at the giving than the receiving end at Christmas time. But men also like presents, and the family can do quite well -for the man of the house. One good present from all, or, better still an individual present from each child, helps to spread the Christmas spirit. Fountain pens, pocket pencils, ties, handkerchiefs, books, something for a chosen sport can be supplemented by smaller gifts from the children, even if they are home-made book marks, or a painted box for tin tacks. In addition to the main family presents are the small gifts given to friends, hung on a Christmas tree or tucked into stockings. Packaging means a great deal with these gifts. Sometimes appropriate presents can be bought all ready for presentation, such as the small bottles of perfume packaged in a Christmas cracker, but home wrappers made from coloured papers will decorate the most inexpensive present to make it look really festive. Haberdashery and. toilet counters offer the best results for a small outlay, while a packet of nuts and toffees will always be appreciated by the visiting child.