Having trouble finding just the right gifts this holiday season? Look no further than your mailbox—not your email, but your actual mailbox. While online shopping is still growing in popularity catalogs are making a comeback, and why not? Something you can sit and peruse is a terrific way to find ideas, and there’s something in them for everyone, which is why catalogs are perfect for your holiday shopping.
Here are just a few suggestions for some of the people who might be on your list this year.
The Kids-Options for kids are all over the place, and vary from kid to kid. Some might appreciate a LEGO catalog, with all that historic company has to offer. Still others might have fun with the retro Betty’s Attic catalog, or the wide variety of items from The Toy Network.
The Roommate-Whether you’re sharing an apartment or a multi-bedroom house living in close proximity can be trying, especially when it comes to the bathroom facilities. If you have a female roommate consider a Bath & Body Works catalog. Or for your male roommate consider Williamsport Bowman Barber Supply, or Allston Supply, which offers a wide variety of janitorial products.
The Foodie-Do you know someone who likes to cook? Send them a Chef Works catalog, full of cookware and other kitchen items. Know someone who might not be so big on cooking but loves food? Send them a Gourmet Food Store catalog, or, for something a little out of the ordinary, send them a Scottish Gourmet USA catalog.
The Athlete-Know someone who likes to work out? You might think exercise equipment would be the ideal catalog idea, but try something different. Send them The Restoration Hardware catalog. At about seventeen pounds it’s perfect for regular weightlifting. Or deliberately misspell their name on a second form so they get two!
The Grandmother-Grandmothers are as individual and unique as anyone, but if you’re looking for something traditional try The Vermont Country Store catalog. Full of nostalgic and hard-to-find items it’s a cozy item to have around and useful for starting a fire.
The Grandfather-Like grandmothers these come in all types, but if you’re looking for something special for the somewhat curmudgeonly old guy in your life consider the Hammacher Schlemmer or Sharper Image catalogs. These will give him plenty of fodder for grumbling about “kids these days” and if he gets the 18-foot inflatable snowman he’ll finally have a legitimate reason to tell those kids to get off his lawn.
The Impossible To Buy For-Forget the catalogs. Send ‘em a damn fruitcake.
I got hooked on catalogs when I looked at Sky Mall while on a flight.
Ah, Sky Mall, what a terrific catalog if you’re looking for a life-size Bigfoot yard statue.
Alas, I can’t buy the guys in my family an annual subscription to Playboy anymore… 🤷
Oh, I understand it’s been redone as a very nice quarterly so it’s still available. Isn’t a subscription to Playboy a rite of passage?
Is that a fact? Well, damn, the tradition continues!
Ha! Fruitcake, now everyone is going to say, ugh I hate fruitcake but I actually love them, it’s my unique personality, I know. But your right, all these mail catalogs will come in handy.
I’ve had some really good fruitcake. It’s all in how it’s made. Every year I read Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory and the fruitcakes he describes in that have got to be good.
If I had your address, Chris, I’d forward all my holiday catalogs to you. Instead, I send my thanks for this wonderful fruitcake of a post.
Ann Koplow recently posted…Day 2568: Downs and Ups
I’ve heard stories of people who took revenge on their enemies by signing their enemies up for every mail-order catalog they could find, ensuring a deluge of junk mail. If you did that to me I’d know it wasn’t revenge, and I’d enjoy the catalogs.
What do you get the “fruitcake” in your family?
Since I am the fruitcake in my family it’s a question of what everybody else gets me. Sometimes it could be an actual fruitcake.