New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-15
THE SEASON or GIFTS

lho dufcHV Ol the HOn0dy season causes
good many people who are fond Of holidays t
sigh. 1t is not that they are out of sympathy
with the spirit Of Christmas, but that the
thought OF what they have to go through be
fore the great festival Of the year arrives tends
to make their provision Of il not as " merry" Is
1t might be. The trouble is due TO the eXces-
sive gift making which goes with Christmas
The custom is gracious and beautiful one but
1t has been 50 oyerdone that what in its ncep-
ton was an unalloyod pleasure has in many
instances become irlsome Some years ago the
Christmas card came IN. bcr several years, the
token beng very simple it vigorously -four
lshed. But at length the cards became too
elaborate, and pcrishod OF their own gorgeous
ness. They are still circulated in some quar-
ters, but the fashion may be said to have spent
itself
why has Christmas present giving become a
WEAKNESS to many liberal hearted men and
women? For several reasons II takes time
and thought to select appropriate gifts. and if
they have all ages and both sexc. 70 remem-
Der the aggregate amount Of shining hours and
deep reflection which have ~ be given to this
labor of love is more than they can spare. They
do spare it, however. % that the holiday season
is to them a season oi 0yerw0,k. They are
victims to too much Of god thing If they
could decide Offhand in each Gaze Just what to
give perhaps they would not murmur But the
inability thus t. decide * one Of the causes Of
their worry. Mr. Emerson has declared that
" the only gift is part Of myself; but they do
not agree with Emerson They are inclined
to hold with apologies to the great philoSophee,
that the only gift is something which, while it
may not be in any sense part Of the giver, re-
spends to the taste Of the receiver. Suppose
painter wishes 10 give a Christmas present to
Trend who is IasSOnately fond Of horses. If
he sends him one Of his pictures he may please
him; If he sends him a noble steed he is sure
to please him. Emerson may be right and the
average man or woman wrong but the fact
remains that many bachelor of fifty has con-
tacted nervous prostration trying 10 determine
what would be the most acceptable present he
could offer to his niece of eighteen or his
nephew Of twenty.
In the more frugal days Of our sires, before
the love of luxury had become generally diff
fused, or before the bric-l-brac wave had swept
over the country, it was comparatively easy to
make Christmas presents For, in the first
place the assortment Of things from which to
choose was smaller than it is now; and in the
second place, our primitive predecessors pre-
sumably were easier pleased than we are Be-
sides, gifts were distributed, as a rule, in a
much narrower circle then than they are now,
and called for the expenditure of much smaller
amount Of money. Now what are the men and
women Of to-day going to do about it? OF
course, no one desires to see the Christmas
present 60: and still it is too bad that the holi
day season should be one Of hardship to those
who fain would keep it as it ought to be
kept, with a light heart A reform of some
sort is necessary. Let us resolve that whatever
others may do we will give no Christmas pres
ents this year which we cannot afford, and none
which are perfunctoIy in their nature. And
let us further resolve that it is better to select
gift which does not quite take our eye than
to kill ourselves with overShopping in an effort
to find something which exactly suits us. Such
resolutions strictly kept would afford a good
deal Of relief