The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-21
OF INTEREST TO WOMEN
A FEW SENSIBLE REMARKS ON THE
MAKING OF CHRISTMAS GIFTS.
Theory that Happy Wives should In
terest Themselves i'm Divorce Cues
tiOn-Odds and Ends.

Many women. says the Baltimore Ameri-
can, in spite of social doings and society
claims upon their time and attention, are
busy with their Christmas shopping, and
the streets land stores are thronged with
eager buyers, who. in the midst of rush
and hurry, are still giving a few hours each
day for selecting Christmas gifts.
In these days of extravagant ideas and
desires what to give for a Christmas pres
ent is no easy task, and when one has
limited amount to spend, and which has.
alas, to cover much ground, one feels near
ly hopeless. When one is conscientious.
too, and really tries to give everybody just
what he or she most needs, OF what will
be exactly suitable, a great labor is made
Of what might only be & pleasure.
The fact is we should cut our list of
gifts, and so the money to be appro-
priated could be much more readily divided
Then, asks somebody, How can we do
this? The So and Sos, for instance, sent us
last year something so handsome and costly
that there is nothing to do but to return
it" Yet, would not little thought solve
the problem? Why did the So and Sos
commit such an extravaganza? Was it not
for some reason? For surely the most gen.
erous person is not fond of literally fling
ing money away in Christmas giving. Had
they no cause for their lavish expenditure?
Possibly, yes. We had been very good to
them in some social matter or had helped
In some way to place them in a better or
more solid position in society. Perhaps
when some member of the family was i'll
we had been kind and attentive. Who
knows but some business reason lurked be-
hind the gift? Then why not be content
to receive it an acknowledgment for
some known or unknown favor, and do not
attempt to return it? Should, however. the
gifts keep up we can then consider our
course at leisure. Often, too. it is pleas
ure to give something without the feeling
that the recipient will be obliged to re-
turn it,
Another class of gifts could be scratched
off the list, and that is when friends are
intimate enough to say, Now let us cry
quits, for this year, anyhow; do not give
me anything and L Will not give you. We
have each so many claims upon our time
and purse that much as we enjoy each
others gifts let us do without them and
put our energies into other channels where
present is not only a pleasure, but a
necessity.
Another item to reduce expenditure of
money, If not of time, is to give children,
even our own, less handsome presents. A
little cnllQ rarely cares Tor the costly toy,
and it is often quite laughable to see the
valuable dolls, mechanical toys, gorgeous
playhouses, stores and other expensive
things cast aside for some woolly animal
or some rather forlorn specimen of doll
that the little boys and girls select at
once to bestow upon their most ardent af-
lection.
So, too, about the gifts to young girls. If
we could but possibly for a short time put
ourselves in sympathy with what a maiden
really likes, and instead OF giving some eX-
u
send some cunning little conceit for the
room, or If she is one to whom one can
give something to wear, then nothing
pleases her better than a little luxury she
might perchance be unable to procure her
self.
But men," cry the wise women "are the
stumbling block even our own: how terribly
care for in the least II rack my brains
said matron the other day. Ito think Of
something that will please my husband. and
despair. Oh, that they, at least, were
young enough to adore wooden horse, or
boat which would sail in the bathtub!''
Perhaps, commented a listener, 1.-The
wife who gets something for the house that
will please herself is the wisest one, for
then she would be certain of giving one
member Of the family pleasure
The other woman, who was a bit roman
tic, answered: But one does not like the
personal element in the gift, and l really
want my husband and boys to have some
thing from me that they will care for not
only for its intrinsic value, but also its
sentiment"
The listener only shook her head and
thought that such a case was hopeless, and
doubtless the matrOn went away and
bought, as usual books for her boys that
they would never open and a new smoking
apparatus for her husband which he would
politely receive and place on his writing
table with a sigh as he thought how much
it would be I'm his way.
But the time of giving and receiving is
so nearly here we must simply do the best
we can in the former line and in the latter
be glad that we are remembered at all and
value the gift, not only for itself, but also
for the spirit which prompted the sending
of it.