The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-20
ABOUT CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.

A practical thought about Christmas
giving, says Dorothy Dix in the New
Orleans Picayune, is that it gives us
chance to bring change into monoto-
nous lives. If you are going to give
something TO an invalid, don't give her
cutglass medicine dropper, or a sill
yer clinical thermometer; but give her
picture, a bit of bric-a- brac, a queer
vase-something that will take her out
OF herself and distract her mind from
her narrow surroundings. This makes
a subscription to a magazine the pre-
ferred gift to people living in the coun-
try, to whom it brings a twelve months
or pleasure and anticipation. Many a
country boy and girl, hungry for
knowledge and for a broader outlook,
have gotten their first upward start
from such present as this. Another
CHRISTMAS gift, equally successful, that
know of was an order on the theater
for seats for half dozen performances
that was given to little sewing wom-
an to whom the stage opened an en-
chanted new world that hlled her dull
days of hard work with golden mem
cries and rosy anticipations.
OF course. when all is said, no gift
IS worth anything unless it breathes
the personal interest and thought of
the sender. and gratifies some whim
OF taste, or need of the person to whom
1t is sent. This one Indispensable req
uisite of the Christmas present ought
not TO be hard to achieve now when
the shops present such a wide variety
Irom which to choose, and most people
blessed be fads-are making a col
lection of something, or riding some
particular hOhhV Of
which throws them into spasms of de-
hght. Time was when every thing
came in sets. and nobody but the mill
honaire could think Of gratifying a
friends mania for china, or silver, or
glass, but now individual cups, any one
OF which would make a housewives
heart glad. single pieces of glass that
are joy to the eye, single plates that
will make a collectors mouth water.
may be had at prices so low as to be
within the reach of the most modest
giVer and yet be just as welcome as
a costly gift.
NO specific directions can be given for
buying Christmas presents, but here
are few don'ts that will be we'll for
the Christmas shopper to bear in mind:
Don't forget that children prefer
quantity to quality and will be more
pleased with a dozen cheap things than
Will OIle expensive one.
Don't wear yourself out trying to find
presents that will please servants. 1t
can't be done. Give them the money
and let them buy what they choose. 1t
will always be something you wouldn't
have thought of in a million years.
Don't give grandma an illuminated
copy of religious devotions treating of
the latter end of man. Old people don
really enjoy being remined that they
haven't long to live. She would lots
rather have a box of fine candy or a
frivolous bit of jewelry.
Don't, If you are a wife, give your
husband a present and leave him to
pay the bill.
Don't, if you are a married man, at
tempt to surprise your wife by picking
her out a new dress. Give her the
check and let her buy it herself. There
are some men who are judges of wom-
ems clothes just as there are some
women who could be trusted to pick
out a box of cigars, but these are cases
of individual genius that are too in
frequent to form a precedent.
Don't give cutglass to the impecuni-
Gus. Many family has been started
on a disastrous career of extravaganza
by a cutglass olive dish.
Don't give etchings of the old mas
| ters to people with Autograph taste.
Don't give books to the illiterate, and
when you do give books don't, for
| heavens sake, waste your money on
expensive illustrated editions of things
| that nobody wants to read. An Illus
trated gift book is good for nothing on
earth but to collect dust.
Don't-and this is the most impor-
| tant don't of all-don't forget that the
first of January and the bill collector
follow hard on the heels of the Christ
mas gift