 SILVER:
"Silver seals, silver mucilage pots, silver pen racks, silver pen-holders, silver
pen tweezers, small silver stamp-boxes for the waistcoat pocket, are among the many little
things at prices much more reasonable. There are no designs or embellishments on any of
these, and the prices range from $3 to $6. Men never use these at their offices, but on
their desks at home. The fad for silver is universal. Calendar frames can be included
among these articles, the calendar themselves being of ivory with white or red
lettering."
SILVER COASTERS:
"Silver ''coasters" for decanters are also acceptable presents; but one gift
always appreciated is a silver cigarette or cigar lamp. These come in highly polished
silver, and the lamps are small silver bottles of quaint design, filled with alcohol, and
balanced like Chinese toys, so that they cannot upset. There are others in golf designs,
which are also quite pretty. All these come with little trays, and the prices range from
$20 to $30." |
INKSTANDS:
"In inkstands there are many elaborate affairs in crystal and cut glass, with silver
stoppers, plain and highly polished and silver trays to be placed underneath them. Many of
these are quite high-priced, a very handsome one costing $29, while others again are much
less in price. An antique tray with two receptacles for crystal inkpots, and a stamp box
of chased silver, Queen Anne design, is $20, and it would be a gift to be
appreciated."
PAPER WEIGHTS:
"Paperweights assume the guise of animals, and those in bronze are actual works of
art. Every man is supposed to have more or less a penchant for sports, and dogs and birds,
horses and deer, huntsmen and golfers, and all the impediments of field and turf, are
brought into service, and a very wide latitude is given."
TOBACCO BOX:
"A tobacco box, elliptical in shape, opening with a spring, of plain polished silver,
with monogram or crest engraved, costs $18. It is quite small and invaluable to the man
who likes an early morning pipe or a quiet smoke after the cares and pleasures of the day
are over."
LAMPS:
"Silver ''coasters" for decanters are also acceptable presents; but one gift
always appreciated is a silver cigarette or cigar lamp. These come in highly polished
silver, and the lamps are small silver bottles of quaint design, filled with alcohol, and
balanced like Chinese toys, so that they cannot upset. There are others in golf designs,
which are also quite pretty. All these come with little trays, and the prices range from
$20 to $30."
LEATHER:
"Leaving silver and turning to leather, one finds as many pretty and appropriate
trifles at a much less cost. Waistcoat-pocket editions of everything are in vogue and the
most fashionable leathers are taken from the monkey, the elephant, the snake, and the pig.
Pig-skin is a very light-colored material, and is apt to turn darker and become grimy. A
pig-skin pocket jewel-case for scarf-pins and sleeve-buttons is one of the novelties. The
interior is fitted up with tiny compartments of doe-skin, in which the trinkets are
placed. In shape it resembles the old-fashioned needle-book. The exterior can be enhanced
by a silver monogram. In pig-skin these will cost $6, and $2 more for the monogram. In
monkey - either tan, black, or pink - they are $8. Cigarette-cases in pig-skin are $2 and
upward. Card cases, small, in monkey, are $3, and in pig skin, $2. The prices of all the
little articles range from $1.50 to $10, according to the finish and the lining. Many of
the pocket cases are tipped and bound in gilt or in sterling silver, and some of the
latter are hall-marked. Of course these are more or less expensive, but one can safely
give $10 as the usual price."
HYMNAL:
"A very useful Christmas present is a hymnal, or hymnal and prayer-book, bound in
black monkey-skin, with silver monogram or gilt initials (the latter stamped inside the
cover), of size for the waistcoat pocket. These would cost - marking and all - $10.
Elephant-skin is not as handsome as monkey, and the snake-skin is beautiful to look at,
but most perishable."
NOVELTIES:
"There still remain many other pretty presents, any of which is appropriate for a
man, without resorting to the work-basket or the embroidery-frame. One need only mention
silver or leather photograph frames, leather calendars, leather stamp boxes, pen racks,
and letter cases, down to even the humble waste-paper basket. One English firm has a
decided novelty in folding opera glasses, arranged so as to fit in the inside coat pocket.
It could be had for $6.50, while the more elaborate designs of golf clubs and whips were
much more expensive." |
