Photoplay (Jan 1921)

LIBRARY ^ ACADEF ^PICTURE Christmas^ Gifts aiaiLGivin! Are you a last minute shopper? Are you wondering what to give? Here are suggestions By NORMA TALMADGE ( "-Photoplay's Fashion Editor) A FRIEND of mine decided one year to eliminate the giving of Christmas presents. It took too much time. Shopping was a nuisance. One never knew what to give people, etc., etc. All the old tried and true excuses presented themselves one after the other, and each one as it appeared seemed good and reasonable. While other people were sewing and painting and embroidering their gifts she looked on in a suoerior fashion. While others were going from shop to shop picking and choosing gifts she went to lectures or the art galleries. Sometimes a little demon would whisper in her ear about the lovely scarf that Aunt Harriet had sent her last Christmas. It was a lovely scarf; she wished she hadn't decided to eliminate everyone, Aunt Harriet, for instance. Things went on in this way with her through all the excitement of the last few days before the great holiday — through all the brightness of holly and mistletoe, of glittering shop windows and crowds of cheery peop'e hurrying home, their arms heaped high with parcel s — right up to Christmas morning, when it was time for her to open the gifts that had arrived in spite of her warning notes. A great many friends had calmly ignored the warning, other gifts had come from people she had forgotten to notify. Standing in the midst of their lovely profusion she had a good, old-fashioned, feminine cry. Then she wiped her eyes and out of the contriteness of her heart wrote to those friends telling them that at last she had come to realize the meaning of the Christmas spirit — the wish to bring happiness to others; that our little gifts do but typify the Great Gift that came to mankind that Christmas morning when the star shone over a stable in Bethlehem. That is the Christmas message that I should like to bring to each one of you — while I am wishing for you the very happiest Christmas that you have ever known. I believe that no gift carries the spirit of Christmas unless it takes with it all the good wishes that the heart of the giver can send — that every gift must carry with it peace and love and good will to all mankind. Those people who think that Christmas "is too much bother" Tied with a saucy bow of red ribbon and topped by a sprig of holly, a glass of red jelly makes a delectable gift to Christmas sick-a-beds. are missing a lot of happiness. Certainly it is a lot of work — so is everything else that is worth while. But what do you care if the fir tree sheds its needles on your best rug, or if the candles do happen to drip? I hope you will pile the fire high with logs, and load the tree with gifts, and hang up bright holly everywhere. It is Christmas time! Of course, if you are one of those exceedingly competent people, you have your girts all made and wrapped up — had them done a month ahead of time. But most of us aren't like that. We make the best resolutions in the world and suddenly we wake up to discover that Thanksgiving is over and there is only a matter of two or three weeks between us and the happy hour of trimming the Christmas tree. One woman I know always includes all the sick people she has heard about in her Christmas list. Back in the summer months she had remembered that there would be many of them, even at the happiest time of the year, and she had devised their Christmas gifts then. She makes the most delectable jellies for these folks, by putting a layer of red jelly in a glass, then adding the purple of grapes and the yellow of the crab apples. Tied with a saucy bow of red ribbon and topped by a sprig of holly, a glass of this brilliant three-colored bit of cheer goes to every Christmas sick-a-bed. One of the clever plans that have been devised recently for helping busy and harassed Christmas shoppers was tried out last year in a number of big department stores throughout the country. When the question of Christmas shopping comes up most people think of two things — "It's going to take more time than I can spare," and "I don't know what to give." The clever person who devised the plan I am talking about realized this. and set to work to overcome both difficulties. The shop that has installed this system sends you — if you are one of its customers — a letter that invites you to give them a list of the people to whom you wish to send gifts. It also tells you that the shop will be pleased to find out for you just what they would like to have. Then a charming, Christmassy letter goes to each person whose name was on your list, telling them that