Christmas Joys

Christmas Gift Baskets - Mix of Tradition and Consumerism
By Robbin Scots

The history of gift giving on Christmas can perhaps have said to have started by the three wise men or the Magi as they are more commonly known when they brought gifts for the infant Jesus and ever since Christmas has been a season of celebrations.

Although the concept of exchange of gifts at Christmas is an ancient one, it was made popular during the Victorian era. During this period Christmas became a family celebration, hence the whole season people felt love, kindness and generosity towards each other. When such feelings reside exchange of gifts was bound to be a part of the celebration since it is an expression of the same feelings.

However the kind of gifts exchanged has seen a tremendous change over the centuries. In ancient times gifts were simple in the form of twigs or fruits and vegetables. The Victorians put in a lot of creativity into the kind of gifts and the also the wrapping part. The opening of the gifts was done with a lot of funfair.

The eating of the Christmas pie was also a fun filled affair where a lot of goodies used to be hidden in the bowl and every member would have a spoonful taking turns and getting whatever goodies came into his spoon.

We can definitely not forget Santa which is an American concept where gifts were left during the night in stockings for the children to find it in the morning.

By the late nineteenth century the simple gift giving began to be commercialized as a big business opportunity by marketers. Soon the Christmas season became a shopping season, with people just buying gifts without any creativity.

Christmas gift baskets however are an example of a mix of tradition and consumerism. A lot of creativity and hard work goes in designing the baskets alone and most of the times they are made out of traditional material like bamboo; hence anybody who receives it will see that it is actually a labor of love. A lot of thought is also given into the kind of assortments in the baskets.

Well, well, what can we conclude? Christmas gift baskets or holiday gift baskets have managed to incorporate the old spirit into a contemporary concept. Definitely a unique style statement of its kind.

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