On the Ninth Day of a Feminine Christmas

Would it surprise you to know that I still recall all the gifts that Marmee received from her four daughters in Little Women? Even as a young reader, I was impressed by the feminine and luxurious presents the March girls were able to purchase for their beloved mother with just a dollar apiece.

I love when a book I am reading lists gifts that are given or received by its characters. In the marvelous young adult book Safe Return by Catherine Dexter, Aunt Dana returns from a treacherous ocean voyage and gifts her niece peppermint taffy and a sterling silver bracelet fastened by a tiny chain. For the family there were red candles and a cream blanket of finely woven wool.

Cassandra of I Capture the Castle received, among other things, a silk nightgown, six pairs of silk stockings and a box of chocolates for her seventeenth birthday. These, given by an unrequited love interest who somehow understood the desires of a young lady.

Aunt Lu from Anne of Green Gables, confers on Anne and bestie Diana, bars of lilac soap and tiny perfume bottles.

In The Pursuit of Love, Linda’s mother, knowing something magical about coming-of-age daughters gives her a gilded bird cage with stuffed hummingbirds and a gold and topaz bracelet from Paris.

One of my favorite present list was from Eric Newby’s The Last Grain Race, where he receives a woolen helmet, a fine blue knitted scarf and tinned sausages from the ship’s captain while they are out to sea on Christmas day.

This is merely a sampling of some of the lovely gifts I have read in literature over the years. And herein lies a few suggestions…most women want simple practical gifts with a few delightful surprises sprinkled in between.

The caption under the picture above is the young woman telling her mother that she always buys her the most lovely Christmas presents. I imagine she received a beautiful cashmere sweater and maybe some silky stockings just like Cassandra’s.