An easy enough way of giving the ideal present is to add to somebody’s collection
Everyone collects something: stamps (unlikely today), koi (ag, no, please), gloves (mmmm). Snoop around your friends’ abodes and you’ll spot a collection of something or other. Then you’ll know what to get whether it’s fairly easy to come by, like a nice stone, or requires a bit of fleamarket work, like old cereal boxes.
Who collects what? Examples of current collections: l Old string-and-nail pictures (economist) l Little Black Sambo books (researcher) l Patterned tights (project manager) l Table lighters (actor) l Cereal boxes that feature sport stars on them (advertising creative director)
l Copper fish mousse moulds (estate agent) l Medical models of heads (designer) l Beaded knitwear (anaesthetist) l Old Playboys (CEO manufacturing company) l Potted wild pelargoniums (copywriter) l Enamel plates and mugs (scriptwriter) l School globes (designer) l Sheathed knives (insurance consultant) l Souvenir snow-storms (actress) l Stones in nice shapes (stylist) l Fish heads in jars of formaldehyde (designer) l Things with the Mona Lisa on them (IT programmer) l Carnival masks (government worker) lApartheid era ‘flatboy’ clothes and accessories (art director) l Biedermeier furniture (investment manager) l Aprons (designer) l Fish knives (antiques dealer) l Finnish glass from the 1970s (microenterprise consultant) l Post-war food-rationing cookbooks (architect) l Edwardian lace hankies (journalist)