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Entry bubble Gov Gifts

By: Nancy | December 06, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

wrapped gifts Tired of the fighting the crowds yet? I still haven't been out shopping this holiday season, but I'll get around to it. Maybe. If I can shake this cold and if I can't find something online for everyone on my gift list.

Confined to my couch with a bag of cough drops and a carton of orange juice (which taste really nasty together), and needing to get my shopping under way, I've been poking around USA.gov's page devoted to government books, souvenirs and gift shops for unusual presents. Turns out some of them were no farther away than my very own office.

The Federal Citizen Information Center, where we Gov Gabbers work, started out back in the 70s as the place that distributed government booklets from Pueblo, Colorado. Even though FCIC has added all sorts of online services over the years, millions of people still clamor for those booklets from Pueblo. And it dawned on me that many of those booklets make good "go-withs" for larger holiday gifts. I'm going to tuck a couple of the online safety booklets into my mom's Christmas stocking to accompany the new computer she'll find under the tree.

Another gift idea that appealed to me was the collection of recordings from the Library of Congress American Folk Life Center on cassette  or CD. Work songs, blues, spirituals, cowboy ballads--this is the kind of thing that makes my heart go pitter pat because I love looking back at America's past and people through folk songs and storytelling. And a couple of my friends do too, so I can check two more names off my list.

Have a collector in your life? grover cleveland christmas ornamentThe government has lots of holiday ornaments, including favorites from the US Capitol and the White House Historical Association, which is featuring President Grover Cleveland's wedding on this year's annual ornament. And the US Postal Service's online store features an assortment of ornaments based on popular stamps, as well as collections of the stamps themselves and other gifts.

You can find cool stuff for adults and kids from NASA like a Space Shuttle flight suit for the child on your list who says he or she wants to grow up to be an astronaut. The National Zoo has gifts for animal lovers--especially fans of the zoo's panda bears. And the Smithsonian Institution's online store is full of collectibles, jewelry, toys and art, tied to various Smithsonian exhibits. My favorite Smithsonian store was located in the National Museum of American History which is closed until next summer for renovations. But the online store has a lot of the goodies I'd find there.

There are so many more gift ideas to tell you about. But my cold medicine is kicking in and before I start typing gibberish or make an online purchase I won't remember later when the cough suppressant wears off, I'll get offline and let you do some 'gov gift' exploring on your own.

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: gift   holiday   nancy   online   shopping  

Comments (2):

blue comment bubble Posted by Karen T on December 07, 2007 at 11:11 AM EST

Nancy, There was a great article in yesterday's Washington post style section about "disaster songs" from the depression era. I encourage you to read it. It definitely gives you a look into America's past. These songs were used not only to convey the news of these disasters, but also people's emotions. In areas of the country where literacy was low, these songs kind of took the newspaper's place.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Special Collections, NAL on December 07, 2007 at 04:32 PM EST

Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library (USDA) sells products designed and produced using images from rare books, seed catalogs, and other unique items within the library’s collections. Visit the online gift shop to find holiday notecards, floral and butterfly notecards, post-it notes, and beautiful, high quality color prints of fruits and flowers. A portion of the proceeds support conservation of fragile books and papers. Please see this web address for available products: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/products.shtml

In the Washington, DC area, Special Collections products are also on sale at the D.C. Reference Center (Room 1052) in the USDA South Building as well as in Room 300 of the main National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland.


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