In middle school and high school, when I was looking for a unique gift and didn’t want to spend too much money (because I rarely had it to spend), I went to Hallmark and bought The Birthday Times.
The Times was a single sheet of paper that took your birthdate, and spit out interesting facts and figures from that day and year. Included were gas prices, the price of a loaf of bread, the #1 Billboard hit for the week, and some headlines. Here’s one person’s reminiscence of their Times.
It was a neat gift that people always found interesting in that time before the Internet was in every home. These days, though, it would take a lot more to impress someone. During a discussion with Paul, he’s the co-Pingmaster (in case you haven’t met him), we came up with a pretty nifty idea that would be nearly impossible to execute because of copyrights and such, but worth mentioning anyway: a DVD version of The Birthday Times.
On this DVD would be news broadcasts from the day you were born (perhaps even local news), PDF copies of newspapers from the day (or maybe just the front section), MP3s of the top 25 songs from the era, a copy of the most recent Sears catalog, etc. How cool would that be?
I’d gladly plunk down $25 a piece for such a DVD and think it would be one of those really unique gifts that would work for anyone.
Posted in Miscellaneous
Chris Koslowski April 28, 2009, 8:19 pm
where do u go to get a free hallmark the birthday times thing (websites)
Paul July 2, 2010, 6:23 pm
Very late, I know, but the above comment from Jack and Sally is awesome.