December, 1920 
19 
ROMANTIC GIFTS OF OTHER DAYS 
Some Presents of Our Forefathers Which Parallel in Spirit and Often 
in Form the Things We Give Today 
GRACE NORTON ROSE 
D OES life through the centuries repeat itself 
with regard to gift-giving as well as 
other idiosyncrasies of the human race? Are 
there not distinct parallels to be found today 
in some of the presents of other times? 
That thrifty, almost wily Quaker husband 
who, under the stress of persistent nagging, 
finally promised his new wife a coach, and 
living up to his present only in the letter of 
the law, neglected to furnish the horses to 
draw the equipage, might find his counterpart 
in the modern father who unwillingly pre¬ 
sented his daughter with the car upon which 
her heart was set, but who remained niggardly 
and stern about pin money for gasoline. We 
can picture the chagrined Philadelphia bride 
gazing upon her horseless ornament almost as 
easily as v T e can the girl of our times “hanging 
up” her gas account until her next allowance 
falls due. 
In the 18th Century, as in the 20th, silver 
was, perhaps, the most 
popular gift for all occa¬ 
sions. The silversmith’s 
work was artistry of the 
finest sort. Churches be¬ 
came the happy recipients 
of many pieces that have 
historical significance. 
Among the examples 
from Historic Silver, by 
Francis Hill Bigelow, is 
a silver tankard of un¬ 
usual beauty with the 
London date letter for 
1775-1776. It was given 
Martin Hern by the two 
parishes of St. Giles-in- 
the-Fields and St. George, 
Bloomsbury, for “having 
laudably assisted in 
bringing forward a num¬ 
ber of volunteers which 
these parishes had to 
raise for His Majesty’s 
Army in December, 
1796.” 
Porringers, we know, 
graced birthdays perhaps 
more than any other an¬ 
niversary, but tea-pots 
seem always to have had 
a distinctly feminine and 
Christmasy flavor. Of 
such a one is that en¬ 
graved with the Pickman 
arms and given by Love Pickman, the wife of 
that renowned citizen of Salem, to her daugh¬ 
ter-in-law,' Mrs. Mary Toppan Pickman. 
“To Mr. Isaac Harris for his intrepid and 
successful exertions on the roof of the Old 
South Church when on fire, December 29, 
1810”—is part of the inscription upon a cider 
pitcher of later date. On the other side is a 
representation of the fire on the steeple which 
the mast-yard apprentice, who had a share in 
the building of the Constitution extinguished. 
College Presents 
Made by John Burt of Boston is a pair of 
candlesticks inscribed “Donum Pupillorum 
1724,” and they became the property of Nich¬ 
olas Sever of Kingston, Mass., then a tutor at 
Harvard College. A much-loved tutor he must 
have been, for we are told that many other 
beautiful pieces fell to his lot. 
A silver punchbowl with a removable rim 
in the possession of Dartmouth College, was the 
interesting gift of His Excellency John Went¬ 
worth, Esq., Governor of the Province of New 
Hampshire, and others, to the Reverend Elea- 
zer Wheelock, D.D., the first president. 
Of all the romantic and alluring gifts known 
to this country in its early days, none seems to 
have more charm or fascination than those 
brought by ship from the Orient to the old sea¬ 
ports of our coast. When the China trade was 
opened, and even before, returning vessels 
brought among their spicy cargoes many a rare 
and wonderful present from that strange land. 
Whalers, back from the South Seas, carried 
their share, too, of odd things of patient work¬ 
manship, and so it chances that many an old 
home of seafaring ancestors treasures its carved 
ebony cabinet, its lacquered work-box full of 
intricately carved little ivory trinkets, its wicker 
chairs, its nested tables and its rare porcelain. 
Many a descendant of those lonely wives cher¬ 
ishes the China shawl 
that the sea captain 
brought home as a special 
gift to her who had wait¬ 
ed so long and fearfully 
for him. Occasionally a 
cloisonne incense-burner 
found its alien way to 
these unfamiliar shores; 
a precious gift that may 
have cost the donor more 
than history can tell. 
Romance of the Orient 
encircles the gift of the 
wonderful Buddha of 
white jade that was chis¬ 
eled from its base in a 
small rock-set temple and 
sent to America to protect 
and watch over the lives 
and destinies of the foster 
parents of the powerful 
Ah Foo; he of the twelve 
beautiful daughters, all 
eventually married to 
Americans, as the story 
goes, he in whom early 
education and training in 
one of the prosperous 
whaling ports of the past 
had not eradicated in one 
whit the pure pagan su¬ 
perstition nor the ever¬ 
lasting gratitude and 
fealty of his race. After 
Here in America are several pieces of furniture given by the Bonapartes. In Girard 
College is a satinwood secretary presented to Stephen Girard by Napoleon Bonaparte. 
In the center of its arch is a block, and a musical box is within. A gray marble table 
of pedestal type was another gift 
