Since the beginning of time, a human tradition includes giving gifts to celebrate events and achievements. The tradition of gift giving became popular with the establishment of Christmas-part of the Christian religion- and became prominent in global society. Christmas is not the only holiday in the winter months that celebrates with gift giving in addition to religion, the holidays of Kwanzaa and Hanukkah include the tradition of gift giving.

Around the world, especially America, the celebration of the holiday season and gift giving has changed dramatically since the turn of the 20th century. Each year, gifts become less personalized and more materialistic due to the increase in the economy and commercial stores claims Paul Ringel, a business writer for The Atlantic. These shifts have caused a noticeable difference in gift giving in just the last century.

1920s, 1930s, and 1940s: According to Penne Restad, a history publisher for History Today, people in the early 20th century gave useful gifts that provided a service for the recipients throughout the year. One example includes giving a female a new set of silverware. Another treasured gift during this era included giving momentos such as a handmade photo album. Children gifts differed from today in that they usually only received one or two toys, such as the popular teddy bear. In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, a traditional method of gift giving was hand making items for each other, thus providing more meaning, especially during the Great Depression and World War II when money was tight. Handmade cards marks one of the most popular handmade gifts during this era.

1950s and 1960s: Following World War II, the economy grew with more people finding jobs available and the roles of society became more distinct, thus the standard of holiday gifts began to change. The concept of handmade gifts still presented itself in the form of cards and photo albums, but with the growth of large commercial stores, cards and photo albums began to appear similar. Children gifts also changed from stuffed animals to dolls and action figures, with the most popular toys including Barbie and the GI Joe doll claims Sarah Pruitt, a writer for History. Meaningful gifts between adults remained similar in theory, but people began to want more impractical gifts, for example, housewives wished for pearl necklaces.

1970s, 1980s, and 1990s: The transition from the 1960s in gift giving marks the starting point where society and the media-in forms of newspapers and magazines- began to shape both adult’s and children’s wish lists. Children starting asking for gifts that all of their friends possessed. Even though this idea is not a new phenomenon, the desire became stronger and more evident. Children’s toys changed to toys of movies and TV show characters, with new and different ones appearing weekly. With the advancement in technology, the transition between action figures and dolls to Game Boys and Tamagotchis spiked in popularity as Mo Elinzano depicts in his article in Desert News. Adults started to ask and give more lavish gifts to each other, including electronics and other impractical gifts. A huge transition from handmade gifts and cards to more common, commercial items appears during this era.

2000s and 2010s: With the creation of the internet and the growing popularity of corporations such as Apple and Microsoft, the gift wish lists of adults and children begin to resemble each other. Once the ever popular gaming consoles such as Wii and Playstation hit the market, people of all ages wished for these items. Another example includes when the first generation iPhone and iPod hit the market, surges of people lined up for one for either themselves or as gifts. Due to the popularization of electronics, the tradition of handmade gifts and momentos has longed died off, with few families still participating in this tradition. People now buy identical gifts for each other for outrageous prices.

In today’s society when items and gifts constantly fluctuate in and out of style, people need to begin to take more thought in gifts to balance out the electronic gifts and homemade cards and personal mementos. Without finding this balance, the true meaning of giving gifts to provide joy to people will fizzle out all together and a new greedy tradition will take hold.