Help for the Last-Minute Santa
With the holiday shopping season heading into its final week, there’s no reason to panic if you are a few gifts short, or even if you haven’t started looking.
You still can pull it off. All it takes is a little knowledge of the season’s hottest gift ideas so you can bypass the window shopping and get to the main event.
You’ll find most of the following gift suggestions at major department stores or large specialty store chains. In some cases, the names of stores are included when items may not be widely available. Prices may vary.
Decorator Items
Potpourri in a variety of fragrances is a “new” traditional bestseller in crystal bowls and as glass-covered tree ornaments (Bullocks, $5-$10). More striking, but also more expensive, are 3-inch-diameter blue glass globes with gold land mass areas by Correia (Saks Fifth Avenue, $195) that put the whole world in your hands. Larger, levitating globes that hover above a base are found ($145) at Natural Wonders (10 stores in the larger malls).
In tune with the spirit of glasnost, “Russian Lacquer Legends and Fairytales” ($38) is an 80-page book by Lucy Maxym, with lavishly illustrated Russian folklore stories. The illustrations are repeated on six-inch-diameter black lacquer plates ($38 each), limited-edition artworks that are popular collectors’ items.
Although not new to many shoppers, still popular are silver-plated picture frames that resemble the cover of Time Magazine with the headline “Man of the Year” and “Woman of the Year.” The frames come in 5x7-inch and 8x10-inch sizes (Bullock’s, $35-$40).
Electronics
This year’s hottest electronic gift idea is the pocket organizer, a battery-operated equivalent of the small calendar/notebooks so popular a few years ago. Roughly the size of a slim paperback book, the organizer typically contains a multi-year calendar, phone directory function, memo pad, calculator and clock. “The Wizard” by Sharp ($250) has separate function cards ($100 to $125 per card) that add a dictionary or thesaurus capability. “The BOSS” by Casio ($250) sells an interface link ($120) that allows it to talk to an IBM or Macintosh personal computer.
Another popular item this season is an electronic Rolodex-type file called the Electrodex ($230), which stores names and addresses and includes a calendar function (B.N. Genius stores in Santa Monica Place, Glendale Galleria and Crystal Court, Costa Mesa). Then there’s the Voice Phone, which dials the number when you speak a party’s name into the phone, can store up to 50 names and includes an answering machine ($250). Voice Memo is about the size of a deck of cards and allows you to record up to 60 seconds of reminders ($40); and credit-card-size phone cards will store up to 500 names and telephone numbers ($20).
If you would rather have a simple hand-held calculator, try the season’s most tasteful variety, the candy-bar-size Choc-U-Lator, made by Hershey Foods Corp. It is not edible but it looks and even smells like chocolate.
On the entertainment side, Sony’s pint-size Video Walkman has a three-inch color TV screen and plays 8-millimeter cassettes ($800). Portable compact disc players ($190-$300) and automobile CD players ($450 and up) enjoy brisk sales as their technology improves and CD programming expands. And video home movies are gaining in popularity as camcorders, whether conventional VHS format ($800 and up) or the smaller Hi 8 and Super VHS format ($2,000), come down in price.
Kitchen Accessories
The trendiest kitchen appliance this holiday season is the espresso maker. Krups L’Espresso Plus ($230) is a mate-black, hi-tech-looking machine that serves up to 18 cups of regular or decaffeinated espresso or cappuccino from prepackaged coffee pods.
Teas also are making a comeback, with a growing variety of regular and herb blends. As a result, sales are up for tea accessories. Saks Fifth Avenue stores sell a book by Garth Clark, “The Eccentric Teapot,” ($30) that includes illustrations of uniquely designed and decorated teapots.
Saks stores also sell a selection of ceramic teapots in eccentric shapes such as a china cupboard stocked with tiny dishes and a baker’s table with a rolling pin and recipe book on top (about $90). To hold your tea or coffee, many stores sell fine china mugs in holiday designs ($12-$40). Strictly for tea drinkers, B.N. Genius offers a tea mug that has a built-in tea bag holder in its handle ($13).
From high tea to low brow, the Hot Diggity Dogger allows you to simultaneously toast two hot dog buns while broiling two hot dogs, all in the same appliance (B.N. Genius, $70).
Toys
As with last year, video games remain top sellers for this holiday season. New this year is Nintendo’s Game Boy ($90), a hand-held unit with earphones and black-and-white graphics that plays the same games as those designed for the larger Nintendo format.
As for video games played on the family TV, two new systems promise more enhanced graphics than the current top-selling Nintendo system. NEC’s Turbo Grafx and Sega’s Genesis (both about $200) have double the computer memory of the Nintendo system.
Games for personal computers are also big sellers. Topping this list is “Sim City” by Maxis (Egghead Discount Software, $50), in which players create their own city, set public policy and then see those policies carried out in interactive simulation. “Where in Time Is Carmen San Diego?” ($45) by Broderbund translates the popular geography learning game into the realms of history.
Mattel Toys’ perennial doll favorite, Barbie, is back this year with Holiday Barbie ($35), dressed in a long gown suitable for the season’s round of parties. And to help her get to and from the social events, Barbie has moved up from her old Corvette to a new Ferrari ($20).
Action figures also remain popular and their smaller price tags ($3-$4) make them attractive stocking stuffers. The newest figures this season are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and characters from the “Ghostbuster” movies.
Two more new dolls are doing well this season. “Opsie Daisy” ($38) is a battery-operated baby that crawls, falls down, cries and picks herself up again. The Talking Pee Wee Herman doll ($27) also fronts a new line of designer apparel for youngsters at JC Penney stores.
Other fast-selling toys include hyper-racers ($10), 1/32-scale cars that run on batteries and can be customized for added speed; the “Hot Linx” guitar ($70), which plays its own rock ‘n’ roll riffs with the aid of a computer; and almost anything with the “Batman” logo affixed to it.
Board games also continue to sell well. The hottest in this category are “Hotels” ($20), with players buying, building and renting hotels; “Trump, the Game” ($22), a Monopoly-like game of big city development (both from Milton Bradley); “Encores” ($16) from Parker Bros., a pop-song oriented word game popular with teen-agers; and “Girl Talk” ($13) from Western Publishing, a social interaction game that involves stunts and secrets.
Personal Accessories
Wrist watches with hands (as opposed to digital readouts) are enjoying a revival. One of the more unusual is the Yankee Piping Rock Watch, a reproduction of the watch given to players on the 1923 world champion New York Yankees baseball team (B.N. Genius, $395). Nordstrom stores have authentically restored antique pocket watches ($450-$600).
Taking the recently revived interest in charm bracelets one step further, Saks Fifth Avenue offers a charm belt ($375) by Judith Leiber. Also going a step or two beyond the bare necessities, Nordstrom sells a mink pony-tail holder ($23).
Far-Out Gifts
Treat that special couple on your list to an evening of relaxation and fine dining in their own home. The proprietors of Pamper & Dine--masseuse Amy Tunick and chef Matthew Sarver--come to clients’ homes ($300-$500). While Tunick massages away the day’s stress, Sarver retires to the kitchen to prepare a meal of the couple’s choice. The two then serve appetizers and dinner and clean up later. Information: (818) 780-7152.
Along the same line, you can buy a gift certificate for a “day of beauty” at Aida Thibiant Institut de Beaute in Beverly Hills ($230). The 5 1/2-hour session includes a steam cabinet, massage, facial, lunch, scalp treatment, hair wash and blow dry, manicure and makeup application.
For your gourmet friends, customize your gift with a food basket full of individually selected items, offered by some of the larger department stores ($25 and up). Baskets can contain cheeses, meats, jams, fruits, candies, teas, and wine in varying combinations and quantities. Some stores will bubble-wrap the baskets with their contents.
The family dog will enjoy this holiday season with “Lick Your Chops Chewable Slippers” (Saks Fifth Avenue, $41). Made of natural ingredients, the tan moccasin “slippers” come two in a box and look like the real thing.
Or you can share a snack with your dog. “Beagle chips” are gourmet garlic-flavored chips for dogs that are so nutritious (no sugar or fat) humans can eat them too. At DeAnne’s Pet Supplies, Burbank, (818) 954-9765, $3.95 per 6-oz. bag.
If all else fails, try this year’s answer to the pet rock. Rock ‘n Flowers ($30) stand about 10 inches tall, come in their own pots and sway rhythmically on their stems when their electronic sensors hear music. And just in time for the holidays, some stores are selling 1 1/2-foot decorated dancing Christmas trees ($20).
