Gifts for Smart People

You need a gift for someone thinky, someone who wants to know about everything – what happened, how it works, why it all got started. Fortunately, the globally curious have a lot of hobbies.

We’ll find the gifts, you make sure they remember to eat.

| Posted: 10 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

1-15 of 15

• Olivetti Manual Typewriter

  

  This is the last manual typewriter in production, and it requires no power. Use it to write love notes, a novel, or give it a place of honor in the front room so guests can leave you messages.

  $125 at fred flare | Buy

  

  | Posted 10 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• Libraries

  

  Page after page of glossy library photos. Nerd porn.

  $63 at Amazon | Buy

  

  | Posted 10 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• Kitchen Debate Tea Towel

  

  A kitchen towel with text from the meeting between U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev at the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow.

  Bolded text reads, “Would it not be better to compete in the relative merits of washing machines than in the strength of rockets?”

  $8 at V&A Museum Shop | Buy

  

  | Posted 10 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• The 1000 Journals Project

  

  Two hundred fifty of the best entries from The 1,000 Journals Project. Since 2000, a San Francisco-based artist has been leaving journals around town and sending them out into the world to see what people will create. Here’s the answer.

  $23 at Amazon | Buy

  

  | Posted 10 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• Magno Wooden Radio

  

  NPR sounds so much more profound coming from a handmade wooden radio.

  $239 at Park Life | Buy

  

  | Posted 10 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• The Believer Bundle Jumble

  

  The Believer is a monthly magazine for readers and writers that feels good in your hands. It features luxurious book reviews and in-depth interviews with authors printed on heavy-stock paper. Individual issues are about $10, and a yearly subscription is $45, so this jumble pack of ten issues is an amazing deal.

  $25 at McSweeny's | Buy

  

  | Posted 10 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• 1862 Hand Colored Print of The Worlds Mountains and Rivers

  

  Printed in 1862, this antique map by A.J. Johnson illustrates the lengths and heights of the principal rivers and mountains of the world.

  via Jason

  $129 at Past Present | Buy

  

  | Posted 09 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• Dictionary T-Shirt

  

  Finally, the definitions for albatross, albeit, and albino conveniently at hand.

  $30 at Regional Assembly of Text | Buy

  

  | Posted 09 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• The Zodiac

  

  A celestial globe that lights up, and maps out the constellations. Also, it will continue to look cool on a shelf for years to come.

  $40 at Geomart | Buy

  

  | Posted 09 Dec, 2008 by Margaret Mason

• Green Dimes Junk Mail Prevention

  

  I would pay someone a great deal more than $20 to take away all my junk mail for a year. And they’ll even plant a tree for you. Now if only I could find some way to do this with telemarketers.

  $20 at Green Dimes | Buy

  (For a year.)

  

  | Posted 18 Jun, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Personal Library Kit

  

  It’s not a personal library until you have a card catalog.

  $20 at Shakespeare's Den | Buy

  

  | Posted 29 Mar, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Ohto Tasche Fountain Pen

  

  Wouldn’t you feel classier, more official, writing with a fountain pen? This one is a wee-tiny pen when closed, but then you open it and stick the cap on the end, and it makes for a full-sized fountain pen. A portable penmanship upgrade. (via Uncrate)

  $20 at Jet Pens | Buy

  

  | Posted 11 Jul, 2006 by Margaret Mason

• Moleskine Pocket Notebook Cover

  

  Your Moleskine is indistinguishable from that of any 43Folders enthusiast. How to express your greater sense of refinement? Try a luscious, customized Moleskine cover with optional silk starburst design, silk monogram, or initial stamp. Mmmmm. Totemic. Full disclosure: The artist, Anna Sutton, is someone I know and like. I consider her a good person from whom to buy things. (via The Morning News)

  $168 at A.B. Sutton | Buy

  

  | Posted 07 Apr, 2006 by Margaret Mason

• Mental Floss Magazine

  

  Awhile ago, we linked to the Mental Floss book, saying that the Mental Floss team makes “art, literature, and science accessible without being condescending.” The magazine is the same thing, but you get it every two months. Fun reading for smart people, and we do love smart people.

  $22 at Amazon | Buy

  

  | Posted 09 Jan, 2006 by Margaret Mason

• LightWedge LED Book Light

  

  This acrylic LED book light is a great idea. Most book lights only brighten one spot on the page, or are too bright to let your bedfellow doze in peace. This one rests over the page you’re reading, evenly illuminating it without a glare. It’s lightweight, packable, and four AAA batteries will give you forty hours of light. Two brightness levels; measures about 7 x 9 inches. (via Funfurde)

  $23 at Alibris | Buy

  (different versions available)

  

  | Posted 18 Oct, 2004 by Margaret Mason