Great Gifts for Boys

Amazon.com Toys & Games:Great Gifts for Boys Store Your Store Toys & Games See All 31 Product Categories   Your Account | Cart | Wish List | Help toy finder | age ranges | browse brands | browse categories | toys outlet | learning toys | video games Search Amazon.com Toys & Games Imaginarium.com "R" Zone Advanced Search Web Search Toys > Great Gifts for Boys Store Browse by Age Birth-12 Months 12-24 Months 2 Years 3 & 4 Years 5-7 Years 8-11 Years 12-14 Years Grownups Browse by Price Under $10 $10 to $19.99 $20 to $29.99 $30 to $49.99 $50 to $74.99 $75 to $99.99 $100 and Over Action Figures Exclusive Simpsons Flashback Playset with Figures List Price: $39.99 Price: $5.29 You Save: $34.70 (87%) Gundam MG MS-18E Kemper List Price: $69.99 Price: $19.97 You Save: $50.02 (71%) MG RX-78 Gundam GP-01fb List Price: $49.99 Price: $14.97 You Save: $35.02 (70%) Mystery Machine Ghost Patrol List Price: $24.99 Price: $14.99 You Save: $10.00 (40%) See more action figures Home Improvement Home Depot Wooden Squirrel Feeder Kit Price: $9.99 Home Depot Wooden Activity Kit: Log Cabin Price: $9.99 See more Home Depot toys In The Spotlight: Great Gifts For Boys by Toysrus/Amazon.com , Toysrus.com Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Deluxe Armored Truck by Playmates Bulls Eye Ball by Hasbro See entire list Blocks and Construction LEGO Basic Large Green Baseplate Accessory (0626) Price: $6.99 Geotrax Bayshore Drawbridge Price: $10.99 See more blocks and construction toys Science and Nature Magic Map - United States Puzzle Map Price: $29.99 130-in-One Electronic Lab Kit List Price: $44.99 Price: $39.99 You Save: $5.00 (11%) See more science and nature toys Vehicles and Die-Cast GeoTrax Rail Track Pack--Straights Price: $10.99 Rescue Hero Bi-Pod Jet with Bonus Figure List Price: $19.99 Price: $16.99 You Save: $3.00 (15%) See more vehicles and die-cast Where's My Stuff? • Track your recent orders . • View or change your orders in Your Account . Shipping & Returns • See our shipping rates & policies . • Return an item (here's our Returns Policy ). Need Help? • Forgot your password? Click here . • Redeem or buy a gift certificate. • Visit our Help department . Search Toys & Games "R" ZONE Imaginarium.com All Products for Top of Page Toysrus.com | Toy Finder | Age Ranges | Browse Brand Browse Categories Toys Outlet | Learning Toys | Video Games Amazon.com Home | Directory of All Stores Our International Sites: Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | Japan | France  | China Contact Us | Help | Shopping Cart | Your Account | Sell Items | 1-Click Settings Investor Relations | Press Releases | Careers Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1995-2005, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

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Valentines Day Gifts Men - Gifts BW gifts | gifts Resources | Add URL Wine Gifts & Baskets From the casual wine drinker to the serious enthusiast, we have a gift that will make them smile. Our selection includes premium wine, gourmet baskets, distinctive champagne sets & the very finest California and Northwest wines. Valentines Day Gifts Men Articles Valentine's Day Gifts for Him Great ideas for gifts for men on Valentine's Day....( Continue Reading ) Valentine's Day Gifts for Him Great ideas for gifts for men on Valentine's Day....( Continue Reading ) Valentine's Day Gifts for Him Great ideas for gifts for men on Valentine's Day....( Continue Reading ) Top Eleven Valentine's Day Gifts A quick list of valentine's gifts... in no particular order of popularity... for both men and women....( Continue Reading ) Valentines Day Perfume Gifts - Perfume for Valentines Day Perfume to give for Valentines Day....( Continue Reading ) Valentines Day Gifts Men Directory Links childrens personalized gifts easter gifts to make christmas gifts uk tradional anniversary gifts birthday gifts mother valentine gifts for him christmas gifts for parents gifts to hyderabad wise men gifts anniversary year gifts gift baskets of north carolina gifts for first communion ideas for bridal shower gifts gifts for men on valentines day spiritual gifts profile gifts and fruits of the holy spirit recipe gifts in a jar practical joke gifts valentine gifts india gifts for women firefighters what are spiritual gifts home made valentines day gifts baby christmas gifts gift baskets san diego chocolate lab gifts gifts for expectant parents fun gifts mother day gifts christmas gifts for girlfriends unique corporate gifts special christmas gifts unusual christmas gifts personalized gifts for baby customized baby gifts groomsman gifts gifts unique creative gifts flowers gift baskets discerning spiritual gifts send india gifts wine and cheese gifts send gifts to nepal gifts for musicians romantic birthday gifts decorative baskets Popular Search Terms: Gifts BW © 2004 Gifts BW All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved. This site is not related to Brajeshwar or Brajeshwar.com in anyway, shape or form

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NRDC: The Great Green Gift-Giving Guide Cities & Green Living : Green Living : In Brief : Guides The Great Green Gift-Giving Guide Tips from environmental professionals for giving easy-on-the-planet presents that go way beyond the basics. We asked NRDC's personal shoppers (actually, they're attorneys, scientists and policy analysts) to tell us the best environmentally friendly gift they've ever given or received. We've packed a shopping cart full of their stories, and added some links to help you track down their green gift suggestions. One of the best and easiest ways to remind your loved ones to get outdoors and enjoy nature is to buy them a national parks pass . It's a great reminder that there's life beyond the desktop. -- KATE WING is an NRDC policy analyst who works to protect marine species and habitat. One of the most useful holiday gifts I've ever received is a subscription to The Green Guide . Each month, The Green Guide provides clear answers to consumers' most immediate and practical questions about personal- and household-environmental issues, such as, "My son has asthma, how can I reduce his exposure to pollution at home and at school?" or, "We're preparing a new bedroom for our baby, can you recommend safe and healthy products for us to consider?" The Green Guide and its website are where Consumer Reports meets Good Housekeeping and Web MD . By doing the research on which products to buy and what practices are best, The Green Guide takes the hard work out of doing right. -- JACK MURRAY is NRDC's director of development. A year-long subscription to National Geographic is a superb gift idea for anyone interested in the natural world. I have spent many hours thumbing through issues collected over the years. The magazine's always-informative articles and spectacular photography celebrate different cultures, ideologies and natural phenomena around the globe. A subscription to National Geographic is a once-a-month adventure to unknown lands. You also get the pleasure of knowing your membership dollars help support important research and exploration projects around the world. -- NIKKI VERHOFF is a writer in NRDC's development department. The best present I ever gave, according to my best friend and the most inspiring environmentalist I know, was an autographed copy of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree , accompanied by a certificate for a tree to be planted in his honor. I wrapped the book with old E magazines (to be environmentally friendly) and included a little thank-you note for his continued support and inspiration. -- ELIZABETH PANELLA is an assistant in NRDC's Northeastern air/energy and environmental justice programs. For the past few years, a popular gift in my family has been to donate an animal to a less fortunate family in another part of the world through Heifer International . The idea is that, on behalf of someone else, you purchase livestock -- anything from a llama to bumblebees -- to help that family become self-reliant. You can even buy "shares" of an animal or an entire "ark," depending on your budget. -- LISA WHITEMAN is a web production associate in NRDC's web department. For a $25 donation, an L.A.-based group called Tree People will plant a tree in honor or memory of someone and send a certificate. For $75 they will plant a grove of five trees. The certificates are very nice and make great gifts. I have done this several times over the years and people respond very favorably. -- GAYLE PETERSEN is the office administrator for NRDC's Los Angeles office. The best gifts I've given and received have been adopted manatees . The Save the Manatee Club in Maitland, Florida, has a bunch of cuddly manatees that people can adopt. You get a photo and a little bio of each one, plus an update on their doings throughout the year. -- ROB WATSON is a senior resource specialist who has led environmental design efforts for NRDC's award-winning offices in New York, Washington, D.C. and Santa Monica. A " night spotting scope " was a wonderful gift for me. I love to go camping and hiking at night, and have managed to sneak an excellent peek at some nocturnal animals through this handy gadget. I got a good look at a fox, several skunks and an elk despite very little moonlight. Another idea: Tilley hats are tough, outdoorsy canvas hats which protect from the elements. I bought one for my father and he loves it. And after much waiting (and hinting), I finally received one for my birthday. I have worn it through wind, rain, sea spray, hail and even volcanic ash, and it has held up perfectly (although it now has some spots to give it character). -- GINA SOLOMON, M.D. , an expert in environmental threats to public health, is a senior scientist at NRDC. Probably the best environmental gift I ever received was not designed to be an "environmental" gift at all. I don't think that I would be where I am today if my parents hadn't decided to send me to Camp Menatoma in Kents Hill, Maine, in the summer of 1969. That summer -- and for seven summers afterward -- I spent up to two months exploring the Maine woods, learning outdoors skills and playing with new friends. But Camp Menatoma taught me more than how to hold a canoe paddle or stand up on water skis. I also learned about the damage being done to the Maine woods by clearcutting, about how plastic six-pack holders could choke our lake's glorious loons and about our role as the earth's protectors. In short, at Menatoma I developed an environmental consciousness that has led me to a career with NRDC today. Going to camp showed me a world that existed beyond our suburban Long Island home, my grandparents' apartment in Brooklyn, and our many urban field trips to Coney Island and Manhattan. It's a gift that I thank my parents for every day. -- RICH KASSEL is a senior attorney at NRDC and an internationally recognized expert on vehicle pollution who is the main architect of NRDC's "Dump Dirty Diesels" campaign. Editor's note: A terrific, related idea is to give a donation in a friend's or relative's name to the Fresh Air Fund , which sends city children on summer vacations in the country. My best present was a pair of lightweight, top-quality binoculars that my husband, Michael, gave me. They've been a joy to have on long treks in mountains, on rivers and in deserts as well as on jaunts closer to home. Although I don't use them only for birding, they have made me a much better birder -- which has made both of us happy, since Michael is a big-time birder! I literally try not to leave home without them. -- JOHANNA WALD is the director of NRDC's land program and a nationally recognized expert on public land management. One year, two of my friends gave my mom a homemade holiday wreath decorated with birdseed, suet and fruit slices to hang in her garden and keep the birds well fed during the winter. After the bird food is gone, what's left of the wreath goes into the compost pile. It's not too hard to find the components to make your own, but you can also always buy a pre-made wreath for birds . -- LISA M. CATAPANO is NRDC's director of online advocacy and prefers watching college basketball to watching birds. A couple of years ago, an NRDC staffer recommended giving those really nice bags that fold up into a small pouch and are very easy to keep in your purse or pocket. To my delight, one of my coworkers was inspired by the idea and bought one for me. They're great -- much stronger than plastic bags, easy on the environment and perfect as stocking stuffers. -- RITA BAROL is NRDC's director of websites and reports. I received unpetroleum lip balm a couple of years ago and now buy it any time I can find it. -- KAREN WAYLAND is NRDC's legislative director. One great gift for homeowners is a bat house from Bat Conservation International . If you have a tall tree or a chimney you can host bats, which will help keep your insect populations down and teach your kids that bats are more friend than foe. "Fishing Hunks" calendar . Fishing has taken a heavy toll on our oceans, and as we try to make better management decisions for the future, communities are looking for ways to change how they relate to the seas. Proceeds from calendar sales go to scholarships for children of Cape Cod fishing families, supporting what I hope will be a new crop of smart, fisheries biologists.-- -- KATE WING Electric scooters are growing in popularity here in New York City. The gasoline-powered versions make a lot of noise, and their tailpipe emissions are completely uncontrolled. But the Zappy electric scooter is silent and creates zero tailpipe emissions. Even taking into account the emissions related to the electricity used to charge the battery, the Zappy is still much cleaner than its internal-combustion counterparts. My wonderful wife gave me one as a wedding present, and I've taken it all over the city on errands and for fun. People are always stopping me to ask questions and tell me how cool the scooter is. At around $400, the Zappy is a little expensive, but from the perspective of an environmental techie like me, it's worth every penny. -- NATHANAEL GREENE is a resource specialist at NRDC working on energy efficiency and renewable energy. Energystar.gov offers terrific information on energy-efficient lighting products , many of which are suitable for holiday gifts. For instance, giving someone an Energy Star-rated torchiere to replace a halogen torchiere is a perfect gift. Not only will it save your friends and loved ones money by reducing their energy bills, it may well save their lives (halogen lamps are notorious fire-starters). -- RALPH CAVANAGH is a senior attorney and co-director of NRDC's energy program. Holiday cards from Native Energy help spread the word about global warming and keep carbon dioxide out of the air at the same time. The cards come in four themes and represent carbon reductions for projects such as wind turbines on Native American lands or a renewable methane generator on a family dairy farm. By purchasing the $12 card, you'll keep a ton of carbon dioxide out of the air; with the $60 card, you can boost that number to 6 tons. Order online or call (800) 924-6826. -- ANTONIA HERZOG is a legislative advocate in NRDC's climate center. As a somewhat gadget-obsessed resident of sunny California, I'm hoping one of the environmentally minded gift-givers I know surprises me this year with the iSun Solar Charger . It's small enough to fit on a windowsill, and can charge cell phones, MP3 players and -- with a special attachment -- batteries. -- LISA BEEBE is a freelance web page producer with NRDC's web department. I give rechargeable batteries and rechargers to friends and family members, especially those with kids. Kids' toys create a lot of demand for batteries, so it's greener (and cheaper!) if parents don't have to deal with so many disposable batteries and the troubling chemicals, like mercury and cadmium, that they contain. -- ALLEN HERSHKOWITZ , an internationally recognized expert in recycling and solid waste management, is a senior scientist at NRDC. My wife has given me a flashlight and a radio from Freeplay , and they're great. Both are powered by cranking handles attached to the casings. (Some Freeplay products can also operate on a second source of power, either a solar panel or a rechargeable battery.) They ALWAYS work, and there are no batteries to dispose of. Plus, with the transparent housing, you can see how the really cool spring mechanism works so it's educational, too. -- BARRY NELSON , an expert in California water issues, is a senior policy analyst at NRDC. Give all the drivers on your list a tire inflation gauge so they can check their cars' tire pressure. Properly inflated tires save fuel, reduce pollution and don't wear out as quickly. Underinflation of only five pounds per square inch can reduce a performance tire's tread life by 25 percent! Being small and inexpensive, tire gauges also make great stocking-stuffers. -- JEFF FIEDLER is a policy specialist with NRDC's climate center. One of the best gifts I have given -- to the family that has everything (and more): the excellent little book by Alan Durning, How Much Is Enough? The Consumer Society and the Future of the Earth. Without being too preachy, it explores whether increasing consumption is related to greater happiness. -- ERIC A. GOLDSTEIN is a senior attorney and co-director of NRDC's urban program. LED (light-emitting diode) holiday lights are quickly becoming a tradition in public spaces across the country and make an energy-smart and safe gift. They save up to 90 percent of the energy used by regular mini holiday lights and last 100 times longer, saving the hassle of having to replace bulbs frequently. And since they don't heat up or break, these lights reduce the risk of fire and help protect children's hands. Look for them alongside standard lights in many stores. -- SARAH JAFFE is a science fellow in NRDC's energy program. book recommendations , many of which also make great gifts. -- Diaper service (you know, real cloth diapers -- remember them?) from my parents for my first-born. -- CHUCK CLUSEN is a senior policy analyst and director of NRDC's national parks and Alaska projects and is a nationally recognized expert in public land management. The best "green" gift that I've ever received was a couple of canvas shopping bags so that I'd no longer have to deal with the "paper/plastic" dilemma. Plus, the whopping five-cent reduction in my total shopping bill each time I use one helps towards my retirement. -- DAN GILDOR is a project attorney in NRDC's Los Angeles urban program and focuses on enhancing water quality in California. We once gave an old computer to a very small public interest group that was operating on a shoestring. We thought it was hopelessly obsolete, but they thought it was the greatest thing and were very grateful. Since discarded computers are increasingly an environmental problem, it's useful to know that you can usually find someone who is happy to accept one that is less than state of the art. And all the women in my family have whimsical earrings made from various kinds of recycled materials, ranging from typewriter keys to flattened bits of trash from Vermont roadsides. -- NANCY MARKS is a senior attorney at NRDC who takes on corporate polluters in court. Doesn't it seem silly to just trash out-of-date government-surplus maps? Someone at New England Cartographics asked that very question and came up with the idea of making stationery out of the old topographic maps, a truly inspired recycling idea. The attractive envelopes and letter paper are a joy to send and receive. Even my pen pal of 12 years was impressed. -- CRAIG DYLAN WYATT is a program assistant with NRDC's land program. My work on the pulp and paper manufacturing industry has helped turn me against using paper napkins, and cloth napkins make a great alternative. To create an inexpensive napkin gift package that's fun for kids, purchase cotton bandannas -- say, two per person for a family -- that are colored differently for each family member. Bandannas.com sells all sorts of great novelty patterns -- like rainbows, tie-dye and skull and crossbones (the pattern my five-year-old son picked for himself), as well as the standard paisley. -- JESSICA LANDMAN is an NRDC consultant and a former NRDC senior attorney and senior counsel. I give subscriptions to Organic Gardening magazine to avid gardeners who have not yet switched to organic methods but I'm sure would be keen to do so if they had some information at their fingertips. -- MATTHEW PERRIN is NRDC's development researcher and a community gardener in New York City. How about an organic dried fruit basket ? -- TOM COCHRAN is the director of NRDC's nuclear program and holds the Wade Greene Chair for Nuclear policy at NRDC. As a law student in Vermont, I learned to appreciate organic wines and beer. They took the edge off of those cold Vermont winters -- and they make a great gift! To find organic wine and beer sources online, check out Organic Wine Company , The Organic Wine Press , Organic Grapes into Wine Alliance , Bison Brewing or Otter Creek Brewing . -- DIANA DASCALU directs NRDC's Anacostia River restoration project. I'd like to give all my terribly busy friends in the New York area a weekly delivery of organic food from Urban Organic . The company buys produce, groceries and dairy goods in bulk from organic cooperatives, distributors and individual farmers and drop them off in grocery boxes at your door. The contents vary with each season, and you can ask them to leave out things you don't like. Planet Organics offers a similar service in the San Francisco Bay Area. -- SARAH BRIGHT is the associate editor for the NRDC website. In my work at NRDC I advocate alternatives to environmentally damaging factory farm practices that pollute our air and waterways and threaten public health. By purchasing your holiday ham or turkey directly from cooperatives like Patchwork Family Farms you can support independent family farmers who are trying environmentally sustainable methods of farming pork, chicken and beef. Last Thanksgiving I ate my words when I gave my mother a pasture-raised turkey to cook for dinner -- in case you are wondering, it was delicious! For more on sustainably-raised meat products visit the Eat Well Guide . -- MELANIE SHEPHERDSON is an attorney with NRDC's clean water project. I was about 10 years old when my mother -- a model of antimaterialism before it became fashionable -- decided to call off holiday gift-giving altogether. Instead, members of our family donated the money we would have spent on gifts for each other to our favorite charities . While I may not have been totally thrilled with the concept at that young age, it was a terrific lesson in values I've carried with me ever since. I've even wondered if this family tradition later influenced my choice of careers! -- ELIZABETH FINCH is NRDC's director of gift planning. More Green Gift Ideas and Holiday Resources from NRDC Give organic coffee from Beantrees -- designed with the earth in mind -- to any java-loving pals. Because it's grown without pesticides, organic coffee is healthier for the people who grow it, the regions where it's grown and the people who drink it. And we can vouch for the way it tastes: NRDC uses Beantrees coffee in our offices. (Tip: When ordering, enter the coupon code "freemug" to get a free travel mug.) Give an NRDC gift membership . Members receive a year's subscription to Nature's Voice , our highly readable and photo-filled bulletin, a stunning NRDC screensaver, a handy canvas tote bag and the satisfaction of protecting wilderness and wildlife. Visit NRDC's list of book recommendations to find the perfect books for all the readers on your list. Have a Cool Holiday for 10 ways to fight global warming while enjoying the season; fFor green consumer tips you can use all year, see NRDC's green living links . -- See NRDC's green living links for more green consumer tips. While NRDC strongly encourages efforts to "live lighter on the planet," we are not in the business of endorsing products or services. Our staff suggestions and the links that accompany them are meant only to give you some ideas and help you to make your own green-giving decisions. last revised 11.19.04 Home | About Us | Contact Us | Site Map | Privacy Policy | © Natural Resources Defense Council

Birthday Presents || Special

GDR Souvenirs - Birthday and Anniversary Presents Preface || Introduction || Official Gifts || Gifts to the Party Birthday Presents || Special Items || Site Map Information || Guestbook || Picture galerie Birthday and Anniversary Presents by Andreas Michaelis One might be forgiven for thinking that birthdays, even those that come in round figures, are essentially private or indeed contemplative occasions. Not so, if the birthday boy happens to be the head of a state or Party or is in some other way in the public eye. In that case, a birthday becomes a public event. The guests can no longer be hand-picked, nor the tidal wave of presents averted. Gifts made to GDR leaders, if they were of the right kind, tended to end up in the museum. They included both highly individual pieces and items off the mass production conveyor belts. These souvenirs sometimes commemorated significant social occasions, sometimes insignificant; some were presented by governments, some by ordinary working people; and, while some might be suited to the personality and office of a president, others were given in friendship or comradeship. Along with presents to mark birthdays or other occasions in the lives of the state and Party leaders, there are certain items that were presented by home or foreign givers on particular GDR anniversaries. Most of these, and the oldest too, were left by Wilhelm Pieck at his death. One remarkable for its origins was given to him in Moscow in December 1943: a desktop calendar handcrafted out of wood for the Communist leader by German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union. The red crayon inscription reads: Unity and peace to the German people - Wilhelm Pieck - From antifascist prisoners of war in USSR p.o.w. camp 158. Three presents given to Wilhelm Pieck in Soviet exile in 1936, on his sixtieth birthday, have survived. They were made by Soviet industries, using material from the current production line, and represent a kind of gift that seems to have appeared for the first time in the USSR in the 20s. These presents signalled a deliberate rejection of feudal or bourgeois traditions and a liberation from the material and artistic values of an old societal system then supposed defunct, and their meaning to the recipient lay purely in their symbolic function. Doubtless it would be going too far to suggest that there was an individual artistic style of expression peculiar to socialism as practised in the Communist bloc countries - but it remains true that this kind of characteristic symbolic gift was in evidence in almost every east European country till the late 1980s. The workers at the factory or plant in question would normally be identified as the givers of presents of this sort. Thus Wilhelm Pieck was given a ball-bearing mount by the workforce at the 1st State Ball-Bearing Works, a clock (inevitably) by the workforce at the 2nd State Clock Factory in Moscow and a smoker's set made of cogwheels by the Sergo Orjonikidse Machine Tools Works. In 1954 the workers at Zeulenroda furniture factory took Pieck by surprise when they remembered an anniversary he had probably forgotten himself: in 1894, the President, then an apprentice carpenter, had joined the German Woodworkers' Association, and his fellows in the craft were keen to mark his diamond jubilee as an active member of the trade union movement. On the side of the chest they made to celebrate the occasion is an image of Stalinallee (Stalin Avenue) in East Berlin, which East Germany touted as the premier socialist street in the capital of the GDR. Naturally the Communist bloc had another tradition, first practised in the Soviet Union: the naming of cities, factories, co-operatives, streets and public amenities after prominent Communist personalities, often when they were still alive. A danger was concealed in this kind of honour, however. If a personality fell out of favour, or was downgraded by his successors, the names all had to be changed. Thus cities, works and streets named after Stalin were renamed almost immediately after the 20th congress of the Soviet Communist Party in 1956, and Stalin memorials were toppled. Stalin was dropped from the leadership hall of fame. The boulevard once known as Stalin Avenue became Karl Marx Avenue, which it remains to this day (though the names of other leading Communists have been largely removed following the velvet revolution in eastern Europe). In 1946, for his seventieth birthday, Wilhelm Pieck, then leader of the German Communist Party in the Soviet zone of occupation, was given a number of china figurines and a metal sombrero by the Party's cell in Mexican exile. Rather more useful, no doubt, was a cigarette case embellished with portraits of Lenin and Stalin which he received from Soviet comrades for his seventy-fifth birthday. One motif that recurs insistently in the presents given to him on that birthday and his eightieth is the first of the GDR's five-year plans. It was launched in 1951 and declared over in 1955, ahead of schedule, the targets more than met. Even at that date, the propaganda that accompanied the beginnings of an East German planned economy could be grotesque, and the items that recollect this phase will doubtless tickle many now. It would only be fair, however, to bear in mind that in the first decade of the GDR's history the struggle to fulfil plans was accompanied by a genuine sense of a fresh start, a new and energetic departure - and in this respect it was finally a more honest thing than the ossified, dogmatic planned economy of the 70s and 80s,with its clichés and hot air. Slogans such as Peace - Reconstruction - Prosperity, or the five-year plan emblem together with its motto The key to our success, are eloquent not only of the political vocabulary favoured during the 50s but also of the hopes and longings of the East German people. Among the many activities mounted by the Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) was the Wilhelm-Pieck-Campaign , intended to prompt greater effort by the country's young people and the working population in general, to mark the President's eightieth birthday. On this occasion, the apprentices at the Bitterfeld electrochemicals combine gave Pieck a stylish folder containing documents and statements concerning their FDJ group. At their deaths, Pieck and Grotewohl left several hundred folders of this kind, with enough material for a hefty tome, or a feature-length satirical programme. Elsewhere, workers in factories set a good example in cost-cutting. If honorific gifts were produced in series, a given item could be made at a fraction of the cost of an individually-crafted piece. The figure of a muscular miner in a combative attitude, an optimistic expression firmly on his face, was far and away the most frequently given present for Pieck's eightieth birthday. He received numerous gifts from comrades in the Federal Republic too. Most of them were little items with some local connection, such as a figure of Roland from Bremen , or one of Hamburg's typical Hummel figures . The GDR leadership's duties routinely included visits to factories. These visits served primarily to demonstrate the closeness of the state and Party leadership to the working classes. In 1953, Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl visited the Ernst Thälmann Polygraphics Works at Saalfeld. He may have been critical of the work being done by the graphic artists and designers there; at all events, for his sixtieth birthday the following year he was presented with an entire collection of draft designs for new product labels. In the 50s, in addition to the obligatory gift, a leader might be honoured by having a work team (at least) named after him. Long before he officially took over the reins of the state and Party, Walter Ulbricht was so popular that labour collectives bore his name as early as 1953. For his sixtieth birthday, one of his work teams presented him with a desktop set praising his endeavours on behalf of peace, unity, democracy and socialism. Ten years later, as chair of the GDR's Council of State, he received for the first time one of the traditional presents from the Soviet armed forces in Germany - generally bombastic and symbolically top-heavy affairs. That first gift was a model of a Soviet cosmonaut memorial. A present from the Soviet armed forces to Otto Grotewohl has survived too, a figure reaching for the stars and thus symbolizing humanity's unceasing striving after higher things - an allegory that recurs frequently in Communist and socialist iconography. The Honecker era, too, in due course provided the Deutsches Historisches Museum with a number of anniversary presents. The desk set given to Erich Honecker, on his sixtieth birthday, by Lieutenant Colonel Kurkotkin, commander in chief of the Soviet armed forces in Germany, and bearing a personal dedication, particularly intrigues all who see it. The martial character of the set was no doubt intended to convey that the SED First Secretary could count on the massed firepower of the Soviet Union behind him, and thus settle in to a quiet period in power. The composition - typical in approach, given its origin - does in fact include a number of useful items, regardless of its military character and offputting design: a radio, a thermometer in the TV mast, a calendar, and four ball-points disguised as missiles. Ten years later a Soviet-German joint-stock company, SDAG Wismut - which was the last company in East Germany to remain under partial Soviet administration and control (till 1990), because of the uranium it was mining - presented a conversation piece inspired by mining. The bismuth workers, honouring an established tradition, selected a particularly fine mineral sample. The musical box they built into the sample seems never to have been used. On the same occasion, Honecker was presented with a pick by the Senftenberg Brown Coal Combine. It was not to be the last he received in his lengthy career as head of state and Party. It was not only the leaders of state and Party that were given these heavily symbolic presents; the tradition was observed at every level of the state and Party hierarchy. Stasi boss Erich Mielke kept a trophy room, as it were, at his headquarters in Normannenstrasse. Numerous honorifics are now on display there, gifts to Mielke or the ministry on a variety of occasions. Some were passed on to the Stasi ministry's information centre, whence they were made over to the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte in 1990. There are the usual plaques and tapestries, but one of the Stasi ministers birthday presents was a rather unusual model of an electric oven. In the GDR, 7 October was a national holiday, an annual celebration of the establishment of the first German workers' and peasants' state, and the date was marked with a grand parade, a government ceremony, and countless local festivities around the country. And every five years, on jubilee occasions, the state and Party leadership celebrated in lavish style. Leaders from friendly countries, and representatives from around the world, would pay their respects to the GDR. Again, it is the presents made by the Soviet armed forces that are especially striking. The model of the Soviet memorial in Treptow Park, which symbolizes the liberation of Germany from fascism and stresses the role played by the Red Army, was a gift to mark the GDR's silverjubilee in 1974. The outsized helm presented to Honecker on the 35th anniversary by the Schwerin SED regional leaders alluded to the well-worn image of Erich Honecker as the great helmsman of state. The accompanying letter is a gem, sparkling with all the routine phrases that had become de rigueur among the Party leadership echelons. The regional first secretary thanks our dear comrade Erich Honecker for his outstanding personal contribution to the conception and realisation of policies designed to assure the happiness of the people and the safeguarding of peace, and asserts that the people of our region are paying tribute to these fine socialist politics by making greater endeavours than ever before, in every field of society. By the time of the 40th anniversary celebrations, however, a gloomy knowledge of imminent upheaval darkened the leaders' festivities - though surely none of them could suspect at the time that it was to be the GDR's very last birthday.

Gifts for Women Pink

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