Jewelry Gifts: Men &

Christmas Jewelry Gifts and Watches: Father's Day, Mothers's Day, Romantic Valentine's Day Jewelry & and Christmas Jewelry Gifts: Men & Women, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Birthday & Anniversary Gifts for your husband or wife Thank you for supporting the cause of animal rescue by shopping at this site. shop the Jewelry Store at Amazon DESIGNER Enameled Heart Keepsake Box UV Watch Don't let worry spoil your precious time outside! This innovative device has a built-in sensor that measures the current level of UV rays, so you'll know when it's time to put on your hat or more sunblock. It also has an alarm, timer, chronograph, and of course tells the time! Caryn.com Valentine's Day Valentine's Day Gift Guide Mother's Day Gift Guide Christmas Gift Suggestion Guide Spice Up Your Love Life: Romantic Date Ideas Store: Main Index Jewelry & Watches Whether you are looking for fine jewelry for women or men, a diamond engagement ring, an anniversary gift, birthday gift, a romantic Valentine's Day gift, a Christmas jewelry gift, Mother's Day Gift or Father's Day gift for your wife or husband, girlfriend or boyfriend, there's something beautiful here for you. From diamond pendants to birthstone jewelry, men's watches to vintage Tiffany signed pendants, rings & earrings, bracelets and necklaces for teen jewelry, sophisticated, simple or jewelry ala Paris Hilton, we know you'll find a jewelry gift you'll be pleased to give and your gift recipient will be thrilled to get! Music Boxes & Jewelry Boxes are now listed on their own page! Jewelry & Watches for Teens and Younger Women are now in their own section also. Gift Ideas for Her Own One Share of Tiffany & Company Stock The Tiffany & Co stock is etched in the signature aquamarine color of their famous blue boxes. This framed certificate would make an excellent gift for anyone who appreciates Tiffany's classic design. Gift Ideas For Him Jewelry Gifts that Keep on Giving Amber Necklace A healing charm handcrafted by Bali islanders, our Amber Necklace is a National Geographic Society-supported fair trade product. Proceeds return to the island’s communities. Large center amber cabochon is accentuated with two smaller amber stones on each side and a hanging peridot charm. Tree of Life Necklace Deeply mystical in many cultures, the Tree of Life is thought to bring together the 10 creative forces that intervene between the infinite and our world — from wisdom and understanding to strength and glory. Ours is artfully interpreted in sterling silver and 10 semiprecious stones, representing the color of each creative force: onyx, tiger's eye, moonstone, garnet, iolite, amethyst, citrine, peridot, labradorite and pink tourmaline. Strung on an 18"L sterling box chain. Waterfalls Pearl Necklace Elegant for evenings yet simple for every day, this handcrafted necklace comes from a National Geographic-backed organization that helps sustain global artisans through their crafts. Luminous river pearls and sterling beads cascade from an understated sterling O-ring front clasp pendant. Made in Mexico. Jewelry Sales & Special Deals!! Click here for FREE Jewelry! No Codes Needed. No Purchase necessary triple-strand pink pearl bracelet Jewelry and Accessories at Red Envelope triple diamond heart necklace Build Your Own 3 Stone Pendant Diamond Pendant view entire collection Free Fed Ex with Every Purchase Three Stone Ring Sweet and Casual Chic And Sleek Very Vintage Totally Trendy 14k White Gold Heart Pink Tourmaline Band Ring Jewelry & Watches (Men & Women) at Amazon 14k White Gold Diamond Heart Pendant Cuff Links, Shirt Studs Money Clips, Key Rings Men's Jewelry Watches Men's, Women's, Children's Sport, Dress, Casual Water Resistant Chains, Rings Bracelets, Wedding Bands Wedding & Engagement Fashion Jewelry Silver Pendants, Lockets , Silver Earrings, Silver Hoops, Cubic Zirconia Rings Cubic Zirconia Bracelets Fine Jewelry Diamond Studs, Hoop Earrings Rings, Pendants, Chains, Pearls Tennis Bracelets, Bangles Overstock.com Online Outlet Target

Valentine Gift Our Teddy

Valentines Day Gifts, Valentines Day Gift Ideas, Valentine Teddy Bears, Valentine Day Gifts, Valentine Heart Plush Huggables Bed Time Buddies Bears with Blankies Canine Chums Feline Friends Animal Madness Back Packer Zoo Pet Pals Outfits Accessories World Wide Shipping Click for Details Free Shipping for Purchases over $40.00 and for Military Orders 1-Great Gifts 10-Animals 11-Outfits 12-Romantic 13-Cat Gifts 14-Valentines 15-Chinese 2-Pet Lovers 3-For Mom 3-Occasions 4-Easter 5-St Patrick 6-Wild Ones 7- Halloween 8-Baby Gifts 9-Birthdays Support Center Affiliate Opportunities Contact Us ..... Link to Us Gift Occasions: - Baby Shower Gifts - Birthday Gift Ideas - Easter Gifts - Family Gifts - Fathers Day Gifts - Gag Gifts - Get Well Gifts - Graduation Gifts - Holiday Gifts - Long Distance Gifts - Mothers Day Gifts - Pet Gifts - Romantic Gifts - St Patricks Day Gifts - Teacher Gifts - Teddy Bear Gifts - Thank You Gifts - Valentines Day Gifts - Stuffed Animal Gifts Teddy Bear, Birthday, Get Well, Mothers Day Gifts Mom, Valentines Gift Ideas Free Ecards -- Valentine's Day Teddy Bear Gift Ideas Muskie 13" Moose Regular Price: $39.95 Sale Price: $34.95 Love 13" Bunny Regular Price: $37.95 Sale Price: $34.95 Lucky 13" Lamb Regular Price: $47.95 Sale Price: $42.95 Valentine's Day Gifts Need some ideas for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for your sweetheart? Our Recordable Valentine's Day Bears make great gifts. Sending a Talking Teddy Bear to your Valentine is a fun and creative alternative to flowers that lasts forever. This is a great Valentine's Day gift idea that will remind your sweetie of your thoughtfulness long after Valentine's Day is over. Just add your personalized voice message to make this a wonderful unique Valentine Day gift. 150 different Stuffed Animals and Costumes We have more than150 different adorable stuffed animals to select from. Select from 16" get well bears with outfits to 5" animals. Choose from 19 different costumes that can be added to each of our 11" and 16" bears to create a special gift for any occasion. We also have re-recordable gifts for your pets. Recording your Valentine Greeting Each of our huggable animals gift includes a 10-Second Re-Recordable Sound Unit . If you are sending your huggable graduation gift directly to someone, add a voice recording. We will send you an 800 number to call so you can record your message. If you plan to ship the gift to yourself, then it's not necessary to order a recording. You can record and re-record your message as many times as you like. Sending a Personalized Valentine Gift Our Teddy Bears and other Stuffed Animals are designed and sized for huggability. As thoughtful as flowers, but more durable, a Teddy Bear Gift with a personalized Gift Card will express your feelings to a loved one in a very special way. We will place your voice recording inside your cuddly messenger, add a hand written card and wrap your gift in a very attractive package with instructions to the recipient to Squeeze Me, I have a Special Message just for you . Hear what our Customers are saying... I ordered the "that'll do pig" for my friend. I recorded a little song for her over the 1-800 number and had it delivered to her office. She told me that she was having the worst day, and then the pig arrived and she was really happy! She played it for everyone in the office and called me the minute she got off of work to tell me that it was the best gift she had ever received. Unfortunately I can't see the stuffed animal since we are 1200 miles apart, but it really made her day and therefore you guys made my day. Good Job! Unique Valentine Teddy Bears Our talking valentine bears are unique gifts as valentines day gift ideas, personalized valentine's gifts, gift ideas for valentine's day, unique gift ideas for her, valentine's day gifts for him, valentine's day gifts for your special valentine, valentines day gifts ideas, valentine's day gift ideas, gifts for valentine's day sweethearts Our Mission | Business Opportunity | Contact Us | Link to Us | Links | Free Greeting Cards | Site Map "The Internet's Best Recordable Talking Plush Stuffed Animal Gift Site" Unique Personalized Teddy Bear Gifts and Gift Ideas for Mom, Mother, Dad and Grandmother. Teddy Bears are perfect as Birthday Gifts, Get Well Gifts, Mothers Day Gifts and Romantic Valentines Day Gifts & Gift Ideas . Every Recordable Stuffed Animal gift includes a free personalized card and gift wrapping. It's a worderful personalized gift idea and a creative alternative to sending flowers! Try our Free Greeting Cards and read our Free Stories . We also have Gift Certificates . © 2001-2003, ConnectionChannel.com. All rights reserved. Teddy Bear Gifts White Teddy Bear -with Valentine Day Red Vest -with Easter Vest -with St Patricks Day Vest -with Red Vest and Flag Patriot -with Surgeon Mask and Gown Brown Teddy Bear -with Valentines Day Red Vest -with Fisherman Outfit -with Golfer Outfit -with Halloween Outfit -with Nurse Outfit -with Christmas Outfit Pink Teddy Bear Yellow Birthday Teddy Bear Personalized Baby Gifts Teddy Bear Gift Idea Bear Cub & Pajamas Puppy & Pajamas Kitten & Pajamas Stuffed Baby Bear Cub - Volume 1 Stuffed Baby Bear Cub - Volume 2 Stuffed Baby Bear Cub - Volume 3 Birthday Teddy Bear Gifts Mothers Day Gifts & Gift Ideas Valentines Day Gifts & Gift Ideas Stuffed Pink Cotton Candy Bears Stuffed Valentine Bears Stuffed Yellow Lemon Drop Bears Stuffed Blue Sapphire Bears Free Greeting Cards Free Birthday Cards Free Christmas Cards Free Fathers Day Cards Free Get Well Cards Free Love Cards Free Mothers Day Cards Free Thank You Cards Free Valentine's Day Cards Helping People Connect Free Teen & Yahoo Personals Online Chat Gay Dating, Gay Personals & Gay Chat Yahoo Personals Yahoo Astrology Free Daily Online Horoscope Online Dating Service Free Astrology Signs and Charts Online Dating Service Teen, Adult Senior & Latin Online Chat Rooms Free Online Dating Personals & Chat Moving Company Quote Teddy Bear Gift Outfits Fisherman Gift Bear Halloween Gift Bear Biker Gift Bear Cantor Gift Bear Nurse Gift Bear Golfer Gift Bear Graduation Gift Bear Christmas Gift Bear St Patrick's Day Gift Bear Valentines Day Gift Bear Easter and Spring Time Doctor Gift Bear USA Sweater Patriotic Outfit and Flag Featured Customer Stories Gifts for Baby's Gifts for Children Gifts for Father & Dads Friendship Gifts Get Well Gifts Gifts for Grandchildren Love Poem Quote Happy Birthday Greeting Military Gifts Gifts for Mother & Moms Gifts for Pets Sympathy Gifts Personalized Gift Ideas Adoption Gift Ideas Anniversary Gifts Baby Shower Gift Ideas Baby Gift Baskets Birthday Teddy Bear Gifts Birthday Gifts & Gift Ideas Birthday Gifts for Moms Cat Lover Gifts Childrens Gifts Christmas Gift Ideas Corporate Gifts Dog Lover Gifts Easter Gifts Family Gift Ideas Fathers Day Gift Idea Friendship Gifts Get Well Gifts Graduation Gift Idea Gifts for Mom Holiday Gift Ideas Mothers Day Gifts New Baby Gifts Military Gifts Missing You I Love You Personalized Gift Ideas Personalized Teddy Bears Personalized Valentine's Gift Ideas Pet Gifts Plush Animal Gift Ideas Romantic Gift Ideas Romantic Birthday Gift Ideas Gifts for Her Teacher Appreciation Thank You Gifts Teddy Bear Gifts Unique Gift Ideas Unique Baby Gifts Unique Birthday Gifts Valentines Day Gift Ideas Stuffed Animal Gifts Wedding Favors Animals on Key Chains Frog Duck Lamb Lady Bug Butterfly Skunk Raccoon Golden Eagle Polar Bear Panda Bear Brown Bear Koala Bear Monkey Zebra Lion Tiger Leopard White Tiger Black Cat Dalmation Rottweiler Bull Dog St Bernard Grey Wolf Cow Pig Moose Bunny Black Bear White Buffalo Buffalo Poodle Wolf Cat Bull Dog Pug Black Labradore Golden Labradore Owl Seal Black Panther Mustang Cardinal Mouse Blue Eagle Orca Whale Sea Lion Plush Stuffed Animals Black & White Lamb Blue Lamb White Lamb & St Patrick Vest Bison Buffalo Plush Moose Golden Otter Gray Wolf Plush Animals Plush Pink Bunny Pink Pig Panda Bear Polar Bear White Owl Owl & Red Vest Owl & Graduation Gown Valentine Bear Yellow Duck Dog Lover Gifts Shar Pei German Shepard St Bernard Shaggy Dog Boxer Collie Jack Russel Scnhauzer Basset Hound Pug Boston Terrier Black Lab Yellow Lab Dalmation Black Poodle White Poodle Bull Dog Cat Lover Gifts Maine Coon Yellow Tabby Tonkinese Abyssinian Scottish Fold Siamese Black Short Hair White Short Hair Pet Lover Gifts Dog Toys Dog Gifts Stuffed Dogs Puppy Toys Cat Toys Cat Gifts Affiliate Business Opportunity Drop Ship Wholesale Stuffed Animals on Hearts Lobster Moose Puffin Black Bear Rabbit Bunny Duck Pig Piglet Polar Bear Cow Bull Lamb Free Greeting Cards Free Birthday Cards Free Christmas Cards Free Fathers Day Cards Free Get Well Cards Free Love Cards Free Mothers Day Cards Free Thank You Cards Free Valentine's Day Cards Last Updated: 05-12-04 Helping People Connect Providing Links to some of the Best Sites by Category Free Daily Horoscopes - Psychic Tarot Readings - Online Love, Chinese, Zodiac Signs Charts & Yahoo Astrology Reviews Online Dating - Free Chat Rooms & Dating Services - Yahoo Personals - Christian, Singles, Teen, Latin, Adult, Seniors & Gay Web Site Reviews

College Gift

Pima Community College : Gift Managment Foundation & Alumni Ways to Give Alumni & Friends Business Partners Foundation Scholarship Application About the Foundation Board of Directors Gift Management News & Events Contact Us Getting Started Courses & Degrees Campuses & Centers About Pima Student Resources Community Resources Businesses Foundation & Alumni -- Gift Managment » Foundation & Alumni » About the Foundation » Gift Management The Foundation's Investment Committee professionally manages and invests private gifts for long-term growth. It meets at least quarterly to review the portfolio in light of current economic conditions. It provides a report to the Foundation's Board of Directors. Prudent procedures help the Foundation maintain a high standard of trust, effectiveness and accountability. They include accurate receipts for tax purposes. written acknowledgment of each gift. distribution of gifts as donors have directed. investment of endowed gifts to achieve growth and an enduring source of income to the designated program. Investment Policy Investable funds are invested in a manner that produces for the Foundation the optimum return, defined as obtaining the highest return commensurate with an acceptable risk level. Some permanently restricted endowment funds are invested based on a strategic asset allocation of 60 percent equities and 40 percent fixed-income securities. in a strategic allocation designed for long-term growth with moderate risk with an allowable variance of 10 percent. Other permanently restricted endowment funds are invested in accordance with contractual or other arrangements subject to other restrictions on investment alternatives. All short-term temporarily restricted funds are invested in 100 percent fixed-income securities for safety, income and low risk. The Investment Committee may select professional managers or use pooled funds at its discretion. A performance review of the portfolio is done at least annually.

Unique Gifts For Any

Collectible World Studios - Unique Gifts, Figurines & Home Décor newsletters about us artists affiliates contact us shopping help home Cookies Required You appear to have Cookies disabled, please click here for instructions on how to enable them. You may need to close and re-open your browser to remove this error message once you have made the necessary changes. sign in my account shopping help search Your Basket Items: 0 Total Price: (inc Vat) £0.00 view basket store locator newsletters factory shop affiliates The new shopping experience and Aladdin’s cave for presents and gifts at Wetheriggs Pottery. New Gift Ranges Now Available: New Gift Ranges Coming Soon: Unique Gifts For Any Occasion: Me to You Adorable Tatty Teddy figurines and giftware from the Me to You store. Piggin’ Humorous pig gifts and collectible pig figurines. Ideal gifts for pig lovers. Pocket Dragons The whimsical world of Pocket Dragons - an international collectible. CowParade Colourful CowParade figurines - sculptures based on cows from parades Worldwide. Friendship Ideal bronze finished figurine gifts for friends, family and that special someone. The Fairy Way Highly detailed fantasy figurines depicting fairies amongst wild life. Creature Comforts Collectable figurines based on the hit TV series by Aardman animations. WhimsiClay Collectible fancy felines and mouse figurines - ideal gifts for cat lovers. Just The Right Shoe Collectible Shoe Figurines. > UK Retirement Announcement > View The Range Home Décor Ranges: Alexandria's Lamps Colourful crafted glass fragrance lamps. Popp Rivet Garden Outdoor sculptures and garden accessories - unique giftware. Friendship Home New to the Friendship collection is a unique range of home decor items. Metal Urges Hand crafted steel wire-frame baskets and sculptured candleholders. About Collectible World Studios: Here at Collectible World Studios we produce high quality collectible figurines, sculptures and home décor ranges. Some so unique, whimsical, or humorous they are hugely popular with their own collectors clubs. Others are selected as African gifts, Oriental gifts, romantic gifts, or lifestyle gifts of distinction. Maasai Tribe Sculptures based on the unique ways of life within the Maasai Tribe. Also featuring a unique range of home décor - ideal African gifts. Spirit Song The Spirit Song range of bronze, steel and copper finished figurines are beautifully detailed and make an impressive statement when displayed around the home. The Silk Road Elegant sculptures featuring precious gem stones, inspired by an oriental trading route; the Silk Road - perfect oriental gifts. The Soul Journeys range of African, Oriental and spiritual collectables make unique gifts for special occasions. Popular presents for weddings, birthdays and anniversaries, they truly are romantic figurines. The new Maasai Home décor range also makes an artistic house-warming present, ideal for anyone looking for an African theme from unique tribal gifts. Store Locator © Collectible World Studios Limited 2004

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.