What's the lousiest Xmas gift you ever got, or gave?

My ex was cat odor crazy ( besides her general craziness). Every time I came in, I was interrogated on whether I smelled any cat odor. She had these things stuck in all the outlets for pleasant scents. So, I figured an air purifier would be a great Xmas gift. It was the big ultra model. I can't tell you the look on her face when she unwrapped it. I worked with her best friend. At work, she just pointed at me and said" You gave her a whaaat?? WAAAHAHAHA".
 

My brother bought me "Three Pines Deodorant" from the Dollar Store one year for X-Mas.

I broke out in a rash under my arms and had to go to the doctor! lol! Worst gift ever!! That was decades ago, but the catchphrase in our family for a lousy gift ever since has become "Three Pines".
 
When I was married to my first husband, his mother hated it.. he was her only son..no-one was good enough. On our first Christmas together, aged 20 and 21.. his mother bought me a grey floor length full sleeved, up to the chin.. flannelette nightgown.,

If she could have got away with giving me a chastity belt she would have,..
 

My dog groomer, when Tippy was alive, was having a very bad financial December.
I met up with her in the next village , before Christmas to give her a large bunch of wrapped gifts for her daughter and she was so grateful.

After Christmas she called me to thank me for the gifts, and I asked her if her daughter liked the doll I gave her. It was the cutest doll I could find.
She said 'No , you didn't give her a doll- my sister gave her a beautiful doll.'

But I knew I had given her a doll.

A few months later she apologized because she found out her sister never gave her daughter a doll for Christmas.

Luckily she had a better financial situation the next Christmas.
 
Books on how to strategize in chess. My brother 12 yrs older than me gave them to me when I was (about) 10 and also 11. I would bug him to play chess so he figured I could use these. Never read any of them!

After we were first married, family members would ask if my wife was a good cook. I always replied “She makes good sandwiches”, which was true. Also great pies. Other things, maybe not so much :) My wife got several cookbooks the next Christmas.
 
Last edited:
When I was married to my first husband, his mother hated it.. he was her only son..no-one was good enough. On our first Christmas together, aged 20 and 21.. his mother bought me a grey floor length full sleeved, up to the chin.. flannelette nightgown.,

If she could have got away with giving me a chastity belt she would have,..
Oh DEAR ! !
When I read this story, it rang such a memory bell for me, @hollydolly. My mother-in-law from my first marriage was a very proper English lady, and I married her first and most beloved son, and she also thought that NO woman was good enough for her eldest, and especially me.
(the photo is of them when he was in the high school band, so before I met him)
She sewed me a nightgown just exactly like you are describing, floor length, ruffles under my chin and at the wrists, and flannel . I don’t remember what color it was anymore, but don’t think it was grey, and I do believe it was a Christmas gift, too.
However, the idea was about the same, only I never realized the ulterior motives like you did.
I just thought maybe she was deciding that she liked me and made me a flannel nightgown……….. now I can look at it through new vision.



IMG_5716.jpeg
 
Last edited:
At one time I worked a very physically demanding job 10 hours a day, with 2 15 minute breaks and 1/2 lunch. One fine Friday afternoon in December it had been a particularly hard day. I had just sat down for a much needed rest for the afternoon break...we all got hearded into the office to receive our Xmas presents from the company...an F************* plastic ice scrapper and a craptastic travel mug both emblazened with the corporate logo. This was on our break time, for which we were not compensated in any fashion.


At that moment I really had a feel for why people would go shoot up their workplace. Don't get excited now, I did the more sensible thing...I simply didn't report back to work after Xmas. I didn't really feel obliged to give them any notice either.
 
Speaking of corporate gifts: one year the large hospital system I worked for gave us $5 gift certificates to a ham place....where the cheapest thing you could buy was a $12 side dish. Most of us ended up pooling our certificates and giving them to a food bank.

I once got a beautiful sweater from one of my sisters. While admiring it, we discovered it said "maternity" on the tag. She was embarrassed but I really liked the sweater and just wore it with a belt. So, it wasn't technically a bad present.
 
Not much to say here. Seven kids, single mother, hard times. There were years when Christmas meant things like knitting bells and snowmen and assembling them into decorations to sell. Looking back, who'd buy that crap? I guess it was charity.
I was a kid who had barely any Christmas gifts all through my childhood.. yet I still think the worst gift I ever received was that grey flannel thing...lol
 
My now ex mother in law bought me a giant country western belt buckle one year, the thing was the size of a cantaloupe. I was never into western wear so was so confused I asked her if she got tags mixed up and meant the buckle for someone else. She didn't.

That family also had an Uncle Bill who at Christmas would hand out little travel size bottles of mouthwash or shampoo, sometimes toothpaste or deodorant. That always cracked me up but at least it was something you could use.
 
Back when I was in my early twenties I had some friends that were going to have a baby right about Christmas. Me being the considerate friend I was I got the bright idea to buy the baby a Christmas present. But I was also that ignorant about babies friend, not thinking I bought one of those Mr. Potato heads, you know where you build it out of those fifty tiny plastic choking hazards. lol

Probably the worst gift I've ever given!
 


Back
Top