Christmas Gift Ideas

“When a child is born he or she should be issued a new dog and a cigar box banjo.” That little misquote is from Peanuts Guide to Life, by Charles Schultz. He didn’t say which type of dog and he didn’t recommend a cigar box banjo, just a banjo. The principle holds though for starting a child off right, and the questions about which type of dog and which type of banjo still need to be answered. The dog type is, of course, a beagle. The banjo type requires more consideration.

Many different types of high quality banjos are available. There are metal ones, some use wood and plastic; others involve a combination of each. There are banjos that have their beginning with other instruments, ukuleles, guitars or mandolins. There is a stand up type made from a bass, definitely not your father’s drumhead with strings. String sets vary too–there are banjos with one, three, four, five, six, up to ten strings. They come with open backs or closed backs, with or without pickups for amplification. Considering all the possibilities can boggle your mind.

One type that is often overlooked, though, is the cigar box banjo, which seems strange because the cigar box banjo has often been the very root of a banjo player’s life experience. These are relatively simple instruments to make, either from scratch or assembled from a banjo kit containing the basic components-either way, scratch or kit is then subject to the user’s own creative imagination during the fabrication process. But don’t let this relative simplicity fool you into thinking that cigar box banjos lack a quality sound. Like anything else, the quality of the sound and the playability of the instrument are in direct proportion to your commitment to excellence during the building process.

Mark Twain had some experience with the banjo sound. He recognized that what to some was painful and piercing was plunky hollow and incisive to others. “Good sounding banjo” was a relative term dependent on the music and the hearer as much as on the instrument. Twain also remarked that a gentleman was a person who knows how to play a banjo but doesn’t. He recognized that the experience of banjo playing and that inimitable sound couldn’t be matched. The cigar box banjo doesn’t play quite as loud as a conventional banjo. With care and craftsmanship, many players use the cigar box to create a deeper and mellower sound.

“Easy Lovin’” was a 1971 country hit that peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard chart by Freddie Hart. Hart was one of many well known people who are not so well known for their banjo playing, but got their first exposure to making music with a cigar box instrument. He grew up in Loachapoka, Alabama in a large, sharecropping family of fifteen children. Freddie said he got started musically by cobbling out a cigar box instrument using strings made of wire from the copper coil of a Model T Ford.

Jim Reeves made his first instrument from a cigar box and rubber bands. Stringbean Akerman made his first banjo using thread from his mother’s sewing kit and a shoebox. Creating what would hardly be considered a musical instrument by many today, these artists and many others developed the roots of their iconic musical style from the very rudiments of instrument making.

Even Carl Sandburg, who Thomas Lask declared “the American bard,” played his own brand of music, especially early in his life. Sandburg is quoted as saying, “My first stringed instrument was a cigar box banjo where I cut and turned the pegs and strung the wires myself.” Before the banjo, he tried his hand at a willow whistle, then a comb with paper over it, a tin fife, a flageolet (a type of wooden flute), and an ocarina, none of which he played very well, including banjo, but all of which helped define who he really was.

Whether famous as recording artists or famous as something else, what ties all these folks together is their unquestioned gift of originality. If even the minutest part of that originality was sparked by their early-in-life experiences playing a simple cigar box banjo and if you can in the minutest way identify with that experience, then my work here is done. Now let’s go see if we can find a beagle.

Get more information about cigar box banjos or buying and building a banjo here, or email me at walker@papasboxes.com and I’ll send you a follow up with photos.

Does it bug you when stores release Christmas stuff way before the Christmas season, even before Thanksgiving? If so, you’re much like my wife Angie. If someone sends me an ad or a sales pitch for some special Christmas gift, I respect their need to do so, and, especially in a poor economy, their need to get a jump on Christmas sales when those sales may be the largest percent of their annual volume. That doesn’t mean I like it, it just means that I understand it. Nevertheless when my wife Angie gets one of those ads, her usual response is to post it on the refrigerator door with one of those little rubberized magnets, as a reminder not to buy a Christmas gift from them. That may seem a little harsh, but here’s what she said to me.

“Shopping is a big part of what Christmas is all about, or at least what it has become-nothing really wrong with that. It’s a big part, but it shouldn’t be the only part. And the biggest part of Christmas gift shopping should be motivated by the giving. When retailers pull out all the stops, displaying most of their Christmas goodies, playing all the hymns and songs in each and every store, all of them with a long line of children waiting to sit on Santa’s lap (and tell him what they want for Christmas), and all of this long before the ‘official’ start of the holidays, it’s nothing more than the start of the shopping season.

“We draw names and buy Christmas gifts, not just for the kids, but for everyone, presents are wrapped, stockings are hung, all this hustle and bustle and commercialization of the season are far removed from the simple idea of being together as a family or with friends just to count our blessings. This entire obsession with trees, and presents, and Santa Claus can obscure the marvelous truth in each person’s heart, the gifts of spirit, sharing and warmth. Currently, it’s little more than beggars beg and spenders spend, drinkers drink and vendors vend, or something like that-however that ancient rhyme goes.

“Worse yet is the day after Christmas when there’s even more shopping. Virtually every store has an after Christmas sale and shoppers charge into those stores redeeming Christmas gift certificates, exchanging, more likely returning, many of the Christmas gifts sent to them by people who really didn’t know what they wanted or didn’t have the time or money to get what they wanted. Imagine how refreshing it would be to take away this emphasis on Christmas shopping and concentrate on the truth of what Christmas really is. We could then add Christmas gift giving based on true feeling that grows out of God’s gift. I know you agree with me Walker, don’t you?”

I didn’t answer. I can understand my wife Angie’s point of view, and I’ve learned not to argue a point about which she feels strongly, or any other point come to think of it. Having said that, I see no harm in offering advice to people like me who sometimes neglect Christmas gift shopping until Christmas Eve. It’s just a reminder, it’s not like we’re being sold anything, at least not at that time. We all know that stores must sell Christmas trees, lights, ornaments and other Christmas stuff-if they would just not begin the process until after Thanksgiving dinner is served.

But consider this: Where would we be if stores that sell Christmas gifts had to wait until a specified time to advertise and display their merchandise? Most of this stuff is sold throughout the year, not just at Christmas time. People buy a lot of this stuff each and every day of the year. What’s wrong with a little reminder now and then? I see their point, and I don’t mind it. My wife Angie though, she’s on the alert for these reminders and, like a fast forwarded video, it’s posted on the frig. As for me I’ve come away from Angie’s list with some pretty good gift ideas.

When I decided not to argue with my wife Angie’s point of view, I also found it a good practice to apologize in advance if I don’t agree with everything she says. And I know she is going to see this. So here I am, disagreeing and apologizing at the same time. My only hope is that I get forgiveness for one or the other, not to mention both.

If you’d like to see more about Christmas banjos click here, or visit me at papasboxes.com to see some of those reminders I talked about.

The 5 worst ideas for Christmas gifts.
For better ideas
visit: http://www.whatishotforchristmas.com
Top 5 Worst Gift Ideas: Presented by What Is Hot For Christmas.com
Merry x-mas

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