Father’s Day is a holiday created by some nerd named Sonora Smart Dodd in 1910. She was raised by her father, and suggested we make it into an international holiday. You would think it was made by grill manufacturers, but no, this is a standard Western norm. The celebration of fathers has been done since 1508, and the tradition was brought to America by the Spanish. Father’s Day gifts always tend to be a bit of an odd concoction of items that I haven’t known a father to like. Growing up, I never met a single father who actually golfed or anyone who wanted to buy beer merchandise. While my dad did grill, he wasn’t obsessed with it. Truthfully when Father’s Day comes along, it becomes a struggle to figure out what to do. However, for this year, I didn’t want to let that deter me. For this Father’s Day, I decided to make a sustainably friendly gift.
When it comes to gifts, you can’t go wrong with food. People love food. People need food. Giving the gift of excellent or nice food is giving the gift of good life. I know my dad loves artisan spices and salts, so I thought I’d buy him a collection for Father’s Day.
There is a store called Re_, a bust goods store. It takes away the use of plastic and the rise of prices done by the labels by selling goods in bulk. You can buy the amount you want, with more options than a standard supermarket. One of their stores opened relatively close to where I lived, selling about four kinds of flavored salt.
However, I didn’t want to present the item in some boring basic glass containers. Instead, I really wanted to utilize the sustainable aspect of the gift. For the gifting, I went to a thrift store called All Things and More and bought vintage tea cups and a vintage salt and pepper set. Finding a vintage cigar box or a vintage recreation cigar box at the thrift store, I knew I had the perfect gift. After cleaning everything thoroughly (NOTE: dental cleaning tablets are the best cleaning solution for cups and bottles), I knew I had something unique. The items were repurposed, and the gift was something special that my dad would really like.
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Gift-giving holidays are always tricky. When we were kids, they were awesome because that meant we got a ton of great gifts, but as we got older, getting gifts became less cool and more of a hassle. What do we want? It’s hard to figure that out at least two times a year. Regarding the perfect gift, food is always supreme because it will always be appreciated. Giving a nicely thrifted gift seems like it was thought out and perfected. This salt gift was simple and sustainably made, and I know my dad will love it.
