There are a lot of “official” holidays in the U.S., and while gift giving is common on some of these days, other holidays are celebrated either with or without gifts.
Any list of gift giving holidays will likely include a few holidays where gifts are optional, but let’s face it, the days that allow us to give and receive gifts are a lot more fun! For the main holidays that involve gift giving, keep reading.
Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is also known as the Feast of Saint Valentine and is celebrated on February 14th. It is a U.S. holiday but has now been adopted by many other countries.
Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love and romance, but it isn’t just couples that buy gifts for one another on this day. Many people buy Valentine’s Day gifts for friends, parents, grandchildren, and many others. Typical gifts include candy, flowers, gift baskets, and even jewelry.
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day became an official holiday in 1914 and, in the U.S., is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. It is celebrated to honor mothers, undoubtedly one of the most important people in our lives. Gifts can include flowers, candy, and anything else that mothers tend to love.
The most important reason for the holiday is to show the mothers and grandmothers in our lives how much we appreciate them.
Sometimes simply giving them the day off and taking over all of the household chores like cooking and cleaning is the only gift you need to give! But, if you’re looking for a good gift idea for Mother’s Day, we have plenty of ideas listed here.
Father’s Day
Celebrated on the third Sunday in June in the US, Father’s Day became an official holiday by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, although it had been celebrated since June of 1910. It exists to show fathers how much we appreciate them and what an important role they play in our lives.
Father’s Day cards come in all types, including funny, serious, and religious, and most people give their fathers a card and gift on that special day. If you need a cool gift idea for your Dad, you can find some ideas here.
Christmas Day
A celebration of the birth of Christ, Christmas is celebrated on December 25th and is the most significant of all of the gift giving holidays.
In fact, many people go overboard with their gift giving during the Christmas season, giving gifts such as toys, clothing, jewelry, household items, and homemade gifts, to name a few. In fact, when it comes to retail sales, this is very likely the most expensive time of the year to give gifts.
What About Other Holidays?
Other holidays occur in the U.S. that involve gift giving, but for many of them, the giving of gifts is optional. Below are a few of these holidays.
- Purim (Feast of Lots). Celebrated in late winter/early spring, this is a Jewish holiday that celebrates their deliverance from a massacre that was planned by the Persian minister. It usually involves the giving of a food basket that contains drinks, sweets, and other foods.
- Birthdays. People of all ages love to give gifts to people celebrating a birthday, so while these aren’t official holidays, they are huge gift-giving events.
- Wedding anniversaries. Again, this is not a holiday but is a gift giving day that people rarely forget, especially between couples who are celebrating the day.
- Easter/Passover. Celebrated in the spring, these Christian and Jewish holidays normally involve some type of gift. Easter usually consists of giving Easter baskets filled with goodies, while people usually bring gifts to seder dinners each night of Passover.
- Halloween. Halloween gifts are becoming more and more popular, but the most common Halloween gifts are candy items given out to trick-or-treaters.
When it comes to holidays where you give gifts, there are certainly a lot of them to enjoy. It’s always fun to give and receive gifts, so it’s good to know we have a lot of opportunities to do just that all throughout the year.
And, don’t forget, if you’re stuck for ideas when choosing a gift for someone, our gift guides are here to help. We’ve got every guide you might need, from gift ideas for vegetarians through to gifts for people who have everything. Find the perfect present in our gift giving guides now.
