The thread about gifts for daughters and DILs and sons’ GFs made me think about this.
What’s a really bad gift you’ve received?
We once received a hostess gift from some friends. When we opened it, there was a card inside addressed to the people who gave us the gift.
When I got married to my first husband, I had a friend that had recently joined up with a controversial church…she and her fiancé came to our wedding , but refused to stay at the reception because alcohol was being served ( made me mad since we had budgeted tightly and paid for two meals that went to waste )
She gave me a bible with a handwritten note on the first page that read : Dear L&R. Congratulations on your wedding , but the one thing you have lacking in your life is a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The only way to achieve that is to repent and attend our church. Anything less is the pathway to Hell.
I would have preferred some towels or cutlery
That’s pretty funny, @VeryHappy.
I guess I’m in the minority of those who haven’t really gotten any “bad” gits. A few have been misfires, but they were well-meant, and received that way.
@lje62, that’s awful! I would have preferred even toilet paper.
@VeryHappy, toilet paper is for the first year anniversary on your way to hell.
One of my kid has received a regifted present. I would have been fine with it except that I spent an enormous time talking to the mom about what kind of gift my daughter would like. It looked like something her boy received and she decided to regift. It’s not the gift, but please save me the irony.
Not me, but my daughter. Came home from a Christmas gift exchange with three pairs of plain, functional underpants. She was 22. No explanation. This was a gift from an older couple. Very puzzling, because in previous years, they bought her thoughtful, fun gifts. My DH commented, " Well, I guess you’re not the favorite anymore."
My mom had a friend who would bring gifts of expired food items. She was quite well off, so we couldn’t figure that one out, either.
I figure a regifted hostess gift at least is likely to be something you’d like to get.
In high school (late 60s) my aunt once gave me a real old lady purse. Navy blue leather, two short little strap, something my mother might have used, but I used cloth hippie-ish shoulder bags, and had a very hard time writing the nice thank- you letter.
When one of my daughters was in high school, there was a boy who she hung out with that had a crush on her. He brought me a little " suck up to the mom " gift when he came to hang out with her during his Christmas break from college. Pretty sure it was re-gifted and his mother urged him to bring it. Since there was absolutely no need to bring me a gift, I really appreciated it ! it was a candle from Williams Sonoma and I loved it…what a nice boy 
My kid received a tie dye shirt for her birthday from a friend whose family was very wealthy. It was a major birthday for my kid and if anyone knew my kid would know she would never wear a tie dye shirt. This family had multiple nannies for their kids. I think the mom asked a nanny to grab something from their re-gift closet and the nanny just grabbed the first thing she saw.
That being said, when my kids were little I used to have a re-gift closet. I put duplicate gifts my kids got or something they would never use in that closet and give them to other kids, but I wouldn’t give a gift to someone who I didn’t think would like it.
Not me, but a close friend received trash bags from her eccentric grandmother.
The trash bags reminded me of my grandmother gave one of my aunts Kkeenex.
My sister received a clock with a pharmaceutical name (maybe a name of some medicine) on it as wedding present from a family acquaintance. Her son was a pharmacist so I have to wonder if it was a free gift he had gotten from one of the companies.
I don’t want to seem like a big ol’ complainer, because weird or bad gifts are so much fun to receive, once you get over the initial…surprise. They are far more memorable than most nice gifts. When I was in high school, my sister and I went to my sister’s best friend’s house for a Christmas party. The best friend gave another girl an entire gift palooza: trendy cologne, makeup, a sweater and a scarf. My sis, the “best friend” received a really strange, cheap pin in the shape of a banana. For years, we’d describe presents like this, “Well, it was no banana pin, but…”
I would not call it a “bad” gift, just a really, really weird one. We have friends who are into “antiques”. The kitsch they unearth is amazing. Their last gift took the ultimate prize in kitschiness - a couple of Soviet posters on chemistry lab safety… something about fire and not drinking methanol… Why?! LOL.
Here’s one for you. A family member, who has been misspelling my name on Christmas presents for over 20 years, gave me a tube of used lipstick for Christmas two years ago.
I thought it was a mistake at first but, nope.
I’ve been pretty lucky with gifts, but back a few years ago, H’s nephew, who’s only a few years younger than we are (MUCH older sister of H’s is the mom) give me a DVD with some Andy Griffith Show episodes on it. It wasn’t even a whole season, just a few episodes. And Mayberry, land of the make believe good-ole country boy life. UGH. I’m not sure if he was insulting me or just grabbed a DVD off the rack at the dollar store. Now that he has a spouse, things have markedly improved. That year he gave H a bank that looked like a toilet and made a flushing sound when you put money in it.
During my first couple of years of marriage, my MIL bought me numerous clothing items that were 2 or 3 sizes too big. My H tried to run interference (at the time she really intimidated me) by reminding her of my actual size, but she kept it up.
Eventually I was able to wear a dress from her in her presence–because I was 7 months pregnant! Mind you it was NOT a maternity dress, just a drop waist dress that was way too big until I had 25 extra pounds on me. That finally brought it home to her.
Still don’t know if she was passive aggressive or just careless/unobservant, but it doesn’t matter now as we have grown to have a lovely relationship.
BB #15 – I would love those posters! That’s my idea of a unique, interesting, thoughtful gift!