Best gifts to bring you back to your childhood
The National Gallery of Art sells sunprint kits. Yes, we are talking about those sheets that you leave in the sun with strategically placed leaves upon them to create white designs on the blue background. Yes, you probably had a kit like this when you were in elementary school. And, yes, apparently, they continue to exist. Also in the category of “Kids are still into that?” is Thomas the Tank Engine. Making tracks since 1946, Thomas books continue to be beloved by visitors to the National Capital Trolley Museum.
Best Obama (at least, the one with the most consistent approval rating)
For the kid whose interest in politics only extends as far as the first pet, swing by the Newseum for a stuffed Bo Obama. Bo comes with a red, white and blue collar. Unlike the president, he has not gone gray.
Best way to indulge your off-kilter friends
The National Building Museum sells cookery for the crazy in the form of an OCD cutting board, marked with exact measurements for every type of slicing and dicing imaginable.
Least convincing hiding place
The International Spy Museum sells hollowed-out Harry Potter books, where an enterprising teen might stow away anything he doesn’t want his parents to uncover. The only problem is that these books do not particularly resemble the real Harry Potter books. In fact, their not-so-sneaky title is “Harry Potter’s Book of Very Secret Stuff.” Seeing as the vast majority of humanity is familiar with this boy wizard and his magical misadventures, this book will probably fool only someone who has been cut off from pop culture for the past 15 years.
Best gift for someone you don’t like (adult)
Nothing expresses loving and loathing simultaneously like a present (love) that is actually quite mean (hate). The Folger Shakespeare Library sells Shakespeare Insult Mugs, with eloquent put-downs for every situation: inform a friend that “thou art a boil” or perhaps “a lump of foul deformity” or even “a fussy nut with no kernel.” Or take the more direct route with the Newseum’s “Unfriend you” T-shirt.
Best gift for someone you don’t like (younger than 12)
The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum sells spelling ABC dice, which are exactly what they sound like. Imagine the child unwrapping the gift : Maybe it’s an iPod! Maybe it’s candy! Maybe it’s … um, spelling ABC dice? For the kid who has everything!
Most popular
More than 25,000 packets of the Air and Space Museum’s freeze-dried astronaut ice cream have been sold this year.
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