The Lemon Fool

We're off to America next week (St Louis). We're staying with a couple of families who we hosted on trips they made to the UK over the past few years and I'm trying to think of interesting little gifts we can take with us. Can anyone suggest any ideas.
The obvious ones are things like Cadbury's chocolate and t-shirts, but I'm trying to think of something a bit more quirky.

I think the days are gone now where there are things that you just can't buy, as the likes of Amazon and other options on the internet mean you can buy even the most unusual things.

I'm originally from Sheffield so will be taking along a bottle of Henderson's Relish, but that's a suitable gift for most people anywhere given the lack of availability of the stuff outside Sheffield!

Anyone got any ideas?

Cadburys chocolate is now made to an American recipe, which is why a crème egg tastes so sickly sweet. I gather it has been compared to a Hershey bar, not that I've ever tasted a Hershey bar.

Something more wholesomely British, then. How about a pack of beef with no added growth hormones?

BJ

Kinder Eggs

A jar of Johnson's Brexit Pickle would be well received I'm sure.

RC

robbelg wrote:Kinder Eggs

Great idea. They'll be choked.

Scott0966 wrote:We're off to America next week (St Louis). We're staying with a couple of families who we hosted on trips they made to the UK over the past few years and I'm trying to think of interesting little gifts we can take with us. Can anyone suggest any ideas.
The obvious ones are things like Cadbury's chocolate and t-shirts, but I'm trying to think of something a bit more quirky.

I think the days are gone now where there are things that you just can't buy, as the likes of Amazon and other options on the internet mean you can buy even the most unusual things.

I'm originally from Sheffield so will be taking along a bottle of Henderson's Relish, but that's a suitable gift for most people anywhere given the lack of availability of the stuff outside Sheffield!

Anyone got any ideas?

1. Revels
2. British style toiletries
3. Tunnocks Milk Chocolate Tea Cakes
4. Yorkshire Tea - the best in the world
5. A cricket ball
6. Chocolate London Guards - https://www.johnlewis.com/choc-on-choc- ... g/p1753543

AiY

I don't know the US regulations on food imports, but if biscuits are allowed, Walkers (Scottish shortbread and biscuit manufacturer) produce various shaped Tins containing biscuits - e.g. a London Bus Tin, a Post Box Tin, a Scotty Dog Tin, and a Wobbly Piper Tin.

scotia wrote:I don't know the US regulations on food imports

I don't either but the only thing like that that I have been asked about at US immigration, more than once, is about meat products, along with questions about whether I have been on a farm in the UK. Evidently they still don't trust us on meat after the various problems a decade or so ago.

I've also been asked whether I am carrying bovine semen, so I'd rule that out as a gift

A lot of food is better in America than here, in my view. But two things that definitely are not are cheese and cream. I've been told this is because the US has stricter rules about dairy products. In any event those might make for good gifts other than that they are a pig to transport. Cream might go off or coagulate, whilst cheese might run and smell. But if you think you can mitigate those risks then I imagine that the average American would welcome seeing what those items should really taste like after the anaemic items sold in the US.

English mustard - make their eyes water.
English sparkling wine - bit pricey but has beaten Champagne in competition.
A recording of some outrageous British TV - comedy like 'Mock the week' or '8 out of ten cats do Countdown'.
A photo of BoJo with caption 'See we're as dumb as you...'
Maltesers.

A baseball cap https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Donald-Trump ... 2255878187?

Better still, this is the one I was thinking of:

https://www.zazzle.co.uk/make_america_g ... 7072329688

Bassett's Allsorts goes down well with a cousin from California.
For a proper British present, how about Yorkshire Tea. You can spend a pleasant half-hour describing to Americans how the locals in Batley wear clogs when on the Yorkshire tea plantations, using their whippets to smell out the very finest tea leaves.

Marmite.
A teapot (with instructions - seriously, having had tea made in a pan of boiling water when visiting friends...)
A cricket bat
Anything in a Harrods bag (maybe a tea caddy with tea)
Gordon's Gin (if they are interested in alcohol)
A themed tea towel
A dvd of a British sitcom or comedien
Britsh cider
An English-American dictionary
An English recipe cookbook
Anything they liked from their stay whilst over here? (any biscuits, beers, foods etc.)

Have a good trip.

VRD

vrdiver wrote:Gordon's Gin (if they are interested in alcohol)

Gordon's is widely available in the US. For something more eclectic, you could choose this gin from Cornwall that won the silver in the world gin awards last year:

http://www.worldginawards.com/winner/si ... wards-2018

https://www.trevethandistillery.com/

Couple with Fevertree tonic, also British, although widely available in the U.S.

Scott0966 wrote:We're off to America next week (St Louis). We're staying with a couple of families who we hosted on trips they made to the UK over the past few years and I'm trying to think of interesting little gifts we can take with us. Can anyone suggest any ideas.
The obvious ones are things like Cadbury's chocolate and t-shirts, but I'm trying to think of something a bit more quirky.

I think the days are gone now where there are things that you just can't buy, as the likes of Amazon and other options on the internet mean you can buy even the most unusual things.

I'm originally from Sheffield so will be taking along a bottle of Henderson's Relish, but that's a suitable gift for most people anywhere given the lack of availability of the stuff outside Sheffield!

Anyone got any ideas?

As others have mentioned, check out the US customs etc regulations on what you can take in, particularly food and liquids.

I've been going to US for 30+ years on an annual basis and staying with friends/relatives.
I tend to go for small, individually produced (think craftsmen) hand-made items that indicate locally-produced (so have a story), don't weigh a lot (for luggage), medium value (don't attract the attention of customs).
Not that I'm trying to punt them, but I live near the Lake District, and the slate coasters (and other products) from the mine shop at Honister are interesting and seem to go down quite well. Maybe there's something similar in the Peak District or something elegant steel-related (Sheffield): cutlery?
I've also taken products (scarf etc) made from local (Herdwick) sheep which are interesting.
I also found a local potter who made some wonderful interesting small jugs (size similar to cream/milk jug) that were a hit with my cousin (now in Ohio) when it turned out the potter was from the same small village that my cousin was born in.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and a few chuckles along the way.

How about a knife, provided that you don't have any superstitions about gifting a knife.

Something by Taylers eye witness or A.Wright & Son?

Though I confess that you can obtain such things outside of Sheffield and that there are many respected US manufacturers.

I've always found that a Quaich makes a well-received gift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaich, though it's scottish rather than from Sheffield

--kiloran

What's the superstition about giving a knife?

zico wrote:What's the superstition about giving a knife?

Apparently there's this weird thing about how airport security might react to it.

Ob serious answer: some folk have phobias, and some cultures just think it's a bad idea. I'm one of the former, thanks to having been stabbed with an 11 inch carving knife in the past. Never quite feel 100% easy about any knife that isn't in a drawer. Wouldn't want one as a gift.

BJ