Bringing Back The Newspaper Wrapping

One of my favorite Christmas memories from my childhood would be the gifts we would receive from my father. You knew which ones were his because they were always oddly shaped and wrapped in the Sunday comics. These gifts wouldn’t be the trendy things we asked for in the 90s like a bookshelf stereo or a Starter jacket, (hello, I am a hundred years old) but they would contain cool things like bongo drums from a second hand shop in Iowa City, or the bootleg 4 CD set of a Pearl Jam concert one of Dad’s sound buddies recorded off the board.

My dad’s gifts were thoughtful, timeless, mostly inexpensive, but always something exciting because of the paper! It lent a bit of mystery to the whole thing. When did he start saving Sunday comics so he would have enough by Christmas? Why comics and not just a $1 roll of festive wrapping paper? Were the gifts made cooler by the comics or were the comics made cooler by the gifts?

Sadly, it never occurred to me to ask my dad those questions because I took for granted that I had an unlimited amount of holidays to spend with him.

As this year’s holiday season is scaled back for most of us due to COVID-19, I am thinking a lot of those throwback years in the 90s, and this period of time is making me nostalgic for those simpler holidays. We didn’t have widespread use of cell phones until the end of the decade. Long distance holiday phone calls to family far away was a major event at 10¢ a minute. Online shopping wasn’t a thing. We dog-eared catalogues on our Grandmother’s coffee table so she would know what to get us.

…. and the armload of gifts haphazardly wrapped in the Sunday Comics under the tree!

I think that’s the tradition I’m going to bring back for myself this year as a way to be both nostalgic and support recycling through sustainable gift wrapping. I’m going to use all of the newspaper pages instead of limiting myself to comics, and add fun little touches of reusable items like twine, fabric ribbon, and other rustic things I can round up.

The only trouble is… I don’t have a newspaper subscription. I might be an old, but I do read all of my news digitally, so I’m in a bit of a pickle as far as obtaining newspapers is concerned. I see a lot of my neighbors have newspapers just sitting in their driveway, but if I start snatching everyone’s week-old Wall Street Journal, things could get weird very quickly.

Then I had an even better idea… how about I make this a socially distant cookie swap? Baking is my favorite thing about the holidays, and since there’s really no one to bake for as we stay safer at home, why don’t I send out a mass email to friends and neighbors who live close by for a newspaper/cookie exchange? Bring me your stash of old newspapers, leave them on my porch, and I will leave you a plate of cookies! We can wave to one another through the window!

Yeah, the neighbors not in the know will be all, “Why are there people bringing her newspapers, and why is she giving them cookies?” But who cares? We’re being fun, socially distant, and sustainable over here, Brenda. Get on our level.

So if you’re looking for ways to be festive during this totally odd holiday season, why not swap out the wrapping paper for newspaper? If you don’t have a subscription, make it an excuse to have a holiday porch swap! It’s a great way to keep the joy alive this year while also being mindful.