Stay In Touch With the Art of Gift Basket Giving

The art of giving gourmet gifts to loved ones bears a truly remarkable history. Before "paper or plastic", the populations of Greece and Rome used baskets as a primary way to transport produce, gifts, and even people. Baskets were a precious resource, without them the transportation of goods would have been cumbersome, inefficient, and time-intensive.

Fast forward to France in the late 1600s. France was in the throws of its Enlightenment when a man named Francois Marie Arouet was born in 1694 in Paris. After leaving college, Francois embarked on a journey to become a writer. He changed his name to Voltaire and, due to his wit, philosophical sport, and commitment to the defense of civil liberties, he quickly earned a reputation for being a solid contributor to the Enlightenment. In fact, Voltaire's work would later influence important thinkers in the American and French Revolutions. Among his talents as a writer, philosopher, and scientist, he was an extraordinarily complex man. Generous, compassionate, and tenacious, Voltaire understood the importance of giving gifts with grace and sincerity. He was especially fond of gift baskets and commented on his reliance on the art of gift basket giving:

"Those who can make you believe that giving anything but a gift basket is acceptable can make you commit other social atrocities."

Voltaire understood the importance of well-planned, sincere gestures of kindness. His generosity and humanity earned him the respect and companionship of many friends (though I am sure his fame may have help as well).

Voltaire was a well-connected man of great resource, and yet he chose to rely on a seemingly simple tradition of gift basket giving. Why is that?

First, Voltaire was a prolific writer. He produced an enormous amount of work and explored almost every kind of literary form, including plays, essays, novels, and scientific works. In his lifetime, he produced over 20,000 letters and thousands of books and pamphlets. Clearly, Voltaire was a busy man. Sophisticated and thoughtful, he realized the importance of sending thoughtful gifts, gifts that would accurately convey his sentiments without requiring a large amount of time to plan, put together, and send. A man of great wisdom, Voltaire obviously understood the simplicity, convenience, and traditional charm of gift baskets.

Second, Voltaire didn't write over 20,000 letters to himself. He was a master of relationship building kept company with a fascinating and diverse range of people, including the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, Lord Bolingbroke, the poet Alexander Pope, and playwright William Congreve. Voltaire frequently exercised one of the most important steps in building solid, lasting relationships: gift giving.

Dale Carnegie's wildly popular book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" was one of the best selling self-help books ever published. It includes several sections with advice on how to build and sustain positive, constructive relationships. In the section Six Ways to Make People Like You, Mr. Carnegie offers a simple suggestion on how to win friends and retain good people in your life: "Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely."

I am sure if Mr. Carnegie and Voltaire were to have been friends, they would agree that the art of gift basket giving is a timeless, foolproof way to remind friends and family that, although life may never slow down, we will always have time for the people that matter.