Gifts from the Greatest Generation

8/28/09 Cross Pen, sold on eBay for $6.51

Do people still give pens as gifts? I received this very fancy (and perhaps equally expensive) Cross pen as a graduation gift. It was so long ago, that I don't know if I was graduating from high school (Go Ramblers!!!) or college (Go Tigers!!!). I have the sense that my grandparents gave the pen to me, but that might only be because I associates such gifts with the Greatest Generation. I'm not so sure anyone born after 1930 has ever given a pen as a present.

Now, I could be way off on this. I just know that a pen seems like the kind of gift that is both classic and - to be honest - silly. Perhaps back in the day, it took momentous life achievements to earn functional writing utensils. Maybe, sixty years ago, that was the primary motivation for people to become lawyers: at least when they passed the bar, someone would think highly enough of them to give them a pen that actually wrote.

But let's be honest, we've come a long way, baby. Basically, any pen you grab at the Dollar Store is gonna work just fine. And great pens? The absolutely best pens in the world? Well, as I said earlier this week, you can pick up a pack of those at Staples for less than $10 a dozen.

I held onto that Cross pen (in its original box) for twenty years because I always felt I should appreciate it more than I did. Maybe the new owner (thank you eBay!) will truly love it.

I just hope she doesn't give it away as a graduation gift.