The Christmas Calenders

At the family Christmas get-together way back in 1971, my brother-in-law Arthur unwittingly started a tradition that now begins its 40th year - the giving of the watch band calenders. Once upon a time, unless very expensive, watches did not have calender and date functions, so a popular item back then was a little band of aluminum, imprinted with a calender month, that one could fit around the watch band.

They looked like this:

 

Snap the appropriate month off, bend the tabs around the band, and there you go, all calendered up. They even have popular holidays designated.

So, that Christmas, Arthur gave me a supply of watch band calenders. About 10 pounds of watch band calenders! Thousands of watch band calenders! And did you notice the date? That's right, 1971 - the year just past.

As you might suspect, these bands have been re-gifted. Many times. The year 1971 repeats about every 11 years, so these became appropriate family gifts again in 1982, 1993, 1999 and 2010. Not only that, these little strips of aluminum have been glued to various and sundry other gifts, such as a waste-basket sized container given on the occasion of my sister and brother-in-laws silver wedding anniversary. They have decorated many a Christmas tree, they have been craft projects for many a Pre-K class. They have been used in a variety of ways, but fear not - there are still plenty of watch band calendars left.

 And yes, they definitely were re-gifted this year. John is the new Keeper of the Calenders. You may want to congratulate him on this auspicious honor. Can't wait till 2021.