At Tinggly, we’re all about helping people find the perfect gift for that special someone, wherever they are and whatever they like to do. But of course there are many gifts that don’t quite hit the mark, or are simply just too bizarre for words. Here’s a few of them…
Weird Royal Gifts
source: pickle.nine.com.auRoyalty have strict rules governing what can and can’t be done with gifts they receive, which is necessary since they are given so many they could probably fill a palace with them. One of the strangest gifts ever given to Queen Elizabeth II was 500 cases of tinned pineapple, sent by Australia as a wedding present.
Animals have often been given as gifts between world leaders of course. Queen Elizabeth could have opened a zoo by now, while President George Bush once received a komodo dragon, Vladimir Putin was given a puppy by Bulgaria, and China has been practising what’s known as ‘panda diplomacy’ for years. In 2013 Malian officials gifted a camel to President Francois Hollande of France. He promptly regifted it to a Timbuktu family, who made it into a stew!
Unusual Diplomatic Gifts
As of 2014, any gift over the value of $375 has to be placed in the National Archives to prevent any notion of impropriety. After the president leaves office, the gifts they have received often go to their presidential library, but they do have the option to buy them at market value. Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th President of the United States, would have found it difficult to judge the price of a gift he once received, which was a lemon carved in the shape of a pig. It may or may not have been related to his wife’s nickname of ‘Lemonade Lucy’ which she received after she banned alcoholic drinks from state functions.
In 2011, Australia (them again!) topped this, when the Chief Minister of the Northern Territories gave visiting President Obama the gift of crocodile insurance – had he been devoured by a hungry croc during his trip, Michelle would have got a payout of some AUD$50,000. Obama was reportedly “relieved”.
Bizarre Celebrity Gifts
If your loved one promised you a birthday dinner and then took you out for fast food, you’d understandably be a bit disappointed. Kanye West took the concept to a whole new level though, when he bought 10 Burger King franchises for Kim Kardashian as a wedding gift!
Scarlett Johansson showed her darker side when she gave her boyfriend Ryan Reynolds one of her wisdom teeth, which had been dipped in gold, on a necklace. Didn’t stop the relationship er, biting the dust, after a while.
Richard Burton went for a slightly more classy approach when he gave his wife Elizabeth Taylor a 69-carat pear-shaped diamond in 1969. A decade later, she auctioned it off and used the $5 million proceeds to help build a hospital in Botswana, saying “They need one badly and I certainly don’t need another ring.”
The Creepiest Gift Ever?
All of these gifts pale into insignificance when put against the one given by James Allen. Allen was a notorious 19th century highwayman who grudgingly respected the man who eventually brought him to justice. Before he went to the gallows the crook wrote his life story and a confession of his crimes, and arranged to have the book bound – in his own skin. This was presented to the detective and now sits in the Boston Athenaeum. Mmm, tasteful.
If you’re on the hunt for unusual, but still amazing gifts, then you’ll find plenty of inspiration in the Tinggly catalogue where you can give the whole world in just one gift!