Gift baskets have always been a corporate gift tradition, but an interesting article by Ellie Brash, appearing on Scotsman.com, showed how the contents of these baskets have changed over the years. Surprisingly, ox tongue and turtle soup were the contents of a gift basket.
During the 1930-1940’s, especially during wartime, these gift baskets were called “provision parcels”. During this period, they contained items such as cigarettes, turtle soup, apples, and figs or plums.
However, this is in contrast to the later part of the 1940’s when alcohol such as claret, champagne, or port was included in the gift baskets along with a bottle of squash.
It was not unti after this time that turkey became part of the Christmas tradition.
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