Vicki Thomas marks 100 years of seminal book on gift giving at Spring Fair
A year of giving and celebrations is being featured at Spring Fair to mark a century since Marcel Mauss’ The Gift book was published about the positive value of exchanging gifts, and greeting cards play a part.
As a common theme across almost all cultures and societies, giving and receiving gifts has been drawn together to mark the book’s 100th anniversary in The Year Of The Gift by Vicki Thomas, of Vicki Thomas Associates consultancy.
And she’s bringing her pop-up display, with the display boxes supplied by cardboard maestro N Smith, celebrating the huge benefits of gifting to Spring Fair on stand 3H41, as part of the show’s own 75th anniversary from Sunday to Wednesday, 2-5 February, at Birmingham’s NEC.
“I won’t be manning the stand though,” Vicki laughed, “I learned through my first display at Giving & Living in Exeter a couple of weeks ago that people will stop and read it if not being watched!
“Exhibitors have lent samples to illustrate the texts, and there was interest in sustainability, women’s empowerment and visitors reflecting on their business history and experiences.”
Vicki has taken inspiration from Mauss’ essay in 1925, which drew on the work of other anthropologists, to launch The Year Of The Gift as 12 months of celebrations and anniversaries, of giving and its value in people’s everyday lives.
She explained: “What do we mean by a gift? How do you define the word? People have very different assumptions and understandings. I have had very diverse reactions when I’ve talked about gifts, from when I started to study how gifts are designed 40 years ago to working on The Year Of The Gift for 2025.”
Having studied anthropology, Vicki went on to join the design history course which established a new link from the Royal College Of Art to its roots at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and she realised the relevance of Mauss’ writings when visiting the V&A and seeing that the beautiful things it contains are especially designed to be given or presented.
She went on to study the Victorian industry where gifting underwent a transformation in its value to creativity, trade and communication. Sir Henry Cole and Prince Albert in particular understood the importance of gift giving, the former inventing Christmas cards, and the latter introducing traditions such as presents under the tree.
Mauss revealed how gift giving builds social cohesion, creativity and enterprise – today that enterprise is worth £42billion to the UK economy, and Vicki added: “Anyone involved in retail or hospitality will appreciate the economic value of Christmas and the other feast days that mark the depth of winter and the promise of light and new growth in the spring.
“For Mauss gift giving is part of sharing the bounty in the good times. Sharing food and celebrating good harvests is common to communities large and small. He said a gift is not simply sharing but there is a spirit, understanding or obligation to give back imbued into the gift – even if it is consumed and experienced – like a meal, concert or pint of beer. You feel an obligation to give, even ahead of time, bring a bottle, buy the next round or plan the next outing.”
One person who knows exactly what Vicki’s talking about is Lincoln Exley, of book publisher and distributor Allsorted who’ll be exhibiting at Spring Fair on Stand 4D82-E83, as he’s fascinated by why people give gifts so has studied the psychology and anthropology – and read Marcel Mauss’ book The Gift.
Vicki says the original concept of gift-giving is lost in the mists of time as no one knows who gave the first one, some will find answers in religious texts or looking to evolution and Mother Nature where folk traditions such as wassailing the trees – blessing them for a good harvest – could also be seen as thanking them for the gift of fruit like apples for crumble and cider, and providing a habitat for wildlife.
“Mauss and his fellow researchers’ work is not well known in the gift trades,” Vicki said, “so the aim of The Year is to share and celebrate their ideas.
“Speaking to other producers, traders, designer makers and marketeers, most have not stopped to think about any social process underlying their businesses. If they have, they mention a psychological or symbolic explanation. ‘Oh, it’s one of The 5 Languages Of Love, isn’t it?’ said a stand holder at Giving & Living.
“BCorp accreditation means some companies look at all their activities and try to be more than just profitable. The notion of being part of a community is important, so they have been quick to see the relevance of the reciprocal ideas explored in The Gift. Other companies mention their own business histories with stories of skills and knowledge being passed on and traded globally. In 2025 I am trying to share a definition, a way of explaining giving.
“How would I define a gift? It is something that is given – time, talent, knowledge, money – but it has a message bound into it, not simply an obligation but a message that represents an understanding between you and the recipient.
“You can design make buy, commission, personalise, to make the gift communicate what you want it to say. It can be very expensive designer merchandise or your last Rolo! The message may simply be with love to that person and no return is needed.”
