It’s the thought that counts — unless it doesn’t.
The holiday season is a time for gift-giving, but being on the receiving end of these presents wasn’t necessarily the best.
From being gifted car seat covers for someone else’s car to getting a wedding cake at the age of 16, a burnt-orange jumpsuit or an actual piece of preserved cow dung, for these Canadians, it would’ve been better to get nothing at all.
Here are some of the best worst gifts Global News readers have ever received:
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‘Hanukkah gift from hell’
“My 12th birthday was a particularly exciting occasion because it happened to land on the first night of Hanukkah in 2010. I thought my parents would reward this coincidence with double the presents, or perhaps one super-gift that would make my dreams come true — for the record, I was dreaming of an iPod Touch. Instead, I received the same Hanukkah gift as all my siblings: multi-coloured socks and a CD about Greek mythology entitled School on a Disc. The worst part of the ordeal was my mother purchased both items from Mastermind Toys, meaning she browsed shelves of kid-appropriate toys and somehow left the store with literal school on a disc. School on a Disc soon became a running gag within my family, used as a code to signify someone receiving or giving an unwanted present.”
— Josh G., Toronto, Ont.
Car catastrophe
“My husband (now ex) gave me car seat covers and a hood ornament for a Grand Marquis car; for his car. I was taken aback. I don’t still have the two gifts as they were for his car, so he promptly installed them in his car. It’s laughable now at least.”
— Kim H., Winnipeg, Man.
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Creepy or crafty?
“A family member loves to do interesting vintage doll crafts and so I have gotten the strangest gifts from her. A couple of years ago, she gave me a handmade Kleenex box cover. It was a doll head glued onto faux fur.”
— Carly D., Vancouver, B.C.
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‘Piece of crap for Christmas’
— Rob H., Kelowna, B.C.
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Orange you glad you didn’t get this for Christmas?
“It was a burnt-orange, two-piece jumpsuit. My husband gave it to me based on his tastes for clothes, which can be just gross. Even when I give him pictures of sweaters to buy me for Christmas, he still strays off that and gets something ugly. Thankfully, he gets a gift receipt so I can exchange it for something tasteful. I smiled and thought to myself, ‘Gosh, how ugly’ and buried it in the back of my closet for years. I made sure it would never see the light of day again. Two years ago, I was clearing out an old storage closet to make room to hang the winter coats, and it was still in there. I gave it away for a clothing donation so I would never see that thing again.”
— Debby F., Winnipeg, Man.
Progress, not perfection
“My husband gave me a bottle of contact lens cleaner — I don’t wear glasses or contacts — with a box of dryer sheets. When I asked him why, he told me that was all the store had left. We’ve been married 42 years this year, and his gift-giving has improved. A couple of years ago, I got a set of pots and pans from Larry the Liquidator and, last year, a hand-held Dirt Devil.”
— Bev C., Sutton, Ont.
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No scents is good sense
— Maryse B., Calgary, Alta.
Knock-off Christmas
“The year was 1989. At 11 years old, I had just one item on my Christmas list: the newly released video game console Sega Genesis. Christmas morning came, and I was certain a Genesis was under the tree, wrapped up and ready for an endless gaming session. Months of anticipation built up to the big moment of me opening my final gift. I unwrapped it, only to find a TurboGrafx-16 video game system. Never heard of it? Yeah, there’s a reason. That Christmas I learned to never expect anything in this cruel existence.”
— Shaun T., Edmonton, Alta.
Something’s fishy…
“My mother gave me a box of tuna Hamburger Helper and some cans of tuna one year for Christmas. She asked me what I wanted and I told her she knew me well enough and that something practical would be nice. I laughed in good fun and thought it was a joke until my mom told me she knew I loved tuna casserole growing up and that I could make my own version of it for myself. I didn’t sulk about the present though. I think I have a good sense of humour and thought the story of the gift was a great present in itself, which I still enjoy sharing. This year I am returning the favour and she’s getting a box of tuna helper and tuna in her stocking.”
— Aimee Sheppard Bucholtz., Langley, B.C.
Wedding bells or silver bells?
— Katy F., Nanaimo, B.C.
Two sizes too small big
“Four years ago, when I was 30, I received a polyester bowling shirt that was about two sizes too big from my terribly out-of-touch father. I told my father I didn’t bowl, then he got upset and said: ‘It’s not a bowling shirt, it’s a cool guy shirt that cool guys wear.’ I typed the shirt brand into Google, brought up their website, and their slogan was ‘makers of fine retro-style bowling shirts.’ I showed my father, who got furious, continued to deny that it was a bowling shirt and ultimately took the gift back from me, saying: ‘Well, maybe I’ll just wear it myself!'”
— Alex H., Ottawa, Ont.
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Rocking on thin ice
“At the time of this tender gift-giving, I was living in Kamloops. It was my 30th birthday and I was feeling particularly old and fragile. My husband of 11 years gave me an old-fashioned wooden rocking chair. I burst into tears and refused to go out of the house for the rest of the day. The silver lining was I began to examine why on earth I was living with this guy, anyway. The rocking chair actually came in handy after I remarried and had babies that liked to be rocked as they nursed. So I ended up having more happy memories with the chair.”
— Ann L., Nanaimo, B.C.
Hole-in-one? Not so much
“The worst Christmas gift I ever received was from my mother. During my second year away at university on Vancouver Island, I had taken up hot yoga and mentioned to her that I would love a large gym or duffel bag. On Christmas morning, I was beyond horrified to receive a brand-new golf club carry bag. Inexplicably, my mother tried to convince me that it would ‘work just fine’ because it was ‘much bigger’ and was ‘pretty much the same.’ Thankfully, the poor woman kept the receipt and I have this cringe-worthy story for the rest of my life.”
— Julie W., Vancouver, B.C.
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Candy for Christmas
— Sandy M., Edmonton, Alta.
Dollar-store disappointment
“We do not exchange gifts by agreement, but my stepmother always makes a big production of ‘giving’ at Christmas. Consequently, we are all gifted what she deems appropriate. Last year, I got a pair of dollar-store rubber gloves and two plastic flower clips — for bags, I guess —with tags still attached. Our jaws dropped to our chest in stunned silence, then we burst into laughter. As I’m not a favoured family member with her, I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a slight or joke, so I didn’t mention it until post-Christmas to my two stepsisters. Turns out, they received the exact same gifts!”
— Darcy G., Courtenay, B.C.
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