Growing up, this was the time of year when my brothers and I fought the most. We weren’t fighting over what show were going to watch on television (I grew up in the days of one TV households) and we weren’t fighting over who was going to get the last piece of chocolate cake (my mom always divided it up into four tiny slivers). The reason for our battles: the JCPenney Christmas catalog. That thing was the source of knock-down-drag out fights from October until mid-December. (I grew up on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean void of toy stores, so the annual catalog was our only real source of retail information. Mainly it provided us with pictures and prices for all of the toys we would place on our Christmas lists.)
I think about those legendary fights each year—right around the time the infamous Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog comes out. Over the years I have come to find that these “wish books” are filled with just that—wishes. My brothers and I didn’t get a third of what we wanted from the JCPenney catalog, and I have never gotten a single item from the Neiman-Marcus catalog. But it sure is fun to look… and dream.
The 80th edition of The Neiman-Marcus Christmas Book was released a few days ago and in keeping with tradition it is filled with original gift ideas for those, good or bad, with a couple million dollars to spare. My favorite part of the catalog is the section devoted to: “Extraordinary Gifts.” This year there are 12 pages filled with gifts for the person who truly has everything.
Items include: a $1.764 million chartered space trip for six aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipOne, a back-yard water park worth $100,000, a pencil skyscraper by The Art Guys–it costs $6,000 for a 20-inch version, or $40,000 for a 7-footer. For the more practical gift giver, Neiman-Marcus is selling 50 2007 BMW M6 convertibles for $139,000 each. (The cars go on sale October 18th, and are predicted to sell out in less than an hour.) For those who already own garages full of BMWs, there is the environmentally friendly alternative, a three-wheeled vehicle called the Twike, a “human-electric hybrid vehicle,” which means it runs on battery and pedal power, able to hit 55 mph on flat ground.
For the more fashion-minded shoppers the catalog offers the Jacques Fath archives. The promising designer who launched the careers of Hubert Givenchy and Guy Laroche had a couture salon in Paris from 1937 until his death in 1954. Fath had kept meticulous records of his designs, and his archive is being offered in the catalog for $3.5 million. It could be considered quite a steal considering the museum-quality collection includes three Fath haute couture dresses, and 26 volumes of original sketchbooks featuring more than 3,400 couture designs. (Neiman-Marcus says it is hoping that a benefactor will want to purchase this gift to endow a museum or university to inspire a new generation of designers.)
If your guy is into sports and another Green Bay Packers jersey isn’t going to cut it again this Christmas, then set your sights on the Neiman-Marcus’ “Sports Celebrity Dream Package.” It will be up for auction November 7th (the minimum bid is $250,000.) The package includes tickets to six high-profile sporting events and lunch with six past superstars including: Troy Aikman, Magic Johnson, and Wayne Gretzky. Proceeds will go to the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, which supports school programs to combat domestic violence.
And don’t forget your four-legged friends. The Christmas Book seems to have it all–from luxury pet homes, suitable for furry, four-legged creatures to the retro Nomad, which looks like a mini RV. At $5,000, it features an interior rug and coordinating wallpaper. If Fido rather hang out at home consider getting him his own plush armchair crafted from Italian leather.
For those of us who don’t rake in a six-figure salary, The Christmas Book is filled with basics, including crystal stemware, snow globes and chocolates. However, Neiman-Marcus does cater to the affluent and in keeping with tradition the company is offering a multi-million dollar gift for you to make holiday history (in giving or receiving): a $3.8 million membership at The Club at Castiglion Del Bosco, a collection of villas set in Italy’s Tuscany region amid the ruins of a medieval fortress. There are 120 memberships available, which can be passed down in perpetuity for future generations to enjoy.
If you haven’t completed your shopping yet you can view the entire Christmas Book online at www.neimanmarcus.com.