Posted Dec 20, 2007, 2:34 PM
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It's Hammer Time
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Hamilton
Posts: 19,880
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One-of-a-kind city
Only a few shopping days left and you're stuck on what to get Uncle Larry who is trucking hundreds of miles to eat the Christmas turkey at your table. Fear not. Here's a list of truly Hamilton gifts to fit varying tastes.
Mary K. Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator
(Dec 20, 2007)
You know the type -- the out-of-town rellies and friends who love to scoff about Hamilton.
They're the ones who feel compelled to make nasty about everything from the quality of the air to the performance of the Cats. You've learned to tune them out, but they're still on your Christmas list.
So what do you get them?
You get them Hammered, that's what. Strike back with a gift that is uniquely Hamilton, something that says Hamilton all over it, something that shouts glad tidings to the world: "THE HAMMER RULES!!!"
Like a sausage. A big fat link of double-smoked Beach Road kielbasa. Or a ball cap with the Lancaster bomber on the front. Or a Lister Block T-shirt.
Yeah, eh? Let the naysayers buy neat stuff like that in their perfect Shangri-La of a town, wherever it may be.
In Hamilton, it's all on our doorstep.
More ideas:
* Now Hortons may be a national chain of nearly 2,800 stores and 350 across the border. And it's not even locally owned anymore. But by gar, it's ours and don't you forget it. All of Canada knows that the very first Tims opened in 1964 on Ottawa Street North. A gift from Tims, therefore, is not out of order -- a mug, canister of coffee or tea or a fancy-schmancy Hortons Coffee Brewer by Bunn, available at Tims.
* If music be the food of love, then play on. Hamilton may well have more great musicians per capita than doughnut shops. Among its ranks Hamilton boasts punk pioneers Teenage Head, rocker Tom Wilson, and bluesman Harrison Kennedy ... the list goes on. By promising Hamilton musicians a place to flog their tunes, Picks and Sticks Music (208 Locke St. S.) is setting itself up as the place to tap in to local talent.
* Not something you'd want all over the house, but CATPRINTS magazine is a must for football fans. Hamilton Spectator photographer Sheryl Nadler shot 33 player portraits -- George Hudson and his son at Easterbrooks hotdog joint, JoJuan Armour in Cootes Paradise -- and added her own notes and outtakes from the shoots. The publication, put together by the Tiger-Cats and The Spec, is only $10 with proceeds going to charity. Pick one up at Spectator customer service.
* As one might expect from the home of Hamilton laird Sir Allan MacNab, Dundurn Castle is a good source of Hamilton-type gifties. The gift shop has sold out of pewter Christmas ornaments and figurines of the castle, but still has plenty of Dundurn souvenirs. The castle gift shop also has a good selection of books about Dundurn, Hamilton, heritage buildings and local history.
We're running out of space, which means that there is an abundance of items out there that scream Hamilton.
And we haven't even mentioned the Hamilton Trivia board game; the sizzling Hot Firefighters' Calendar ($11, $16), a charity fundraiser from the Hamilton Firefighters' Association, gift certificates in any denomination from WestJet (westjet.com), gift certificates for the Pearl Company's Art Bus tours ($30 for two).
You'll get a double delight with a Kathryn Smith print -- Christmas and Hamilton in one nostalgic watercolour. The Hamilton artist's limited edition series features warm winter scenes of local sites -- the Cathedral of Christ the King, Eaton's Christmas windows, the Church of the Ascension, Westdale, Dundas, Whitehern -- as well as summer scenes. This one, Downtown Memories, always evokes a wistful sadness in folks who knew Hamilton prior to 1972, when the beautiful Birks building at King and James streets was demolished. It's priced at $140. Smith's prints are available at fine art and framing shops or kathrynsmith.ca.
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