A Door a Day

DEBORAH CROMBIE: As a child, one of my favorite Christmas traditions was the annual trip to the German delicatessen in Dallas for imported German advent calendars. I don't remember that advent calendars were a big thing in America, in those long-ago days. But the German calendars, with their illustrations of cheerful snow-covered Alpine villages, were a much-anticipated treat. Every door or window had a little molded chocolate inside and the tension of waiting to open that December 1st door was almost unbearable.

A 1946 Advent Calendar by Marianne Schneegans

The tradition started with German Lutherans in the 19th and 20th centuries, then spread to other Christian denominations.

Now, of course, in the modern era of commercializing everything, advent calendars are a dime a dozen (or a couple of bucks each at Trader Joe's) and most kids have grown up with them. And they have moved way past a little piece of candy for each day. Now you can get everything from tea and coffee to wine, dog treats to Lego, jewelry to skin care, with accompanying price tags that are a wee bit higher than $1.99. Yikes. Here are 59 recommended for this year from Today!

Whatever the price, the thrill is the same!

A few years ago I ordered a whisky tasting calendar, and while it was great fun to open the windows, I have to shamefacedly admit that I've never managed to taste all the little bottles. But you can age scotch, right?

Last year my daughter gave me a calendar from Anthropologie with all sorts of skin-care goodies–and the pretty box made great storage for loose papers on my desk.

But this year I gave in to temptation and ordered the calendar I'd been eyeing for the last couple of years. Made by Diamine, a British ink company, the Inkvent Calendar is a different color each year, with 25 inks (24 tiny bottles, a bigger one for the 25th) that are created just for that year's calendar. (Some of the most popular Inkvent colors are later released in full-sized bottles.) 2023's calendar is purple, my favorite color, and that tipped the scale for me.

Confession: I opened the first window the day the calendar arrived, because I just had to see one of the tiny bottles, but after that I managed to control myself until December 2nd!

So, dear Reds, are advent calendars part of your Christmas? Do you have a favorite? And can you resist the temptation to open a door before December 1st?

RHYS BOWEN:  I love them in theory but I have to admit that I forget for several days then open five at once. My favorite has been the Jacquie Lawson calendars that are scenes from bygone eras. I love going into Edwardian houses, solving puzzles and just experiencing that sort of Christmas.  When we did a Christmas market tour some towns were an advent calendar with decorated windows of all the houses. 

LUCY BURDETTE: If anyone deserves an Advent calendar full of ink bottles, it’s you Debs! I subscribe to a bunch of Parisian newsletters and I saw one last week with astonishing calendars–all too much $$ to spring for. I did order a beautiful red felt calendar from Garnet Hill for our daughter and her family a few years ago. It hangs on the wall and is very festive. The first year I sent her a lot of little things to use in each square but I’ve slacked off since, so it may be causing her more trouble than it’s worth!

HALLIE EPHRON: Advent calendars sound lovely, but growing up, I never saw one, had one, or knew what one. We always had a tree. It was a big deal, going out with my dad on the eve before Christmas eve to find the perfect tree, bring it home, decorate it on Christmas eve, and come down to presents Christmas morning… that was Christmas. All smashed into 3 days. No advent calendars, no preamble.

JENN McKINLAY: I remember having one as a kid and my Mom was very excited about it (I think they were rare in the early seventies) and my brother and I ate all of the chocolate out of it in one day - we were the original Hooligans. Mom was NOT happy and that was the last Advent calendar we ever had. Truthfully, if I had one now I’d probably stress eat all of the chocolate on day one. Some things don’t change and my love for chocolate is one of them. 

DEBS: That's so you, Jenn.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We never had one, but I longed for one, yearned for one. I thought it was the most fabulous idea, getting a wonderful little treat every day leading up to the big day.  We had to browbeat my parents into celebrating -we’re Jewish, my mother would constantly remind us–but we didn’t care, we demanded a tree and etc. But we never got to have an advent calendar. Hmm. Is it too late to get one now? Could there be one with books? Or wine?  Are there any rules?

DEBS: Hank you can get wine!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: As many of you will remember, I spent part of my childhood in Germany - in Bavaria, to be exact, arguably the most Christmas-happy part of the country. And yes, we had Advent calendars - the one I recall best had tiny wooden ornaments behind each door. I suspect after one December of hearing my sister and I squabble over who got the chocolate, she went for non-consumable treats.

 Oddly enough, I've never had Advent calendars as an adult. I do, however, observe the real Advent, the liturgical season running from the 4th Sunday before Christmas to the big day. I always have an Advent wreath on my table; I light a new candle on every Sunday as the weeks go by. (The candles are supposed to be three purple and one rose,  but I've run out of those colors and had to stick to white.) There are prayers that go along with the candle lighting; being Episcopalian, I could double these with the whiskey calendar quite comfortably.

I love Hank's idea of an Advent calendar with books! Let's got on this!

How about it, readers? Any favorite advent calendars? Did you grow up with them? And who occasionally gives in to the temptation to have an early peek??

P.S. The Diamine Inkvent Calendar is available from most independent pen and stationery stores, but I ordered mine from The Goulet Pen Company, my fave of the online pen stores.

Evolution of a Geek

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I started out intending to write about fountain pens and fell down a rabbit hole, so I'm sharing my meanderings with you, dear readers. I have become, in no small part thanks to my friend (and our regular JRW commenter) Gigi Norwood, a fountain pen "enthusiast." What began as an effort to improve my handwriting (and the idea that I might some day treat myself to that writerly status symbol, a Mont Blanc) mushroomed into something much more dangerous--I think I now have to call myself a "collector." 

First it was a few inexpensive plastic pens. Then a few more "nicer" pens, and those led to these babies--

which are the grown-up equivalent of My Little Ponies, but you can call them "office supplies." They're made by BENU, a mom and pop company that began in Moscow. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Benu was able to move to Armenia, where they are once again making pens, thank goodness. (This photo does not begin to do Benu pens justice at all!! The resins are almost 3D and they sparkle!)

While I'm still a rank amateur in the world of pen fanciers, my Instagram feed is now filled with dreamy pen and ink photos. 

I watch pen videos. I have more inks than I can ever use. I know about nib sizes. I've discovered that there are pen conventions! (There is, in fact, a big pen show in London twice a year, and I am going to miss the autumn show by two days!)

I no longer, however, hanker after a Mont Blanc. If I were going to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a pen (not!) there are more appealing options.

When I converted my latest Benu pen from cartridge/converter to eyedropper fill, I knew I had officially become a fountain pen geek! 

And here's the rabbit hole: Is "geek" still a pejorative term?" According to Wikipedia, the word "geek" typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit.

But the derivation of geek is from the Middle Low German word geck, which means freak or fool.

Is a geek the same as a nerd, and is one term more flattering than the other? Is it now culturally cool to be either?

What do you think, REDS and readers? Do you identify as a geek? And what path does your geekiness take? When does being a "fan" cross the line into being a nerd?

(We are all book nerds, or we wouldn't be reading this blog...)

**KATHY BOONE REEL is the winner of Zac Bissonnette's loot!