Giftyyss

According to Emerson, the only gifts worth giving are the ones made by hand by the giver. It does feel great and real to receive a hand made gift: something that the person put obvious effort and thought into, to make something specifically for you through their own sweat and tears. But the fact that society has changed since the days of Emerson still stands. Maybe when the world was wrought with little Emersons and daughters it was average for people to have jobs like miners and sailors but its more common these days that people work in office buildings or on computers... so what does the cubicle worker bring as a gift? a stapler? a spreadsheet? it doesn't work the same way as the girl who sews a handkerchief by hand or the miner who handcrafts a gem for someone they care about. Today a person works hard for the money they earn, with that they may buy you a gift that they see fit for you, something they have thought about and that they feel you would enjoy, more than anything they are capable of making.
But on the other hand, there are the times when someone just buys something mindlessly, like a gift card. They are such common gifts these days, but the fact is that there is very little thought behind a gift card, it tends to take away the feeling behind a gift.
According to Emerson, gifts should be received without emotion. This too contradicts what we know today. If one were to not acknowledge their excitement upon opening up a gift, the giver would most likely be rather disappointed. Why must a person hide their feelings of excitement when the giver has spent time and energy preparing this for you, they have done it to see your excitement- and you are depriving them of that reward.
One gift that I find especially rewarding is when someone makes an album of photos for me, with commentary. Because I like receiving these, I chose to make one for my dad on his 50th birthday. It was a lot of work to get pictures of his childhood, all without him knowing. But in the end, after all of the work and time I put in, it ended up being something that he really enjoyed. My grandmother once sewed a pillow depicting the pink power ranger (my favorite at the time) which I found to be a very Emersonian gift. She chose something she knew I'd like, and gave me her time and love built into the pillow, something I could use to relax. Not only this, but the gift reminds me of how she is always there to comfort soothe.
If I were to completely switch my lifestyle in the ways of gift giving and receiving to make myself completely emersonian, i imagine that i might upset a good amount of people. There'd be times when I might make a gift for someone, and they would think I was cheap, but I think the most prominent problem would be that of the non-emotion: not showing delight when opening a gift. The giver would be hurt and confused.