When My Beloved worked at Sealy Mattress, on certain anniversary dates they would give her a company catalogue and tell her to pick out a gift from the appropriate section, like a coffee mug or a cooler or items of clothing etc. I was reminded of this when I read of a woman in her tenth year of teaching having to choose from such a catalogue. Some of the items offered were a set of six fishing lures, a t-shirt commemorating another state with her name on it, the lid from a particular Yeti cup, and a “Wilson” volleyball from the movie “Cast Away”.
What are some of the items offered you or someone you know from the company catalogue in exchange for years of service?
I worked for Bose for twenty years and you would think that they would have some decent audio items in the company catalog. But no, just the regular lame stuff like mugs, pens, shirts, golf balls and hats with the company logo. I did get a nice denim shirt that I still wear.
Still to their credit now that I am retired I get 50% off full retail on any of their products for friends and family. I am very popular at Christmas and special occasions now.
Apparently once i’ve worked at my University for 20 years I get a chair. A literal chair. My choice of office, rocking, or a couple other styles. With the University branding of course.
Would this be, perchance, one of the chairs they already bought and keep in storage for when a replacement is needed?
No, they’re honest to goodness new wooden chairs. Apparently decent quality.
I actually just looked it up. It’s after 25 years, not 20. And apparently i’ve been eligible for various catalogue gifts every 5 years. No idea what they are; no one has ever told me or shown me the catalogue 
Lol I’m supposed to get a yearbook every 5 years too. I feel cheated 
Is it too late to get those previously owed gifts?
At 5 years I got to choose from a large catalog of items valued around $100-$150; various electronic items, roombas, small appliances, etc. None are made by our company or anything.
IIRC I got a floodlight/security camera for the front of my house. Or maybe an electronic doorbell. I have both and they’re compatible and I definitely only paid for one.
I do not know but you bet your ass i’m going to raise a stink when I get back into the office after the holidays!
Years ago, I worked for a winery. At Christmas time, they gave us wine. I didn’t much like the particular wine they usually chose, but some of us did.
One year, however, they had a whole batch of wine returned to them as not up to standards. Guess what they gave us that year for Christmas? I suppose they thought we wouldn’t know; that the people who saw the wine come back wouldn’t tell the vineyard crew. They did, though.
For anniversary gifts, one employer I had offered a silver ring with some kind of blue gemstone (in addition to the usual cheap-ish gadgets and small appliances and windbreakers). I picked that a couple of times because it seemed to be the only item that seemed unlikely to break and might keep its monetary value over time.
Most of those catalogues are just filled with junk the company gets for cheap in bulk. I worked at a place for five years and they offered me a plastic desk clock that didn’t even come with batteries. It’s better to just get a gift card, but they almost never do that because of tax reasons.
But for that to work you would need to know what the original monetary value was to begin with. Did you?
My employer:
5th: A tie clasp (it was pretty much the only thing available for five years)
10th: A small battery operated clock.
15th: A larger battery operated clock.
20th: A carry-on piece of luggage.
25th: Two larger pieces of luggage
30th: A (stereo system?). Not exactly sure, as I never unpacked it.
35th: A 23" TV
40th: A 32" TV
Between 40 and 45, my employer was bough out by another company, which did not have company catalogs. The successor employer only hands out prepaid debit cards.
45th: $500 card.
Now, in addition to that, my employer also had a Christmas catalog with all sorts of cheap things you could get just by being an employee. I don’t recall anything meaningful to me. One of my co-workers got a wooden duck made from crushed pecan shells, and that was one of the better gifts. One year I got a tennis racket and another year I got a putter. (I don’t play either of those sports.) They discontinued the company Christmas catalog many, many years ago.
And. . . one year, and one year only, the company had a promotion where you could accrue ‘points’ for various community service things, including giving blood. Then at the end of the year, you could redeem those points at the end of the year in a special catalog tied to the promotion. Now. . . what the company did not tell you was that these ‘points’ counted as imputed income, and you were going to be taxed on them, whether you redeemed them or not. Not that it was a ton of money, in my case I had about $300 worth of points, but not having disclosed that at the outset made it seem a little shady. There was a lot of backlash when that was found out, so they didn’t continue that program.
After 25 years My Beloved picked out a small charm with the company logo on it that contained two diamonds and a sapphire from the company catalogue.
I’ve seen the university-branded chairs in people’s offices at work. They look like the ones here.
And my mother worked for the phone company for decades. There are two Waterford crystal table lamps in the living room that were service anniversary gifts and I think some of the ceramic figurines elsewhere in the living room were as well. My own employer gives a certificate and a small tie tack on anniversaries so basically nothing.
We laughed and laughed at the university gift catalog the Lil’Wrekkers boyfriend got.
It has a “neck” massager that is obviously a dildo.
Which is fine. But it seemed odd to put it in an employee gift catalog.
The “gift” that keeps on giving. So to speak.
AT&T/Pacific Bell/SBC gave out anniversary gifts every 5 years along with a retirement gift. I got a couple of pretty nice knives early on, a Gerber Sportsman folding knife, and a Swiss Army Champ. Later my luck wasn’t so good when I ordered a TV which was delivered damaged (twice) and a Trek mountain bike that was a lemon (so many issues I ended up donating it to Goodwill)
My father got one of those. University logo and all. I wonder what happened to it. I can’t imagine he threw it away. But I didn’t see it when we emptied out his house after he died.
One time our hospital gave out folding vinyl chairs for Doctors’ Day. Not sure if that was before or after the Doctors’ Day golf umbrella giveaway.
That 100% must be the company we get them from.