# Gifts from the company catalogue-The Good, The Bad and The Ugly **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 26, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072 "2025-12-26T15:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/101 "2026-03-10T14:00:07Z")
My longest tenure at a job was like 2 months short of getting my 10 year gift, but a boss at that job got a watch; it was a factory reject because the brand name on the face was misspelled. ---
**Author:** ![Cheetahkins](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheetahkins/32/20603_2.png) [@Cheetahkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheetahkins)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/102 "2026-03-10T19:46:42Z")
My wife picked out a very nice umbrella - something much nicer than most people would actually buy - from a catalog for her 5 years as a state employee. 🤩 The other stuff offered was the usual things others here have mentioned - mugs, small logo’d carry bags, that sort of thing. We also have several mugs from her work with our lengthy last name on it. As well as we had a nice crystal wine glass I recently dropped. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/103 "2026-03-11T20:06:59Z")
My work sends a gift credit and catalogue just before Christmas every year. I think there are things you can actually buy directly in there, but nobody ever does that. There are a pretty good range of retailer gift cards in the catalog, so I always get one for my wife. No, I tell a lie. This year I bought a Guitar Center gift card. I had it spent less than three minutes from when it hit my inbox. On the longer scale, apparently there’s some sort of gift system for tenure. I’ve never seen it explained, but somebody reached out to me and said that apparently last year was my 15 year anniversary\*. That qualified me for a $750 gift which I was to buy and expense. There were some weird qualifications though. It had to be one item or one experience. I couldn’t buy, for example, a _ **set** _ of related things. I actually found it quite difficult ended up buying a $400 set of noise canceling headphones. I guess I left $350 on the table. \*I find it quite amusing that I have 15 years of tenure at a company that’s only existed for eight years. In that sense I outrank our founder. Acquisitions can be weird. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/104 "2026-03-12T17:15:47Z")
> [@gnarator](#): > > I work for a gas utility, so a common retirement gift is to turn an old gas meter into a clock or lamp. I worked for an electrical utility, and we had the same clocks/lamps made from the electricity meters. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/105 "2026-03-12T17:18:14Z")
Those seem kind of cool in a steampunk way. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/106 "2026-03-12T17:19:53Z")
I didn’t hate them like @gnarator does, but I never really wanted one. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/107 "2026-03-12T19:18:02Z")
i worked for a company that would have a yearly logo gift and a “you pick it” catalogue gift for the fives. i have a wood box with fenway park on it (5 years), and a blue/clear crystal bowl (10 years). i still have some of the yearly gifts. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/108 "2026-03-12T19:45:46Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > My longest tenure at a job was like 2 months short of getting my 10 year gift, but a boss at that job got a watch; it was a factory reject because the brand name on the face was misspelled. get-out-of-here …. a **real** Bolex? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/109 "2026-03-12T19:52:25Z")
My Beloved used to work for Sealy here in Portland, and the company ordered over a thousand promotional pens to give away…and they were all printed with the name “SEALEY” on them. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/110 "2026-03-12T22:57:53Z")
I’ll try to find a picture of one. I don’t _hate_ them, but they are an affront to taste. I enjoy them in a kitschy way. My SO, a stylish woman of excellent taste, would not allow such a thing through the door. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/111 "2026-03-13T00:36:43Z")
I’m just confused why **carp** worked for the electric company and **generator** worked for the gas company? All we need now us somebody named **gassy** to work for a seafood outfit and the circle will be unbroken. 🤪 . ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072/112 "2026-03-14T01:15:02Z")
Hey, there are gas powered generators…the big moves for gas companies lately are supplying gas to data centers, who generate power onsite. The boring truth is gnarator is based off my initials. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gifts-from-the-company-catalogue-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/1026072.md?page=5)