All the children in the family will get “Barnnum Animal Crackers” in their stockings. They are the newest thing and the box can be hung on the tree as an ornament.
Who took my type writer and replaced it with this strange flat contraption?
For the adults Santos Dumont will be giving rides in his dirigible balloon.
Wife: some really expensive high quality clothing, probably silk.
Sister: book is good if she’s into those. Otherwise maybe a silver tableware set or some fine bone china?
Brother: If he should happen to be into hunting, a first-rate handcrafted firearm. Similarly a prime hunting dog or a horse would be a fine gift for a sportsman.
Friends: depends on the friend. Possibilities include liquor, cigars, appropriate jewelry (cufflinks, signet ring, etc.), silver cigarette case, gold pocket watch, steel pen set.
Employees/Servants: (if you’re rich in 1902, you have servants-period). Cash bonuses, food, wine or beer (not liquor). For their children candy (which was a real treat back in the day), and small cheap toys like pennywhistles.
For my dear wife: Her family owns salt mines in the old country, so now she can own a copper mine in Butte.
For my younger brother: A round-trip first-class passage to Europe with enough money besides to finance a Grand Tour. May he marry as well as I did, on the advice that Russian petty royalty make fine brides once they can be persuaded to leave their peaceful and welcoming native land.
For my nephew: A newspaper in the city of his choosing, so he can regale the rest of the Republic as he regales us over dinner. I’ll supply the ink and paper; he can more than supply the column-inches.
For my fine employees, down at the pulp mill: Sausage and beer! A big brass band, and fine bonuses in their paychecks.
Here is a list of some of the best-selling books of 1902. Many of the titles have faded into obscurity but I recognized #1 (The Virginian), #2 (Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch), and #7 (The Hound of the Baskervilles), plus the authors of #8 (Booth Tarkington) and #9 (Henry van Dyke).
Orville and Wilbur made their first successful powered flights on December 17, 1903.
Even if you were just upper middle-class you’d probably have at least a cook/housekeeper.
Although that wouldn’t have been completely impossible, the first Cadillac ever made was finished in October 1902, and a total of only three were constructed that year. Cadillac really took off the following year, specifically after William Metzger demonstrated two of the three extant Cadillacs at the January 1903 New York auto show.
So your acquisition of one of these three cars at this critical time would have required not only some influence at Cadillac, but also the prescience to know that Cadillac would become a high-quality marque.
I researched that there were Cadillacs at that time. I thought it was a nice looking car from the picture I saw. That’s why I decided to get brother the car in 1902. I guess if I have to invest to get the car I will.