Not Your Mama's 'Chrisco'
Christmas ended, as we all know, more than a month ago. But in Australia, it seems to keep going and going.
In the days following the red and green celebration, I kept hearing in the background the word "hamper," e.g. Hamper King. Hamper, hamper, hamper. It made me think, of course, of my dirty clothes. There are also Chrisco hampers, which now made me think of my dirty clothes
andgreasing pans.
Enough was enough, so I decided to actually watch the commercials to see if I could get to the bottom of this seemingly seasonally oft-used term. But the combination of being sick of Christmas and having no American equivalent to remotely compare it to prevented me from comprehending anything concrete. So I asked Meredith.
She said that they're for people to prepare for the next Christmas season, as they are most likely now so sick of the season that just ended. That is the gist. And to help me understand further, she ordered a Chrisco catalog for me.
And would you know what? I think they might be pretty cool, though I still don't quite get it.
Let's say that in January of one year, you think ahead to the week before December and decide you'll want to have a shit load of beer. Or a party. Then you'd pick the Aussie Mixed Beer Hamper:
You then pay $2.69 for 52 weeks and one day in December, a shit load of beer will arrive. It will have cost you only $140.
But you'll need food for the party, right? Well, then you can just select the Festive Favourites hamper. It includes such festive favorites as mustard, bone in leg ham, water crackers, Tim Tams, sweet chili sauce, Pringles, ice cream, and pear and peach halves. And wouldn't you know, the list goes on and on. The price for this is $6.73 per week for 52 weeks, running a final total of $350.
Don't get me started on the Mega Holiday Hamper. Too late. That runs $21. 51 a week. In the end, you will have dropped $1,100. Uh, can I get a new laptop, please?
Type the word "hamper" in Google in Australia and so much more than Chrisco and King show up. You have Pamper Hampers, Hamper Creations, Hobby Hampers, and various other types of hampers.
But hold up. To my delight, during the same search, I discovered Book Hampers! Yep, books and chocolate and stuff. Now that is a hamper. And I'm sold.
After thinking about it a bit, and seeing hamper upon hamper, though, I thought about Harry and David. Pears, peaches, chocolate, popcorn. They've got a year-round catalog, as well as seasonal goodness. They're just not called hampers.
