i recently watched the season two "christmas special" of 'downton abbey' and the maids were given as a gift from the family a bolt of simple cloth from which to
make their own dress. apparently this was a common custom in english houses.
do we think the collin's family gave mrs.johnson a similarly "do it yourself" gift? i can just see the barely disguised contempt on mrs.j's face upon it's reception. and you just know the christmas ham was canned.
i see liz and roger giving one another rather formal and somewhat impersonal gifts. for roger a pocket watch or fountain pen. for liz some fussy old perfume from the 1940's. a very heady floral that occupies the room long after it's wearer departs.
carolyn and david fare slightly better. for carolyn a fine cashmere sweater and silk scarf from 'brewster's'. for david a practical but cheerless gift like wools socks but also some spangly electric toy like that robot thingy that hangs out on the show's periphery for years without ever serving a narrative purpose.
poor vicki gets some dumpy gift like a cloth bound blank book to use as a journal for which she's still grateful because at the foundling home all the girls ever got was a pair of galoshes.
and like everything at collinwood a hint of sourness and gloom hangs over the entire affair.