The Best Holiday Reading Is A Christmas Catalog

Christmas gift catalogs are one of the staples of Christmas, along with the Christmas tree, the Christmas pudding and the three wise men. Over the years, thousands of American families have loved thumbing through the Sears Christmas catalog or the JC Penney Christmas catalog. One of America's favorite Christmas gift catalogs is the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog.

The Neiman Marcus Christmas gift catalog is the best catalog because it helps adults feel like kids again at Christmastime. It does this through its “Fantasy Gifts” sections, which showcase totally unrealistic and unaffordable gifts. Examples of these fantasy gifts are a space trip with Virgin Galactic (which costs $1,764,000), a custom-made Nomad pet home (value $5000) and a Waterplay home waterpark (value $100,000 minimum).

The Neiman Marcus catalog also has its “Affordable Luxuries” pages which include more realistic gifts such as Burberry watches, Square Vista cufflinks and Salvatore Ferragamo billfolds for men. For women, there's Juicy Couture watches with Swarovski crystal accents, Lagos Glacier Classic Collection jewelery and Emporio Armani cowboy / cowgirl leather boots.

Another type of free Christmas catalog to sweep the world in recent years is a charity catalog such as the World Vision Christmas gift catalog. Instead of buying expensive gifts for friends and family, you can instead buy a year's worth of education or clean water for a poverty-stricken villager in Africa or Asia. A more tangible gift (which children might enjoy giving) is a goat or a sheep to a family which can use its wool for warmth and sell its offspring at the markets for cash. The great thing about these catalogs is that a little gift ($25) can go a long way because corporations often match each dollar you give with ten or more dollars of their own. In this example a $25 gift could buy $250 or more worth of new clothes for the poor.

Another useful Christmas catalog is one that showcases all sorts of holiday and Christmas decorations. It's never easy to get to the stores to pick up all your Christmas decorations, so buying them online or through a mail order Christmas catalog can make the holiday season that little bit less onerous.

Finally, a novelty gift Christmas catalog makes for awesome reading. Who wouldn't want to spend a good couple of hours, sitting back and looking at all the latest joke Christmas gifts, booby traps, squirt guns and more. Besides, you can hand these catalogs to the kids when you're done – that should keep them entertained for a couple of hours!