64th birthday ideas ?

September 26, 2006 2:15 PM

I have a friend who is turning 64 this week, and I would like to get her 64 "units" of something, but I am kind of at a loss as to the "what" of it. I need it to be relatively inexpensive, ( say under $50 total) and "original" i.e. not chocolates or flowers. I have thought of several ideas, but each is either flawed somehow ( fruit for example: it would be too much quantity-wise and would likely go bad before she could eat it) or impossible to mail, which is the other criteria: it must be deliverable by either mail or courier by Friday. Any cool suggestions?
posted by frizelli to Grab Bag (26 answers total)

How about a set of CDs with 64 songs from the 50's and 60's, from when she was growing up?

Or a little photo book (Flickr, Shutterfly or iphoto) with 64 favorite photos of memories you have together.

Or both together!

Or a gift certificate for $64 somewhere... (might cost more than $50).
posted by kdern at 2:18 PM on September 26, 2006

...if you do music, be sure to include "When I'm 64" !
You could also check a coin collectors shop for currency minted in her year of birth. Dimes were still real silver then, as were quarters....
posted by dbmcd at 2:23 PM on September 26, 2006

A poster with pictures of 64 things (butterflies, beers, chili peppers, dogs etc)? I've seen a lot of posters like this, just need to find one that has the right number.

64 small candles with a nice candle holder (that holds one or two at a time)

A quilt with 64 squares (lots of places to look; also try Etsy.com for handmade things)

A necklace with 64 beads/pearls/metal links etc?

64 candy bars from her youth (google "nostalgia candy" or "old-time candy" or "1950s candy")? How about those hard-candy sticks that used to be in a tall jar at five-and-dime stores? That would keep well, but would be something she could use up and enjoy over time.

64 socks? You could try to get all kinds, some crazy interesting patterns, some warm ones for winter, some tall stockings, etc.

64 Dover books from Amazon on all different topics?

If she knits, 64 skeins of yarn? Or $64 to use at favorite yarn store?
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:34 PM on September 26, 2006

How about a 64K Memory expansion card for an Apple lle

Hell, he's old too, and it maybe a collector's item one day!
posted by Neiltupper at 2:38 PM on September 26, 2006

Chess- and checkerboards have 64 squares on 'em... for whatever that's worth.
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:46 PM on September 26, 2006

Ah, I was going to suggest that Dr. Wu!
posted by GuyZero at 2:50 PM on September 26, 2006

Yeah, I came to say Chessboard.
But Dr. Wu had it...

Nintendo 64?
posted by klangklangston at 2:57 PM on September 26, 2006

Little jams, marmalades, pestos, etc.

Or 64 varieties of tea, which would be cheaper to mail.
posted by shownomercy at 3:05 PM on September 26, 2006

Super balls. These are always more fun in quantity.
posted by one_bean at 3:15 PM on September 26, 2006

64 slices of American cheese [wav]
posted by GeekAnimator at 3:16 PM on September 26, 2006

Well the dildo thing has already been done. So I'm guessing that's out.
posted by paxton at 3:22 PM on September 26, 2006

Is she ready for some 8-ball? Then get her 64 ounces of delicious Pabst's Olde English 800 Malt Liquor.

...And a cake with Billy Dee Williams inside.
posted by turducken at 3:28 PM on September 26, 2006

64 "I Am Loved" buttons—for free! Used to be that they'd give you up to 100 of them in up to 11 different languages if you asked, although I've run into difficulty finding a store that actually has them in stock.
posted by limeonaire at 3:35 PM on September 26, 2006

A Commodore 64?

A Jaguar 64 from Atari?
posted by EastCoastBias at 4:10 PM on September 26, 2006

Commodore 64! 14.99 right now
posted by damn dirty ape at 4:12 PM on September 26, 2006

- Some nice perfume, perhaps? (Chanel Cristalle, in the .64 fl oz bottle)
- an extra memory card for her digital camera? (64 MB variety)
- How about a pair of dangling balls? (Traditional soccer balls have 32 panels each)
posted by rob511 at 4:30 PM on September 26, 2006

last entry above is very much SFW, by the way.
posted by rob511 at 4:32 PM on September 26, 2006

How about the classic box of 64 Crayola crayons, along with a really nice, high-end sketchbook? And maybe a few good charcoal pencils? And maybe a used copy of some book on sketching/drawing for non-artists?
posted by jbickers at 4:38 PM on September 26, 2006

Oriental Trading has lots and lots of dorky things in bulk. Like ninjas and tiny flutes (96 for $15 in both cases).
posted by mendel at 5:51 PM on September 26, 2006

You could go with 64 lottery tickets. C'mon, $64 is just a little more than $50...
posted by nadise at 6:13 PM on September 26, 2006

1/2 Gallon of Vodka?
posted by tcskeptic at 6:55 PM on September 26, 2006

A chess board?
posted by genghis at 7:16 PM on September 26, 2006

Again, more than $50, but I like the idea of 64 dollar coins tied in a nice little bag or pouch, I did this for my grandfathers 80th birthday...not 64 of them of course.
posted by illek at 8:48 PM on September 26, 2006

64 big, beautiful strawberries.
posted by allterrainbrain at 12:09 AM on September 27, 2006

How about 6 of one thing and 4 of another?
posted by JJ86 at 6:34 AM on September 27, 2006

For my mum's 50th, her sisters got her 50 things that had 50 things in them. It ranged from colourful paperclips and little coloured binder clips, to 50 little notepads, 50 sticky notepads, 50 pink pencils, and tons of other stuff. They must have gone nuts counting.
posted by Savannah at 8:07 AM on September 27, 2006