Gift ideas for geography + history + gadget lover
November 18, 2024 9:44 PM   Subscribe

Husband loves history and geography. Also loves gadgets that make life better.

He loves to micro dive on specific countries history and culture; a map nerd; and also loves gadgets from health related to kitchen. The kind of guy who reads the Economist cover to cover. It’s not a milestone birthday I’m just out of ideas. “Experience” gifts we run out of time and never get something booked so technically I’m in arrears there. Need a tangible gift this time. Thank you!
posted by St. Peepsburg to Shopping (16 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love my kitchen scale, do you have a good kitchen scale?
posted by vunder at 10:06 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: This is a gadget of a sort, definitely health related, and some of your earlier questions give me the impression you might be near enough to an Asian/Chinese supermarket to have a chance of finding it: Yunnan Baiyao Probiotic Toothpaste.

I’ve been waiting for a couple of decades to see such a thing on the shelves, and when I finally did I grabbed it. It tastes powerfully citrusy for a few minutes after brushing (I have the "zesty lime" flavor) and then a wave of yogurt-like flavor rolls over your mouth from one end to the other like a tarp pulled over a ball field during a downpour. The active organism is listed as Lactobacillus Paracasei.

I’d say it’s had a positive effect on my digestion as well, although I was a little startled the evening of the first day I used it when my insides made whistling noises I couldn’t recall hearing before.
posted by jamjam at 10:46 PM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]


Historic / antique map jigsaw.
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:59 PM on November 18, 2024


Best answer: One of those Thermapen folding immersion thermometers that ensures you always cook meat to a safe temperature is very useful for health in the kitchen. Also works great for making sure you have the right bath temperature before you get in!
posted by oxisos at 12:06 AM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]


If you have some empty wall space, Anton Thomas's maps are quirky and gorgeous. His main site has several videos about his process so you can see what they're like in more detail. They're quite interesting and might appeal to your husband as map-nerdy entertainment even if you go with something else as a gift.
posted by bunnysquirrel at 4:09 AM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]


A couple years ago I got a cute little Bluetooth speaker that fits my aesthetic and my #1 use case for it is listening to nonfiction audiobooks about history and politics.
posted by phunniemee at 4:49 AM on November 19, 2024


The publishers of coffee table books may well have something to offer, not just for history and geography per se, but also for adjacent skills, such as The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:24 AM on November 19, 2024


Best answer: Has he read A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman or Devil-Land by Clare Jackson? Both are great deep-dive history books on English/Western European history.

Also worth checking out the Wolfson History Prize for a broader selection of topics. They are based in the UK but their selections have over time become much more varied than just European history and they are typically extremely well written literary history works.
posted by donut_princess at 5:31 AM on November 19, 2024




Best answer: 12 wrapped books - each about a different country. There's a card with each one and in it is the month's calendar. In each month there is a movie night (or 2) from or about that country, and he name of a restaurant with that country's cuisine or a recipe that you can make together.
posted by beccaj at 3:53 PM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]


A couple of books on the lighter side of geography that I have enjoyed are "Maphead" and "Strange Maps".

There is also a series of beautiful map books called the "Atlas of Design".
posted by NotLost at 4:36 PM on November 19, 2024


And a simple kitchen gadget I love is the OXO Good Grips Salad Chopper & Bowl. It makes quick work of chopping greens. I have given one as a gift, and plan to give a couple more.
posted by NotLost at 4:38 PM on November 19, 2024


Best answer: I would consider "dash cams" a gadget, but maybe not up his alley. If it's cold where you are perhaps some nice warm/wool socks. Maybe a USB power bank (mine can charge my phone at least 2 times).
posted by forthright at 5:45 PM on November 19, 2024


I think he might like Who, or Why, or Which, or What...?: A Global Gazetteer of the Instructive and Strange by the geographer John Oldale. There's a review here, but basically it's one double-page spread per country, with a map and facts about the country. That makes it sound childish, but I'd say it's a book for adults. Nicely laid out.
posted by paduasoy at 9:08 PM on November 20, 2024


Adding, not so sure about this one as it is very British, Map Addict, a memoir by Mike Parker. There's also, to try to balance the two recommendations I've made for books by men, Phyllis Pearsall's autobiography, which is discussed here.
posted by paduasoy at 9:12 PM on November 20, 2024


Mod note: [Merry gifting, everyone! We've added this to our list of holiday gift posts on the sidebar and Best Of blog!!]
posted by taz (staff) at 10:49 PM on November 22, 2024 [1 favorite]


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