Quirky delivery for grandpa's birthday

December 8, 2024 5:25 AM

My dear old dad is turning 80. I'd like to have something special delivered to him on the day, but something a little more interesting or silly than flowers. Caveat that it can't be food as he's on a restricted diet. He's in the US and I'm not, so suggestions of specific companies very welcome. (I really want to send a singing gorilla, but they seem hard to find out where he is in the boonies :)
posted by jebs to Shopping (14 answers total)

I sent a balloon bouquet to my in laws. With fun shaped balloons. Well received
posted by Ftsqg at 5:34 AM on December 8 [1 favorite]

Where is he located?
posted by greta simone at 6:46 AM on December 8

Response by poster: He's in western NY State
posted by jebs at 7:01 AM on December 8

Best answer: Must it be in person? If screens are ok, there might be someone on Cameo or Songfinch that could customize a message or song that could hit whatever tone you’re going for.

Tip for cameo: I find it’s fun to let it percolate a bit. My family isn’t super big on pop culture, so at first I wasn’t sure if cameo even made sense for them. But one year I had the actress who played Lucy (the police dept receptionist) from Twin Peaks send them a message and they thought it was AMAZING. it was a super deep cut but it meant a lot to them
posted by seemoorglass at 7:41 AM on December 8 [5 favorites]

for quirky in-person thing, maybe just try plugging his location into gigsalad.com, you might be surprised to find a local performer willing to do the singing gorilla bit, or a local magician.

if you fall back to flowers but interesting ones amaryllis bulbs are very fun, grow for weeks, and many places deliver them by post.
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:04 AM on December 8 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I've done a couple of Cameos for people in my family. One was from an old character actor; the other was a retired football player. Both were well received!
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:24 AM on December 8 [1 favorite]

Does he have a lawn? (If he’s in the Southern Tier I’m sure there’s something like Binghamtonlawncards.com)
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:26 AM on December 8 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Cameo has been a big success for me with older relatives too.
posted by tardigrade at 11:57 AM on December 8 [1 favorite]

I diy'd a gorilla gram with a willing friend and a costume hire place.
posted by freethefeet at 3:00 PM on December 8 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Have you considered a subscription box of some sort? Turning 80 can mean you don;t have a lot to look forward to. I would suggest wine, but you say he has food problems. On his behalf let me thank you for being so thoughtful, older people don't get a lot of that.
posted by alonsoquijano at 4:40 PM on December 8 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you know what his favorite comic strip was when he was a kid, many of them have been collected into reprint volumes....my father loved the Gasoline Alley ones I sent.
posted by brujita at 6:38 PM on December 8 [1 favorite]

This seems like a possible use case for You Goat Mail
posted by babelfish at 7:24 PM on December 8 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I got a cameo as a gift and burst into tears. It’s surprisingly touching.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:25 PM on December 8 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you all for these lovely suggestions! I'd never heard of Cameo, and I think it'll be perfect. I'm currently browsing their 80s-era sports heros - and I can hear him bragging to his friends that he got birthday wishes from Mookie Wilson :)
posted by jebs at 1:41 AM on December 9 [5 favorites]