When I was a kid my Grandma had a box.  I think it was originally an old cigar box and later grew into a shoe box or whatever else she had.  Throughout the year, as you found something that you thought you needed it was your job to tell your mom, and her job in turn to either write it on a piece of paper or cut out the add from the Sears Wish Book, as it were, and get it into Grandma's box with your name on it.  The purpose of course was so that when your birthday or Christmas came around and everyone started asking, "What would you like for Christmas?" you could just say, "Oh, it's in the box."  Or sometimes relatives would just ask, "have you got anything in the box with your name on it?" 

 

Of course the only problem with the box was keeping it updated.  Especially when one is young, changing fads and tastes often made the box submissions obsolete.  However, the idea iteself was still sound. 

 

So much so, in fact, that as soon as I could make a website, way back when I found Homestead.com in 2000, I put up a list of all the things that I wanted and, at times, even links to the best place to find them.  This idea was really a mutation of Grandma's Box and the idea of Bridal/baby registry.  As I registered for my wedding presents back in 1999 it occured to me that we could do this for birthday's and Christmas as well.  Think about it.  Anyone could walk into a store and say they are getting married.  Heck you could do it every year and register for gifts and then when someone asked you what you wanted, you could simply say that you are registered at B cubed or Target.  I know it seems like a lot to think about, but I was tramatized by 42 pairs of socks that I recieved for my fifth birthday.  Just kidding. 

 

I was so impressed at my genious idea that I even encouraged my students to make similar websites with their lists for Christmas.  We finished them by Thanksgiving and created business cards that had the Wish List website listed on them.  Then when all of my students' relatives asked them what they wanted for Christmas (which always seems to happen at Thanksgiving) they just whipped out their business card and kindly suggested that they check out their new website.  I have been doing this with my classes for the past five years and every January after winter break my students would all return with tales of the best Christmas ever and how they had never before recieved such an accurately purchased load of presents. 

 

My Grandma died several years ago (2003) but it is in her memmory that I dedicate the idea of the wish list.  Several websites enable you to create your own wishlist for others to view if they go to that site, but I think that my grandma came up with the idea first.  Actually, it was probably her grandma, but I never met her so we'll just give credit to Pamela J. Gates instead.