December 4, 2023

30 Unforgettable Gifts—Because Your Presents Should Tell Stories Too!

This holiday season, let your gifts transcend the ordinary and become a force for change. At the National Trust for Historic Preservation, we're not just preserving historic sites; we're safeguarding the threads of America's narrative to ensure that all Americans see their history in the places that surround us.

Explore our curated gift guide selected from our historic sites' gift shops, where every purchase is a pledge to save the past and tell the complete American story. Discover the perfect presents that not only spark joy but also support saving our country’s history.

Looking for a book for the reader in your life? Check out our Winter Book List.

As you peruse our gift offerings from National Trust Historic Sites across the country, we encourage you to take the time to learn about our sites' full histories, and their initiatives to further share the lives and experiences of all. Some of the places in the list below are sites of enslavement, and any purchase you make will further support their work to tell the full American story at these places.

For the Foodies in Your Life

2. Belle Grove Signature Tea Blends ($12.36)

Two silver bags with the words Larkin Tea. These are offered at the Belle Grove Gift Shop.

Your gift recipient will be transported to another time when drinking these loose-leaf tea blends, expertly crafted by the Larkin Tea Company. Select from Belle Grove Breakfast Blend (Black Tea), Cedar Creek (Black Tea with Vanilla and Cornflower Petals), or Dragonfly Song (Rooibos, Honey notes, Green Rooibos, Lemon Peel, Cornflowers, Calendula Petals).

For the Ones with a Strong Sense of Style

9. Montpelier Amethyst Simple Earrings ($34.99)

A pair of silver earrings with a white pearl and amethyst teardrops.

Great-niece Adele Cutts Douglas recalled a childhood memory of visiting her Aunt Dolley Madison, who wore a purple velvet dress lace and a lace cravat "fastened with an amethyst pin (which I remember, as Aunt afterwards gave my mother the earrings to correspond and I was sometimes allowed to wear them)." Dolley's amethyst pin and earrings provided the inspiration for jewelry artist Anne Vaughan to design these original amethyst accessories exclusively for Montpelier.

For the Kids in Your Life (Or Those Young at Heart)

For the History Buffs

For the Design Enthusiasts

For the Holiday Lovers

For Those Who Have Everything

29. Acoma Sky City Pottery ($88)

Color photo of one of the pots available for purchase at Acoma Sky City's online shop. This pot features and black, white and orange checkerboard pattern with black lighting bolts.

Give something that they won’t find anywhere else. Select a spectacular geometric pottery piece ($88). To learn more about time-honored technique of creating pottery from Sky City, the nearly 1,000-year-old village and National Trust Historic Site in Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico read this Preservation magazine story.

Haley Somolinos Headshot

Haley Somolinos is the manager of email marketing at the National Trust. She has a passion for places and the stories that they hold.

This May, our Preservation Month theme is “People Saving Places” to shine the spotlight on everyone doing the work of saving places—in big ways and small—and inspiring others to do the same!

Celebrate!