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Original poster

What's the worst/strangest gift you've ever received?

189 replies

Opals462 · 17/09/2021 13:27

You know those huge advertising posters that are put on bus stops behind the perspex? Today I was gifted one of them, an enormous poster over 6ft tall advertising none other than Mentos, the mints/sweets.

Folded up into a padded postage envelope and addressed to me and my other half.

Gift giver is my eccentric aunt.

I couldn't tell you what her thought process was behind it, but she claimed ownership of it when passing her nearest bus stop and seeing the posters being changed. Apparently I was to be the perfect recipient.

Ironically, my ASD son is obsessed with mentos and we've recently had to ban him having them as he gets too overwhelmed (she doesn't know that though, so it's purely coincidence)

What's the worst/strangest gift you've ever received?

OP posts:
Peaplant20 · 17/09/2021 13:32

😂 a funny story though! I had a friend who was gifted a bag of compost for her birthday by her MIL as she’d started getting some potted plants for her flat. The thought was there!

FlumpyLump · 17/09/2021 13:44

An academic diary that was used and 2 years out of date.....this was from someone who "liked" me when I was 15...Confused

Mantlemoose · 17/09/2021 13:46

Sat nav. I live rurally and about 10 mins.from.work. When we go for a drive DP drives. I would rather have the poster!

Jubaju · 17/09/2021 13:47

1 brown velvety cushion with a beige butterfly on. I was about 23/24 and it was from my partners youngish mum.

We thought it was a joke and there was something inside the cushion - turns out nope, was just 1 ugly brown cushion. No explanation

thecatneuterer · 17/09/2021 13:49

A heavy iron outdoor drain cover - the sort that sits in a driveway or road. For my birthday from my boyfriend. To be fair mine was cracked and at least it was useful, and I still have it now, 25 years later.

TheVolturi · 17/09/2021 13:49

A set of kitchen utensils for my 18th from my brother!
I love yours op! Where will you put it? 🤣

languagelover96 · 17/09/2021 13:50

A trip to a haunted house in France literally.

Ohdoleavemealone · 17/09/2021 13:51

My great nan got me some used makeup, used crayons and for my wedding gave me some towels that had been in her wardrobe for 50 years!

2bazookas · 17/09/2021 13:55

Guy turns up at our door with a bucket. DH, who doesn't know him, opens door.

Guy " I've brought your wife a present I promised her. It's a toad".

   I haven't lived that one down yet. OK, SO I'm the kind of woman who  wanted  toads and was thrilled to be given one.
frazzledasarock · 17/09/2021 13:56

A very expensive bottle of champagne. I'm Muslim, I do not drink.

I didn't have the heart to tell my manager (who gave it to me), and I passed it on to a neighbour, who also didn't drink champagne but his brother in law did so it was fine.

Upon discovering I don't drink, my manager then proceeded to give me incredibly expensive chocolates, with lots of alcohol in them🤣

I loved her she was utterly mad, but a lovely manager.

Chicchicchicchiclana · 17/09/2021 13:58

My step mother and father gave me an egg poaching pan and a CD of whale music for my 40th birthday.

Excitedforxmas · 17/09/2021 13:58

A gift set from the charity shop that had bath cubes in it that were damp!

Littlecaf · 17/09/2021 13:59

My Grandma once gave me a massive pair of pink knickers and a string of red plastic beads for Christmas. I was about 14! She wasn’t going senile etc she genuinely thought I’d like them!

AdobeWanKenobi · 17/09/2021 13:59

@Opals462

You know those huge advertising posters that are put on bus stops behind the perspex? Today I was gifted one of them, an enormous poster over 6ft tall advertising none other than Mentos, the mints/sweets.

Folded up into a padded postage envelope and addressed to me and my other half.

Gift giver is my eccentric aunt.

I couldn't tell you what her thought process was behind it, but she claimed ownership of it when passing her nearest bus stop and seeing the posters being changed. Apparently I was to be the perfect recipient.

Ironically, my ASD son is obsessed with mentos and we've recently had to ban him having them as he gets too overwhelmed (she doesn't know that though, so it's purely coincidence)

What's the worst/strangest gift you've ever received?

I mean, you laugh, but unfold, flatten it, roll it and shove it in the loft. It's a bit of social history that and not something thats generally kept. I can see it being collectible in the future.

Weird though.

Catflapkitkat · 17/09/2021 14:00

A rubber car mat. It had life like painting of a fox with eyes that followed you around the room.

I don't have a car because I don't drive

FelicityBeedle · 17/09/2021 14:01

DP managed to stop my in laws getting me an incredibly fancy bells and whistles smart toothbrush for Christmas last year. I got a printer for my 16th birthday, I hadn’t asked for it and could print for free at school

Occitane · 17/09/2021 14:04

I'm going a bit off topic here, it wasn't a present, but I had a poster like the OP! When I was in school we had to cover our text books, and my grandmother (whose house was a bit like an Aladdin's cave) said she had just the thing. She gave me one of these posters, it was advertising cigarettes, I think. It was lovely thick strong paper, and it was ideal for covering books. I used the rest for drawing or painting as the back of the poster was white. I have no idea how she came to have it.

CoffeeBeansGalore · 17/09/2021 14:04

A plaster of paris cupcake trinket box, presented in it's plastic bag. It was a birthday present from MIL (she rarely bothered). Ok for a 3/4 year old. I was 30. Found out a few years later it was free with a magazine.
This was the woman who didn't like the video we gave her for Xmas & demanded it was exchanged for one "that she actually wanted".

momiamarichman · 17/09/2021 14:05

Christmas tea towels from my grandparents... at age 18 Hmm

littletinyboxes · 17/09/2021 14:05

Strangest- as a housewarming gift my lovely but eccentric aunt gave DH and I a selection of mismatched used spoons, forks and knives wrapped in the bag from a loaf of bread. She was always convinced that anything old that she owned was an antique and would be worth a fortune soon. One of the knives had clearly been used for her breakfast as it still had remnants of butter on it.

Worst- Ex gave me a ring for my birthday that he said he claimed he saw in the window of an antique shop and immediately thought of me. It was very dated and quite cheap looking (the sort of thing that was very popular and sold in argos when I was in school) but I liked the thought and wore it for a few months. Until I met up with his sister and she enlightened me that this was in fact a ring he had bought for his ex when they were teenagers.

Themadcatparade · 17/09/2021 14:06

I once received sanitary towels for Christmas. I didn’t even use them. The same year my brother received an advent calendar… on Christmas Day Grin

TheSpiral · 17/09/2021 14:06

It was impossible to leave my grandparents without having some item pressed into your hands. One time my lovely grandad gave me a picture of Niagara Falls that had been cut out of a colour supplement some time in the 1980s and stuck onto a bit of cardboard (this was the late 90s). I did keep it in my room for a while!

The worst "gift" I ever got was a cup that had a picture of a Chippendale style bloke on it and when you put hot liquid in it his pants disappeared and he had a charming erection. That was at a work Secret Santa, and would definitely have been from someone in the sales department. Ironically I had someone from the same department as my secret santa, got her a lovely and not cheap soap, and was subjected to cried of "someone thinks I'm a dirty bitch" all evening.

I got a badminton set for one birthday from my parents which bemused me completely as I normally got something I had asked for or expressed an interest in, and I was completely unsporty so this was entirely out of the blue. But I did come to use it quite a lot, so it was a good present!

FrangipanFlower · 17/09/2021 14:07

A heavy coffee table book about history (I was 14 and hated history), some satin padded coat hangers, a pair of size 16 purple boot cut jeans (I was a size 10 at the time).

TheSpiral · 17/09/2021 14:08

@Occitane

I'm going a bit off topic here, it wasn't a present, but I had a poster like the OP! When I was in school we had to cover our text books, and my grandmother (whose house was a bit like an Aladdin's cave) said she had just the thing. She gave me one of these posters, it was advertising cigarettes, I think. It was lovely thick strong paper, and it was ideal for covering books. I used the rest for drawing or painting as the back of the poster was white. I have no idea how she came to have it.
My junior school must have had a deal with the poster companies because all of our work was mounted on cigarette ads!
SMabbutt · 17/09/2021 14:14

My dh received an unexpected gift from an old friend for our wedding. It was a yellow tie with small black dots on it.

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