Do gifts need to be "new"?

So, I've found several used items for solstice/christmas gifts this year. And yet, I know that some people would be insulted by a used item as a gift. For the record, I don't mind at all. I LIKE used cookbooks especially. You know which recipes are good because there are food goobers on those pages and often notes.

Gramma has often given antiques as gifts and aren't those part of the "used" genre of items?
So why not newer used items?

Pam already knows she's getting a silk and gold thread sari I found at a thrift store. I gave another friend an Icelandic wool hoody from the same thrift store (it is the BEST thrift store). Last year that friend got an alpaca hoody from a thrift store...we may be in a rut but that is beside the point.

What do Americans have against used?
When did we decide that new cheap stuff was better than used good stuff?
I could never afford a NEW Icelandic wool hoody, so I gave a used one. That hoody will last a lifetime. A crappy walmart hoody will last a few months and cost the same as the thrift one.

El Kid has a wardrobe of shirts with dragons and whatnot on them, all bought used. They cost about 3$ each so why spend 60$ for a new one that he will wear for a year when the 3$ one will last just as long? I don't get it.

So far I DO call people and ask if they would like the used item before I buy it so that I don't inadvertently offend anyone and I respect that some people have cooty issues with used items especially clothes. But for the record, I'm just as happy with used.

For any relatives afraid of getting used crap: if you didn't get a call checking, then you are not getting used crap.

A friend's blog talks about re-using things for gift wrap. Here's the LINK.
I've re-used wrap many a time. That seems to be OK in our family. And there is one alarmingly hideous piece of "ribbon" that we've been exchanging for years. In deference to Laurie (blog author), I will be endeavoring to use more recycled and re-usable gift containers this year. I love that Laurie notes you can iron wrinkles out of craft paper and reuse it. I haven't done that yet, but now that I know...I certainly will do it.

Just for those who are following the various threads of my life:
2 days without a jail break. Hammy is still in the cage though rearranged his space so that the cocohut was jammed on the wheel. He was not happy when I shook him out of the hut to move it over.
No 'Poo Update: Hair still good. Scalp not nearly as itchy as during my shampoo days. BUT, I still miss a good lather and the scent of herbal shampoo. My hair is quite a bit redder and wavier than when I was using shampoo and conditioner, and easier to comb. But I will never have the Valerie Bertinelli hair I dreamt of during my teens:













(christ! who has enough time to do that to their hair everyday?)