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80th Birthday Gift Ideas

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80th Birthday Gift Ideas

One of the best gifts you could give someone turning 80 is to make them SMILE!

You can't really package up and wrap a smile. But you can get them an 80th birthday gift that will make them feel good!

The WORST 80th birthday gift ideas would be OVER THE HILL gag gifts that make them feel old. Like jokes about being bald, wearing adult diapers or dentures--seriously, do you want to make them DEPRESSED about turning 80?

The Best 80th Birthday Gift Ideas are a combination of the following:

nostalgic - gifts from the year/time they were born (1931, or the 30s)
thoughtful - more than just a gift card, please. Unless it's for $80 (a dollar for each year of their life)
personalized - make it about them!
affordable - tough economy, you still need to afford groceries after buying birthday gifts...

The below gift ideas make it EASY for you to find an 80th birthday gift that meets one or more of the above criteria.

The New York Times Front Pages from their Birthdays throughout their life. This is not cheap, but very worth it!

The Ultimate Birthday Book

80 Book

This is an inspirational book written in 2007 about the lives of famous people in their 80s. You'll learn about their life before and after they turned 80. I think it would be good to lift the spirits of someone turning 80 and see that you can still be active into your 80s.

80: From Ben Bradlee to Lena Horne to Carl Reiner, Our Most Famous Eighty Year Olds, Reveal Why They Never Felt So Young

by: Gerald Gardner, Jim Bellows

Amazon Price: $9.89 (as of 05/25/2012)

More 80th Birthday Book Gift Ideas

Here are some more books that may be appropriate 80th birthday gifts.

A Gift About the Day They Were Born

The Day You Were Born© Birthday History Plaque is something you can personalize with the 80th birthday boy or girl's name and date of birth.

It will then have information about the day / year they were born such as who the President/Vice President was, headline news, celebrities with the same birthday, and more.

This would go great with some of the gifts below that have to do with the year they were born.

Front Page Puzzle From their Birthdate

Get The New York Times Front Page on a Puzzle from the day they were born!

Front Page New York Times Jigsaw Puzzle

Music from 1932

This CD has 25 great songs of 1932. You can listen to samples of the songs, which I did as I hadn't heard of most of these before.

Great Songs of 1932

Amazon Price: $3.97 (as of 05/25/2012)

1. The Clouds Will Soon Roll By - Sam Browne
2. How Deep Is The Ocean? - Bing Crosby
3. I'll Never Have To Dream Again - Connie Boswell
4. Everyone Says I Love You - Chick Bullock
5. I've Got The World On A String - Louis Armstrong
6. A Ghost Of A Chance - Greta Keller
7. Three's A Crowd - The Three Ginx
8. When We're Alone - Al Bowlly
9. It Was So Beautiful - Ruth Etting
10. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea - Louis Armstrong
11. Mad Dogs And Englishmen - Noel Coward
12. Someone To Care For - Paul Small
13. Please - Al Bowlly
14. You're An Old Smoothie - Billy Hughes & Lee Wiley
15. Love Is The Sweetest Thing - Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees
16. Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia - Billy Banks
17. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? - Bing Crosby
18. I'll Follow You - Layton & Johnstone
19. Love Me Tonight - Sam Browne
20. A Million Dreams - The Ponce Sisters
21. Got The South In My Soul - Paul Robeson
22. That's My Home - Louis Armstrong
23. Auf Wiederseh'n, My Dear - Greta Keller
24. Don't Say Goodbye - Al Bowlly
25. Goodnight, Vienna - Jack Buchanan

Inspirational 80 Year Old

This is the inspirational biography of "the Iron Nun", Sister Madonna Buder, who was still running triathlons after she turned 80.

The Grace to Race: The Wisdom and Inspiration of the 80-Year-Old World Champion Triathlete Known as the Iron Nun

by: Sister Madonna Buder, Karin Evans

Amazon Price: $5.12 (as of 05/25/2012)

Movies from 1932

The Mummy is a 1932 horror movie starring Boris Karloff as Im-Ho-Tep (the mummy) who searches for his lost love after he's revived thousands of years later.

The Mummy

Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 05/25/2012)

More 1932 Movies

Cost of Living 1932 Card

Fun Facts Birthday - Cost of Living in 1932 by cfkaatje

Prices have gone up a lot in 80 years.

In 1932, a pound of sugar cost 4 cents.

And also in 1932, a 6-room cottage cost $2500.

I learned that from this card. Interestingly, it also has what lawn mower repair cost in 1932 as well as a round trip cruise to Europe and a can of pork and beans.

Of course, people made less money 80 years ago, but it makes you think about how prices keep slowly creeping up. You might not notice the price difference in a few years, but given a few decades you can see prices have changed a lot.

1932 Magazines

Magazines from the Year they were Born

Another gift idea is one or more magazines from the year and month they were born. Below are some magazines to get you started...

80th Birthday Gift for Car Enthusiasts

You could get them a car (not a real one unless you can afford it, but a keepsake or a model or toy car) for their 80th birthday that's from the year they were born.

Motormax 1:18 Die-Cast 1932 Ford Hot Rod-American Graffiti

Amazon Price: $22.99 (as of 05/25/2012)

More 1932 Car Gift Ideas

Photographic Print of Harpers Bazaar 1932 from Mary Evans

Photographic Prints of Harpers Bazaar 1932 from Mary Evans

Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 05/25/2012)

A 1930s Puzzle

This 1930s Puzzle is a good nostalgic 80th birthday gift. Putting the puzzle together with family/friends could also be a fun activity at an 80th birthday party.