OUR HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

Inspired by our friends at Earth and Altar, we thought it would be fun to curate our own gift guide to help you select just the thing for that very special melancholic lefty Christian in your life. If year after year, their overly discriminating tastes have sabotaged your best efforts at gift-giving, we hope this might be of some assistance. Without further ado, we present... THE 2020 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE | THE HOUR

1) A Garland for May Day by Walter Crane. Socialism looks really good in Art Nouveau, and so will your friend's dwelling with this print.

2) First Edition of Mediaeval Socialism by Bede Jarrett, O.P. (1914). Give the gift of obscurity and scholasticism at the same time with this rare classic that's priced at less than half the cost of shipping. As it should be.

3) A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten on Vinyl. Ensure that your friend observes the Nativity of our Lord with the proper jams.

4) A Bottle of Italian Amaro, such as this Cynar. "The rumor of the modern struggle sounds from very far away," wrote Vida Dutton Scudder as she looked out from "this holy Tuscan mountain sanctified by the Passion of St. Francis." We're not sure if there are any amari that are actually made near some Tuscan mountains, but they're probably close enough. For the friend who likes their tastes in drink like they like their virtues: acquired.

5) An Icon by Ivanka Demchuk, such as this one of the Transfiguration. Sublime.

6) William Morris Notebooks from The Guild of Theophilus. Both the politics and the aesthetics of Morris' Arts and Crafts Movement have been a major source of inspiration for us from the beginning. And now they can inspire all of your friend's penetrating insights as well. From the good folks at The Guild of Theophilus who are producing some beautiful artisan stuff.

7) Regulate the Chemicals by twothirtyeight. Tooth and Nail Records (2002). If you're reading this, chances are that the friend you have in mind has a deep and abiding nostalgia for the golden age of independent Christian music. This seminal record from twothirtyeight -- the real dark horse emo band from the early 2000s Tooth and Nail roster -- will be sure to impress.

8) Architecture of Truth by Lucien Hervé. Phaidon Press (2001). We've long been open about our devotion to modernist architecture, but talk about a cross-over event. Here's a photographic essay by Lucien Hervé from the 1950s featuring a twelfth-century Cistercian monastery in France, originally published with a foreword from Le Corbusier, and then re-issued with collaboration from contemporary architect and designer John Pawson. A happy coffee table indeed.

9) A Chore Coat, like this one from Nudie Jeans. If you know, you know.

10) A Pack of Fancy Cigarettes It's 2020 ok.