It is an indisputable fact that grandparents have a profound impact on the development of their grandchildren. That influence is reflected in the child’s personality, eating habits, interests, and social awareness. Research also indicates that the consistent presence of a grandparent in a child’s life promotes kindness and compassion.

Understanding grandparents’ influence is easy. Finding gifts for grandparents is not. Many people don’t know how to shop for grandparents because most modern toys (iPhones, tablets, pcs) are considered too technologically confusing for elderly people. So what is the perfect gift for grandparents? The answer is not a Jitterbug©, or a box of chocolates; it’s a Carved Heart Sign from Atlas Signs and Plaques.

A Uniquely Thoughtful and Enduring Gift

You may be thinking, “What makes the carved heart plaque such a perfect gift for grandparents?” For starters, it’s an old school throwback to years when people actually carved hearts on trees as a gesture of their undying teenage love. Times have changed, but memories remain. Odds are your grandparents remember the days when carving a heart in a tree was the highest form of flattery. Former Atlas Signs and Plaques Customer Jonathan Falter does.

Falter wrote us after receiving his carved heart plaque and his response was enthusiastic. He said, “I broke the law some 46 years ago and when I walk in the park with my wife we always stop and see the heart initials I carved as a young man. More than any photo or trinket in my house, your carved heart plaque reminds me of our love’s youth.”

Young Love, Revisited

Instead of buying a complicated gadget that your grandparents likely won’t understand; remind them of their young love with the perfect gift: a carved heart sign.

The Ideal Gift

I recently took a call from a female customer with a very interesting question. She said that her husband is notoriously difficult to shop for because all the material possessions he values are in his “man cave” and her gifts “basically never” end up in his man room. How then, can she shop for him when all of her gifts are denied access to his man cave? Is there some type of sign Atlas Signs and Plaques sells that is manly enough for his man cave? Yes, in fact, there is—but not in the manner you would expect. I told her that the best route isn’t trying to get a gift or sign inside the hallowed man cave, but to outfit the exterior of it—with a personalized man cave sign.

In Other Words: Andre's Territory

The “Man cave” goes by many names: man room, den, bro-land, man pad, etc. Make no mistake: despite those lighthearted epithets a man’s room is sacred ground. Why? Because a man room, in its essence, is a way to retreat from women and feminine sensibility. It’s a place where a man can be free from married-life responsibilities and focus on his interests and hobbies. It’s a space where he can harken back to his days as a bachelor, have a beer, belch freely, and watch the game with the guys. Believe me when I say all these things are vital to a man’s sense of inner balance.

Legendary Bros. Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes Sharing a Thought in their Man Room

That is not to say, however, that he wants to get away from his wife specifically. It means that he uses his man cave as a retreat from the world of responsibility and expectations. It is for this reason that the man cave is often viewed as a portal to a man’s alter ego. Outside of his man room he is Mr. Charles Robinson, editor-in-chief and dedicated family man. Inside the man room with the guys he becomes Chuck “Short-Change” Robinski, defender of all things masculine and notorious chugger of beer.

Psychologist Sam Martin weighs in on man’s instinctive drive for a “Man Cave”.  “Men have had an identity problem since the women’s movement. They have tried to figure out who they’re supposed to be. For a while women wanted them to be more sensitive, so they were more sensitive. Then women wanted them to be more manly. One of the things I discovered is when men have their own manspace, what they put inside of it is really an expression of who they are. Manspace is about establishing an identity for a man. Our premise is that women have control of the look and the feel of the house and that left guys wanting more. Anybody who has a specific interest or hobby or work or collection is going to want a space to indulge that”. Chicago Tribune, 2007.

What He Really Wants is One of These

What is the perfect gift that a wife can give her husband? What is a gift that is guaranteed long term usage? What is the closest that most wives will come to penetrating the man room? It’s the personalized man cave sign.

What he really wants this holiday season is your furthered support of his man space. The man cave plaque delivers that in spades. Customize your own today!

For more manly gifts check out this etsy.com store, specializing in beer-oriented lamps.

Light the Way, Guinness

Seriously...Don't Knock on This Door.

Today I ran into something very peculiar–the word Proselytize. It means to actively persuade someone into converting to a religion. Prior to today, I must confess, I didn’t know the definition of Proselytize and was admittedly offended because of it (its an English major thing). That being said, where I saw the word also struck me as strange. It wasn’t in a religious pamphlet, it wasn’t on TV, in the news, or online. It was on a sign…a privacy sign.

Jehova's Witnesses Beware

The original version of the sign reads, “No solicitors, no newspapers, no anything, no kidding”. The version that I saw today says “No solicitors, no proselytizing, no anything, no kidding”. This is yet another example of Atlas Signs and Plaques’ ability to customize every sign that we offer. Don’t like the phrasing we used on a sign? You can write your own. Don’t like a sign’s size? Send us an email…we’ll blow it up for you. Don’t like the graphics? You can choose your own. All your custom needs are satisfied at Atlas Signs and Plaques.

“Proselytize” impressed me so much that I decided to look up more arcane, strange looking words. What I found was the New York Times’ top 10 list of most searched for word definitions. Try using a couple of these words on a custom sign of your own!

A Good Choice of Words

10. Obduracy – Not easily moved by feelings; hardhearted.

9. Solipsistic – To deny the existence of others. (One of the handiest words around).

8. Apostates – Someone who forsakes their religion.

7. Opprobrium – Harsh criticism or censure.

6. Baldenfreude – Novelty version of shadenfreude; Finding pleasure in others’ misfortune.

5. Austerity – Stern, severe. (AKA: Severus Snape).

4. Tinnitus – A disease related to loss of hearing and the sensation of ringing in the ears.

3. Sui Generis (Latin) – of his, her, or their own kind.

2. Profligate – Utterly and shamelessly immoral.

1. Inchoate – Not yet completed.

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Today is Veterans Day. To anyone who has ever served America, I extend my deepest thanks.

This Veterans Day lands on 11/11/11, a number of particular symbolic importance.

November 11^th is the day fighting ceased on the western front, effectively ending World War I combat. The armistice, signed at 5:00 AM on Nov 11^th, 1918, was set to go into effect on “The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month.” 11/11/11

It is for this reason that many people worldwide observe a 2-minute moment of silence at 11 AM on November 11th. These two minutes symbolize the 20 million casualties of WWI.

President Woodrow Wilson established Armistice Day on November 11^th, 1919 to commemorate all the soldiers who fought in the war. In 1938 the date became recognized as a legal holiday, dedicated to the cause of world peace and remembrance of WWI soldiers. In 1954 the day was officially renamed Veterans day and expanded to the remembrance of all veterans.

Of the 68,000,000 WWI veterans, only 1 is alive today. Her name is Florence Green and she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in 1918 at the age of 17. She resides Norfolk, England.

Peace is a strange thing because it is only through violence that peace is maintained. In an ideal world there is no conflict, no war, no fighting. Our world is not ideal. Our world requires soldiers with guns to protect the sovereignty of our nation. To the servicemen and women who provide that protection, I salute you.