Pickles by Brian Crane for December 21, 2023

Earl is just being frugal. My kind of guy.

I stand with Earl! She won’t like the gift anyways so it comes with a trashbag!

Normally I’d say it’s the thought that counts, but I don’t believe Earl put much thought into this.

I’ve wrapped Christmas gifts in Sunday Comic pages (remember them?)… in duck tape… in a cardboard box spray painted green with black… in a box wrapped in aluminum foil… in nice quilting cloth… and of course in normal Christmas… or other… paper; or in prefab boxes or bags. Sometimes the wrapping IS the thing…

Top quality topographic maps of the country/continent/whatever of the origin of the gift are a classy way to stir the curiosity, and spark a conversation and good stories…. wrapping them in the funnies is also a story basis too of course..

Must be a guy thing. One year my Daddy was in charge of the gift wrapping. He ran out of tape early on. He used duct tape. Couldn’t understand why mummy and I were appalled

Must be a big present if it’s in a trash bag.

Hahahaha

I seem to recall Opal telling Pearl she was hoping for trash bags as a gift from Earl. Be careful what you wish for, Opal! You might get it. :D

The price of a roll of gift wrap for about 10 presents is the same as one gift bag.

Though I don’t mind wrapping gifts the paper isn’t cheap and it always felt like throwing money away on something that would be promptly torn up and in the trash so for years now I’ve bought those pretty reusable boxes for gifts. You can almost always find them at the different dollar stores and in a variety of different prints/patterns. They’re made out of sturdy cardboard and are meant to be used for storage or such and come in many different sizes. I consider them part of the gift. I also like using these boxes to store past years taxes and accompanying papers

At least it’s a Hefty and not a cheap store brand!

In the 1950s my Grandparents used to wrap some gifts in the Sunday Comics from the newspaper, clever reuse and they looked “swell”!

“… you Old Bag!”

Do all men get like that when they age?

She should be Glad® he took her advice.

Is it really the thought that counts?

Hey, it’s a Hefty. That’s name-brand. He went all-out on you, Opal.

Gee’s, can Earl get any lazier?

Hefty 45 Gal 4mil will suffice

Sometimes Earl just doesn’t get it!

I had to do that one year with a big gift. The wife thought it was hysterical.

An old bag for the old bag?

So basically ANYTHING with a bow is a gift…….. GOT IT

I wrap gifts in the Sunday comics! I save them all year and works great!

She meant a paper gift bag with tissue, Earl.

years ago My wife would us Sunday funnies for wrapping paper and also wad them up for packing material. The grand kids out of the country would unwrap carefully and unwad them to read.

my brother used to use brown paper grocery store bags as gift bags. functional and reusable.

I like how Earl simplifies the gifting experience. A bow and ‘Yo’

LMAO!

Mother-in-law would wrap presents in old newspapers. They were poor and presents were rare anyway. My wife literally did not get presents from her folks for Christmas, so no wasted newspapers there.

Yeah you tell her Earl!

A bag can be reused and it doesn’t create waste.

Earl is a fool.

GEEZ…so thoughtful of him…

I always did what my sister called “man wrapping”: put it in a random cardboard box, add a bow.

Festive not

That explains all the raccoons staring in the front window.

Too thin and weak … a 3-mil needed for all of her coal. Besides, was there no “Gift” button for Amazon’s Close-Outs?

Who HASN’T done that for a big present like a trike or play kitchen?

And the nice thing is that some bags come with a plastic ribbon to pull the opening shut and tie into a bow!

most excellent

A Hefty trash bag is an excellent gift all by itself. Open it first and all wrappers and bows, and boxes and papers, are easily collected and disposed

She did say a few comics back that she was hoping for garbage bags this year.