This holiday season, do unto yourself as you would do unto others — and gift yourself. Instead of trudging through department stores for the “perfect present,” escape into the nearest museum — then duck into its store for fun, fanciful gifts you probably won’t find anywhere else.
Here’s our guide to some of the best museum shows and shops in the city. Some of our favorite finds will run you $50 or less — and, in nearly every case, one size fits all (especially a museum membership). Share the joy!
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The Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs and “The Secret World Inside You” are big draws at the American Museum of Natural History. (Central Park West and 79th Street)
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As tempting a prospect of a petri-dish-patterned plate is, it’s this silk tie — emblazoned with the flu virus — that’s irresistible; it’s $50, vaccination not included. The AMNH shop also sells something more benign: a 100 percent Indian-cotton, bright orange onesie ($20), its bold pattern taken from the Hall of South American Peoples.
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“Superheroes in Gotham,” complete with Batmobile, at the New-York Historical Society (Central Park West and 77th Street)
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They’ve got superhero everything here: T-shirts, toiletry bags, even a Captain America garment bag ($14) and a cashmere scarf emblazoned “Ka-pow!” ($198). But these Wonder Woman knee socks, capped with little red capes, are just $10. No wonder they’re flying out of the store.
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“Berlin Metropolis: 1918-1933,” at the Neue Galerie (1048 Fifth Ave.)
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All the soul but little of the angst of those tumultuous times shines in the eyes of this foot-high “Berlin Bear” ($220). Never mind the sundry other cubs selling on eBay and elsewhere: This particular teddy, made by Germany’s Steiff company, is available only at the Neue.
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“Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom,” at the Met (Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street)
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This chunky glass-bead necklace — all cool blues and greens, like the Nile — is a global phenomenon: Inspired by Egypt, it was crafted in Thailand from Czech crystals ($145).
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The permanent collection at the Jewish Museum (1109 Fifth Ave.)
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There may be no better place for sublime stocking stuffers than the Jewish Museum! We’re talking sturgeon-shaped corkscrews ($15), tiny poppy-seed-bagel earrings ($20, with a schmear) and pewter flasks ($58). The last, imported from Sheffield, England, can get you through the holidays in surreptitious style, particularly the one engraved “Oy vey” — Yiddish shorthand for, among other things, “Will this night/day/dinner never end?”
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“Ernest Hemingway: Between Two Wars,” at the Morgan (225 Madison Ave.)
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“The Old Man and the Sea” scribe loved his whiskey — and daiquiris, martinis and G&T’s. Toast his memory as you leaf through Tim Federle’s $15 guide to cocktail-dom, “Tequila Mockingbird” (sample chapters: “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margarita” and “The Postman Always Brings Ice”). It pairs nicely with a “Med-Evil-Iced Weaponz silicone ice tray ($13), inspired by the gory “Crusader Bible” in the Morgan’s permanent collection.
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“Frank Stella: A Retrospective,” at the Whitney (99 Gansevoort St.)
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“Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008,” at the Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn)
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Brooklyn-based designer Ronda J. Smith makes cotton sateen pillows from her own photos of Coney Island, the Parachute Jump (below) among them; there’s also one of the Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone roller coaster. Smith calls them “couch art” — you’ll call them a steal at $55 each. Want to make some art of your own? Shape-Scapes Mezzo ($25; above), with its 65 whimsical pieces, is practically an Alexander Calder mobile waiting to happen.
