Anniversary Gifts by Year
Paper for the first, cotton for the second, silver at twenty-five and gold at fifty. Here is the whole traditional list, the places where the American and British versions disagree, and where the list actually comes from (it is younger than most people think).
What Is the Traditional Anniversary Gift for Each Year?
The US column is the American traditional list. The next column shows where British lists or Hallmark’s list give a different answer, and the last column marks the eight anniversaries Emily Post listed in 1922. Years with their own page link to gift ideas for that year.
| Year | US traditional | UK and other lists | 1922 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Paper | UK: cotton or paper | Yes |
| 2nd | Cotton | UK: paper or cotton | |
| 3rd | Leather | ||
| 4th | Fruit and flowers | UK: linen, silk | |
| 5th | Wood | Yes | |
| 6th | Iron | UK: sugar; Hallmark: candy or iron | |
| 7th | Wool, copper | UK: wool | |
| 8th | Bronze | UK: bronze, salt; Hallmark: pottery or bronze | |
| 9th | Pottery | UK: copper; Hallmark: willow or pottery | |
| 10th | Tin, aluminum | UK: tin | Yes |
| 11th | Steel | ||
| 12th | Silk | UK: silk and fine linen; Hallmark: silk or linen | |
| 13th | Lace | ||
| 14th | Ivory | Hallmark: gold jewelry | |
| 15th | Crystal | Yes | |
| 20th | China | Yes | |
| 25th | Silver | Yes | |
| 30th | Pearl | ||
| 35th | Coral | ||
| 40th | Ruby | ||
| 45th | Sapphire | ||
| 50th | Gold | Yes | |
| 55th | Emerald | ||
| 60th | Diamond |
Sources: Emily Post, Etiquette (1922); the US and UK columns as compiled on Wikipedia; Hallmark’s published list. Post gave diamond for the 75th; later lists moved it to the 60th. Checked .
Where Does the Anniversary Gift List Come From?
Silver and gold anniversaries are old: they are documented in Germanic countries since the 1500s. The year-by-year list is not. The oldest version most Americans would recognize is in Emily Post’s Etiquette, published in 1922, and it has only eight entries: paper at one year, wood at five, tin at ten, crystal at fifteen, china at twenty, silver at twenty-five, gold at fifty and diamond at seventy-five. There is no cotton, no leather, no steel. Those arrived with the expanded list generally credited to the American National Retail Jewelers Association in 1937, which filled in every year to the twentieth.
“The paper, wooden and tin wedding presents are seldom anything but jokes. Crystal is the earliest that is likely to be taken seriously by the gift-bearers. Silver is always serious, and the golden wedding a quite sacred event.”
Emily Post, Etiquette (1922)
Post was also describing something different from what the list is used for now. In her book the presents came from the guests at an anniversary party, not from one spouse to the other. The gift between the two of you, chosen to match the year, is the newer custom, and it is the reason the in-between years matter: nobody needs a list to know what to give at fifty, but almost everyone looks up the seventh.
Gift Ideas by Year
- 1st anniversary: paper
- 2nd anniversary: cotton
- 3rd anniversary: leather
- 4th anniversary: fruit and flowers
- 5th anniversary: wood
- 6th anniversary: iron
- 7th anniversary: wool, copper
- 8th anniversary: bronze
- 9th anniversary: pottery
- 10th anniversary: tin, aluminum
- 11th anniversary: steel
- 12th anniversary: silk
- 25th anniversary: silver
- 50th anniversary: gold
What We Make That Matches the List
We only call something a match when it is made of the year’s material. Every portrait starts from one photo of the two of you, and you see a watermarked proof before anything is made.
Anniversary Gift Questions
What are the traditional anniversary gifts by year? +
On the American traditional list: 1st paper, 2nd cotton, 3rd leather, 4th fruit and flowers, 5th wood, 6th iron, 7th wool or copper, 8th bronze, 9th pottery, 10th tin or aluminum, 11th steel, 12th silk, 13th lace, 14th ivory, 15th crystal, 20th china, 25th silver, 30th pearl, 35th coral, 40th ruby, 45th sapphire, 50th gold, 55th emerald and 60th diamond.
Where does the anniversary gift list come from? +
The oldest widely read American version is Emily Post’s Etiquette (1922), which listed only eight anniversaries: paper, wood, tin, crystal, china, silver, gold and diamond (at 75 years). The year-by-year list most people use today is generally credited to the American National Retail Jewelers Association in 1937.
Why do anniversary lists disagree? +
Because only eight years go back to the 1922 list. The years between were filled in later by different people, so American, British and retailer lists differ, mostly between the 3rd and the 14th. The 6th is iron in the US and sugar in the UK, for example, and Hallmark gives gold jewelry for the 14th where the traditional list says ivory.
Who were anniversary gifts originally for? +
In Emily Post’s 1922 Etiquette the presents came from the guests at an anniversary party, not from one spouse to the other, and she said the paper, wooden and tin ones were usually jokes. The spouse-to-spouse version came later.
Do I have to follow the material? +
No. The list is a prompt, not a rule. The best use of it is as a constraint that makes a gift more thoughtful: something made of the year’s material that also holds something only the two of you would understand.