The world-famous Neiman Marcus Christmas Book had its origins in 1915 as a Christmas card, inviting customers to the store to start their holiday shopping. The next Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog didn't appear until 1926, and, though modest in size at 16 pages, it established a lasting tradition of showcasing the unusual, the humorous, and the beautiful in a wide variety of prices, with keen emphasis on selectivity and taste.

During the 1950's, Neiman Marcus became known for its publicity coups. In 1959, in answer to press inquiries about unusual Christmas gifts, Stanley Marcus and his brother Edward brainstormed about an extraordinary gift for that year: a Black Angus steer, delivered on the hoof or in steaks, complete with a silver-plated cooker. The response was tremendous, and the "His and Her" gifts gained fame the following year with a pair of Beechcraft airplanes. Renowned journalist Edward R. Murrow (and his then-assistant, Walter Cronkite) soon made a point of calling Mr. Marcus directly each year thereafter to learn about the latest outrageous "His and Her" gift. A world-famous retailing phenomenon was born.

Over the years, Neiman Marcus has offered "His and Her" hot air balloons, Chinese junks, submarines, camels, Egyptian mummy cases, robots, windmills and other unusual, creative, but always functional, gifts. Other unique Christmas Book gifts have included a sterling silver Lazy Susan "gravy train", a chocolate Monopoly game, polo ponies and a 14-karat gold toy train set with a gold and diamond engine hauling four cars of loose rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. Christi Hefner bought a chocolate Monopoly game for her famous father, Hugh Hefner.

The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book has evolved into the ultimate wish book. The most expensive items ever offered was an unfinished Boeing Business Jet for more than $35 million. But not all of the gifts in the book are costly. A substantial number of gifts cost less than $100.

Since its inception, Neiman Marcus has commissioned leading artists to design the cover of the Christmas Book, with the art ranging from abstract to surreal to humorous. Cover artists have included such legends as Saul Steinberg, Ben Shahn, Robert Indiana and Al Hirschfeld. Fashion models whose careers were boosted by early appearances in the Christmas Book include Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum, Morgan Fairchild, Andie MacDowell and Cybil Shepherd.

Each year, a highly anticipated luxury automobile is showcased in the Christmas Book, and the tradition has become quite a phenomenon. Beginning with the BMW Z2 roadster in 1995, the cars have sold out each and every year, often in the first 24 hours of availability. In 2000, Ford telephone lines in Dearborn, Michigan, handling the sale of the Neiman Marcus Limited Edition Ford Thunderbird, were jammed as callers flooded the automaker with orders; the new "birds" sold out in two hours.

Today, the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book is distributed to over one million homes worldwide and is available online at www.neimanmarcus.com.

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Images Courtesy of Neiman Marcus