Gift Ideas for the Hemingway Fan

Most fans of Ernest Hemingway know he had a strong connection with Northern Michigan where he spent every summer until he was in his early 20s. He wrote about those places from his childhood in his semi-autobiographical Nick Adams stories, and the Michigan Hemingway Society holds its annual conference in Petoskey. Christmas is on the way. If you have a Hemingway fan on your shopping list, here are some gift ideas they’re sure to love.

1. Fishing gear – Hemingway got his start fishing in the lakes and streams of Northern Michigan. It was a lifelong passion that he continued on the ocean when he moved to Key West. Fishing and his knowledge of the water were often subjects he wrote about. Give a Hemingway fan fishing gear, and they can share a common past time with their literary hero.
2. 2. An old school typewriter – Hemingway used an old manual Royal Quiet de Luxe typewriter. Today most of us are accustomed to the soft glow of a computer screen and quiet tap of a keyboard. But if your Hemingway fan is also an aspiring writer, they may find inspiration in the click-clack of old typewriter keys. If nothing else, it will make a great centerpiece for their office.
3. A stay at Stafford’s Perry Hotel in Petoskey, MI – Send them to Northern Michigan, where Hemingway summered, and give them a stay at the Perry Hotel, a place Hemingway also slept. They’ll love the hotel’s charming historical ambiance, and they can spend the day exploring other Hemingway haunts in the area.
4. Collection of his works – Every Hemingway fan needs a collection of his works. New copies are easy to come by online. Several of his works are published together in anthologies. But to make the gift extra special track down vintage copies of his books. Bonus if it’s autographed, but that will set you back a few thousand dollars.
5. To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion – Hemingway is known for his heavy drinking habit. Philip Greene’s book details authentic cocktail recipes connected with Hemingway’s writings and life and includes anecdotes about Hemingway.
6. Leather bound journal – Hemingway was never without a notebook and a pencil to write down thoughts. Give his fans their own leather bound journals to jot down their musings. Maybe you will inspire the next winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, an honor bestowed on Hemingway in 1954.
7. A six-toed cat – Maybe the Hemingway lover in your life is also a cat lover. Give them a polydactyl cat, if you can find one. Hemingway kept six-toed cats at his home in Key West, because he thought they were good luck. Today that home is a museum and several polydactyl cats, some directly descended from Hemingway’s first six-toed cat, live on the property and regularly interact with visitors.
8. Plane ticket to Paris – Hemingway spent several year in Paris with his first wife and wrote some of his most famous works there, The Sun Also Rises and Men Without Women. Whisk your favorite Hemingway fan off to Paris to walk the streets he walked and visit the cafes where he met with other literary elites of his time.
9. Wooden Boat – Boating was another of Hemingway’s favorite past times, and he loved his hand-crafted wooden yacht named Pilar. It was outfitted specially for catching large fish off the Florida Keys. Anyone who appreciates Hemingway would love their own wooden boat to sail around and fish. If the real deal is outside your budget, you can always give them a model to display on their desk.