That’s if you believe in the soft-centred, sentimental, commercial and largely tasteless mulch that is St. Valentine’s Day. Oh Mr. and Mrs. Shopkeeper have their moments alright. No, that would be telling. But they do observe February 14th. Mrs. is expecting a shiny new price gun and a gift wrapped afternoon off, whilst Mr. has undoubtedly ordered himself a new sci-fi box set in the name of love. Anyway, Persepolis is unexpectedly full of clever Valentines gift ideas, none of which involve paying extortionate amounts for roses or keeping the Ferrero Rocher family in the style to which they have become accustomed. Some examples? Well, what about:
- a book of Persian love poems? They did invent poetry after all. It doesn’t get much more romantic than Khayyam’s picnic scenario:
A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread-and ThouAlthough you will note that ‘thou’ seems to be a bit of an afterthought. So come peruse our selection to impress your designated one with your attention to aesthetic detail.
- a bunch of rose…themed gifts: rose water, rose Turkish delight, rose cordial, rose essential oil, rose petals… Let her delight at your ingenuity, whilst you delight in the price difference between that and a dozen of the florist’s finest.
- a hand-crafted Persian vase. They’re half price at the mo, and then you could buy her the flowers to go in it the next day (when they will surely also be half-price).
- for fellas, there’s always a backgammon board. This will give the eager-to-please girlf the opportunity to bat her eyelashes cluelessly whilst she lets boyf win.
- spread the love in a more subtle way by purchasing an I Love Peckham t-shirt. We offer four sizes and about eight colours, which should suit most shapes and sizes of Valentine.
- or if you’re really pushed for time, well…we do gift vouchers. We could even print you little heart-adorned ones if you like.
No Valentine’s cards this year? Don’t worry: your corner shop still loves you.
Don’t believe in all that rubbish? ‘Course you do – you read to the end of this aritcle, didn’t you….