Shopping for that perfect gift for a History Buff?

Disappointed by Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday, and Cyber Monday? Still looking for that perfect gift for your history buff? Here are a few online retailers connected to cultural heritage organizations that might be worth a look-see:

• The National Archives e-store
• The South Carolina Online Mall (The reproduction Mills Atlas map of Beaufort District is quite nice - and only $20!)
  
• The South Carolina Historical Society - Choose the Gift Shop label then click on each category (books, prints, software, and gifts) to see what is on offer.

Don't like doing business online? Are you more likely to leave things to the last minute? Consider this, then, and support local historical cultural heritage organizations. A number of the members of the Beaufort County Historical Resources Consortium have a gift store or have Friends organizations which operate a gift store with proceeds going to their beloved institution.

For example, Coastal Discovery Museum has a gift shop. Although the BDC doesn't offer items for sale, the Friends of the Beaufort County Library operate a book store in the Beaufort Branch Library with proceeds going to supplement the County's funding for Beaufort Branch, Lobeco Branch, St. Helena Branch and the Beaufort District Collection. Content changes often. You can support the BDC - and give a pristine copy of a novel - in one small cash exchange.

An alternative way to give the gift of local history is to purchase a membership for a beloved one to a Beaufort County based cultural heritage organization. Oh, the choices you will have! Historic Beaufort Foundation, Bluffton Historical Preservation Society, the Heritage Library, Penn Center, Coastal Discovery Museum, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition, Beaufort County Historical Society, Beaufort History Museum, and/or the Public Library Foundation among others would each appreciate your financial and moral support. Prices and benefits of membership vary.

Happy Holiday Shopping!