On Saturday, I will be going to my friend Evelyn’s birthday party. She’s turning 20, and has been my best friend since high school. I needed to buy her a gift, so I decided to purchase her gift while doing this experiment.

I had a couple of goals going into this experiment. My friend is a big Broadway, Disney, and Harry Potter fan, so I wanted to buy something related to her passions. I set myself a $50 budget and had to buy a card along with the gift.

On Wednesday the 22nd at 3pm, I went to a number of different stores along Main Street in New Paltz. Eventually, I ended up in Heady Teddy’s Outfitters, where I bought her a generic mug. Some of the other stores I stopped at were Antiques on Main, Inquiring Minds Bookstore, and Groovy Blueberry. It was fun hopping from one store to another. I went with a different friend, and it was a good chance to socialize and laugh. I didn’t know ahead of time what the stores had in stock, so I was unaware of what I would find. I ultimately found some nice things, such as outfits and bags. Evelyn has a very specific style, however, so none of the clothes I found worked. Not knowing what the stores had in stock was a nerve-racking experience, since I needed to buy something for a specific purpose. I ultimately bought her a generic gift from the physical store.

Not using my phone was easier than I thought it would be. My friend provided enough distraction as we joked around. A couple of times, I found myself tempted to check if I got any messages. I had to fight my habitual tendency to open my phone.

When we entered Heady Teddy’s Outfitters, my friend had to excuse himself and step outside. He said that it was too crowded in the store, making him nervous. This is something I hadn’t considered when comparing browsing vs scrolling. Those who have social anxiety or don’t do well in crowded places benefit from scrolling. There’s no one around, so you can take your time without feeling pressured.

The next day, Thursday the 23rd at 1:30pm, I went on Amazon to search for a second gift. It was a slightly lonely experience, and I found myself wanting to text people in order to socialize. However, I wasn’t limited by what a physical store carried. I was able to find niche products that better suited my friend. For example, I found a Harry Potter cookbook for college students. Evelyn is going to college to become a chef, and is a big Harry Potter fan, so it was perfect.

After about half an hour of scrolling, I started to get distracted. I was looking up objects that weren’t related to my search. I spent approximately three hours looking at camping equipment, instruments, and other random items. Online stores such as Amazon promote unrestricted browsing. In a physical store, once you walk through the whole store, you’ve seen everything. On Amazon, there are hundreds of thousands of objects up for sale. If one isn’t careful, they could spend the whole day doing nothing but scrolling.

After I bought both gifts, I was conflicted about which experience was better. While I socialized with my friend at the physical store, I was able to buy a better gift online. Since both browsing and scrolling have their benefits and issues, I feel that a mix between the two is ideal. When someone wants to socialize, physically see the objects, and have a restricted browsing experience, going to a physical store is better. However, if someone wants privacy, the ability to find niche products, and an unrestricted browsing experience, then online stores are ideal.

This Havdalah Spice Box has been in my family for generations. Passed down through my mom’s side of the family, no one knows when or how we acquired it. The original ownership papers were lost during the Holocaust, so there is no documentation regarding its purchase. My great grandmother, Ruhla, is the first person we are aware of who owned it. We know that she inherited it, but unfortunately, both her and my grandmother Rebecca passed away years ago. As such, we never learned who she inherited it from. My mom speculates that we acquired it in Huși, a North-East province of Romania. There’s a strong Jewish community there, and it’s where my grandmother was raised.

Composed of silver filigree, the spice box is exactly 12” tall. The base is 4” by 4”, and the top half is 2” by 2”. A Havdalah Spice Box is used during Friday night Sabbath. A mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom is placed inside. Afterward, the box is passed around, its fragrant scents inhaled.

My mother, Ingrid, immigrated to America from Romania at 13 years old in 1974. At the same time, Ruhla moved to Israel to live with my mother’s aunt, Nutsi. In 1981, Ruhla immigrated to America, living with Ingrid and Rebecca until she passed away in 1996. Unfortunately, she had a massive stroke in 1985, leaving her unable to take care of herself. As such, Rebecca became her caretaker. My mom says that Rebecca worked very hard to make Ruhla comfortable. When creating her will, Ruhla decided that the spice box would be passed down to Rebecca.

However, the will was never written down. Ruhla verbally told Rebecca it was hers, which caused a massive family feud about 20 years ago.

In 2002, my grandmother loaned the spice box to her nephew, Gabi. His son, Ross, wanted to show it off at his Hebrew school. He was supposed to return it after a couple of weeks, but they didn’t. When confronted about it, Gabi’s wife, Brenda, claimed that the spice box belonged to them. After a lot of arguing, they finally returned it in 2007.

When asked about the spice box, Brenda told me that Nutsi’s father, David, wanted Nutsi to inherit it. There is no written evidence of this, as David didn’t create a will. He passed away in 1967 from stomach cancer. As such, my side of the family argued that it was Ruhla’s to give away, since she was the sole owner at the time of her passing.

To this day, Brenda claims that the spice box is rightfully theirs. When Rebecca passed away in 2018, Brenda mentioned the spice box at the shiva. We refused to give it back, and now the spice box sits in our living room. When I interviewed her for this paper, she even started to get angry about it.

She claimed that since her side of the family is more religious, they would use the box for its intended purpose. However, my mom countered that by saying her heritage is just as important to our side of the family as the practice of Judaism is to Brenda’s family. Since 1981, the spice box has been on our side of the family. Throughout my mother’s childhood, Rebecca would prominently display the spice box in the living room, placed in a fine wood cabinet. There’s a lot of emotion attached to this box, which nearly tore a family apart.

Works Cited

Iosefson, Brenda. Interview. 11 Feb. 2023.

“Spice Box.” The Jewish Museum London, 2021, https://jewishmuseum.org.uk/schools/asset/spice-box/#:~:text=The%20spices%20used%20in%20the,separation%20of%20work%20and%20rest. Accessed 16 Feb. 2023.

Veiss, Ingrid. Interview. 12 Feb. 2023.

The object I’m choosing to showcase is my stuffed animal, Frosty. My parents gave him to me in January of 2003, when I was born. They bought him from a department store, but don’t remember which one. His tag, located on the bottom back of his body, has long since worn out, leaving behind a polyester gray loop. He is a snowman, with a large round body, small round head, hat with a pompom, two gloves, scarf, and two feet. Overall, he is 35” tall, 10.75″ wide with the arms spread out, and on average 3.75” deep.

Frosty’s head is approximately 14″ wide, 15” tall, and 3.5” deep. What used to be fuzzy white cotton skin has faded into a grayish white color, changed by dirt and aging. There are small patches of missing fabric on the hat, nose, and cheek, exposing the brown stitching underneath the cotton. The biggest patch is to the bottom right of his nose (from Frosty’s perspective). The nose is a thin piece of blue fabric, doubled over and formed into a triangle. A stitch line is visible on the bottom of the nose, running the full length and showing where the manufacturers sewed. The nose is stuck in an upward position, which prominently shows the stitching.

When I was a toddler, I was very sensory. I chewed on Frosty, which resulted in a big hole on the top right of his nose. Only the top layer of the fabric is broken, so the hole is still covered on the bottom. I also chewed on the white and blue fabric strips of the pompom, resulting in the ends being severely frayed.

His hat is made of blue fabric and has a rim slightly smaller than the nose. Turning Frosty around, the back of his head is fully covered by the hat, which goes down to the scarf around his neck. The hat is loosely placed on the head, attached only at the rim. This causes the hat to not look fully stuffed, becoming wrinkled. His eyes are made of glass, with a blue sclera and black pupil. Both glass eyes are scratched, making it look like he has a twinkle in his eye. Lastly, the mouth is a thin piece of blue yarn, threaded loosely into a smile with two yarns indicating the corners.

Frosty’s body is approximately 10.75″ wide with the arms spread out, 20” tall, and 4” deep. His body without the arms is 6″ wide. The skin is the same white cotton as the face, and the gloves and feet are the same blue fabric as the hat and nose. He has a scarf wrapped once around his neck, with alternating blue and white fabric stripes. The scarf is tied in a knot at the front of his body, leaving the ends to dangle for about 4.5”. The ends of the scarf are composed of the same cotton as the body, but it is colored blue. The arms are approximately 2.25″ wide and 1.25” deep, with the blue glove covering ¾ of the arm. Both gloves have one small thumb at its top in the shape of a circle, and a rim where it meets the skin. His feet are shaped like half circles, two pieces of blue fabric doubled over and attached to the bottom of the body. They’re approximately 2.25″ wide, 1.75” tall, and 0.5” deep.

His body was once firm, but over the years the stuffing dried up, leaving him with areas of flatness. The main locations of this are the neck and the two joints where the arms connect to the body. The head is no longer supported by the neck, and flops over if he is standing. The gloves and feet are the stiffest parts of Frosty. The stuffing has not yet flattened, so the original shape is still maintained.

All over Frosty, signs of wear and tear are visible. Small patches of cotton and fabric are missing on the hat, nose, cheek, and body, exposing the stitches. The nose and pompom are especially worn out, due to chewing on them when I was a toddler. The glass eyes are scratched, and a lot of the stuffing has lost its shape. While some might say it’s damaged, I think these traits are what make Frosty unique and well-loved.