“Christmas Gifts and Kin Networks”, 1982-06 (; backlinks):
The ritual Christmas gift giving in Middletown involves virtually the entire population and is governed by elaborate unwritten rules that are remarkably well enforced without obvious means of enforcement.
Most gifts are scaled to the formal relationship between giver and receiver. It is proposed that ritualized gift giving in this society, as in others, is a way of reinforcing relationships that are highly valued but insecure.
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