Kitchen

[luvboyds]

Gosh, I didn't even think about it being a return. That is an excellent point that maybe someone returned it and it was wrapped with the penny. There wasn't any other labels that I saw on the box or a label on top of the label. I love all the penny thoughts though. Very interesting!

[Linds7]

I bought a wallet from QVC years ago and it had a dollar inside of it. I figured it was a returned gift and knew about never gifting a wallet without money in it (something like an empty wallet would cause the gift recipient to stay broke).

[lolakimono]

Don't despair- I'm sure they added that extra penny into the shipping and handling!

[luvboyds]

I have also heard that you never buy a girlfriend or boyfriend a watch. It always meant that you would break up. I didn't listen and did it anyway.....guess what....we broke up...lol.

[luvboyds]

lol..lolakimono

[Rarity]

I was taught that if you bought someone a purse, wallet or something like that you put a penny in it. If you gave knives as a gift they were to give you a penny.

[luvboyds]

Love reading these. I do remember now about hearing that you don't give someone something sharp as it would cut your friendship. Didn't know about the penny though.

[dl]

I've always heard its bad luck to buy anyone a set of knives!!

[Vamp]

On 1/15/2014 JESSA said:

I remember my mom always told us if we were buying knives for a gift to tape a shiny penny to the package...I don't know what it means. It looks like maybe yours was a return from someone who got it as a gift and forgot to take the penny off.

My mom taught me this tradition, too. You got me curious about the origins of it, and this seems to be the most common explanation from what I could find:

From Martha Stewart Weddings

Did you know there's a superstition about receiving knives as a gift? It applies to can openers, too, or scissors -- anything with a blade.

Apparently it's bad luck to be given something that can sever. The blade, it's thought, will sever the friendship. It's especially bad luck for a wedding gift, where the fear is that the sharp edge will sever the marriage vows.

Some people hold this superstition so strongly that they disapprove of giving knives as wedding gifts. But for most people, the solution is to have the bride "buy" the knife from you instead, for a token amount (usually a penny; sometimes a nickel). My relatives went so far as to insist I follow this rule even for something with as dull a blade as a table knife.

Some gift givers will include the penny for you to give back to them, but that seems to me to defeat the purpose; how much of a "purchase" can you make with money that's been given to you from the person you're supposed to pay?

[Suzeecat]

If you received something you ordered after it being on waitlist, chances are good that you received someone else's return. I would be very surprised if someone at QVC put a penny in your order. I'm enjoying reading about all the "lucky penny" stories.