We at Basketsgalore, have a passion for constantly improving our Christmas hampers. Size matters, not only in the world of Christmas hampers themselves, but it also applies to the producer of the Christmas hampers. You want somebody that you can count on that is not going to let you down and shows to you as the customer that your order matters. So, we are going to answer several questions surrounding the concept of the Christmas hamper. Out of those answers, we hope to highlight certain characteristics of our company to hurt any help the customer, purchaser, buyer, in their decision making when it comes to who to give their valued custom to, when it comes to their Christmas hamper requirements.   

Some of Dickens's most famous works include “Oliver Twist”, “A Christmas Carol” and “Great Expectations”. However, we will not be fixating on the content of these novels but rather on the characterization they contain. These novels each have one thing in common and that is they all feature one prominent character. Whether that is Oliver Twist, Ebenezer Scrooge or Pip the Orphan, Dickens does a phenomenal job of characterizing each of these individuals in a vivacious way. The reader becomes familiar with their personality, and positioning in the plot and they aid in the completion of the captivating stories. He would use these characters to address issues such as poverty, class disparity and the ostracization of vulnerable people such as children and the poor. 

At Baskets Galore we prioritize taking a detailed and meaningful approach when characterizing our hampers and gift baskets. Each hamper or gift basket caters to a unique theme or occasion, giving each gift a personality of its own.  This in turn creates a personalized touch which allows our customers to feel as if they are a part of the gift curation process. Each one of our gifts is filled to the brim with diversity and individuality, to ensure our customers get that magical gift-giving experience.

I will be looking at the theme of characterization from the viewpoint of a journalist with a basic knowledge of the works of Charles Dickens. I will be comparing the characterization employed by Dickens to the Characterization employed by Baskets Galore concerning their hampers and gift baskets. 

The first way that Baskets Galore utilizes characterization is by creating a brand persona. This persona aligns with the nature of gift hampers and gift baskets. This evokes emotions such as thoughtfulness and generosity while cementing connections. Baskets Galore creates a strong sense of identity and emotional characterization by helping customers find the perfect product to suit their unique tastes and preferences. 

Dickens also believed in creating a distinctive persona for his characters to make them instantly recognizable to the reader. Infamous characters such as Ebenezer Scrouge in “A Christmas Carol” or Uriah Heep from “David Copperfield” are representations of various human qualities. This exaggeration enables the characters to be easily recognized by the reader. Whether it is a brand or a person, both parties use this form of characterization to distinguish various aspects from the reader or customer.

Product characterization and physical description

At Baskets Galore we market our products to customers by displaying their unique qualities concerning taste, their ethicality or the story behind the brand in which they were created. Some baskets might be characterized as "luxurious" or "premium". This can indicate a particular gift's range of products, size or the overall quality of the products encapsulated. However, each of our gifts is filled to the brim with a variety of gourmet foods and fine wines. We also market some of our hampers and baskets under terms such as “casual”, and “practical”, this is to primarily suit specific occasions and events. Examples of this would include the “Christmas Angelic Array Hamper”. This Christmas hamper is packed with gourmet treats to create a thoughtful gift for a foodie. However, this hamper presents a personable twist as it is inspired by our very own Baskets Galore member Angelic. This is just a glimpse of one area of authenticity at Baskets Galore.

Dickens was a master of utilizing physical descriptions to reflect each of his characters' personalities and unique traits. He enhanced countless features surrounding his characters to make them instantly recognizable due to various quirks in their personality. This recognition adds to the authenticity of Dicken's work. A prime example of this is Dicken's use of physical descriptions. Dickens uses descriptive language such as that with Uriah Heep in "David Copperfield". Dickens speaks of his pale face, red eyes and clammy hands. This character is often referred to as "oily" hinting at his deceitful and manipulative nature. In contrast to this, we have the character of Mr Pickwick in "The Pickwick Confessions". He is often described as a plump man with a bald head and spectacles. He goes on to describe his kind-hearted nature, this coupled with his pleasant demeanour paints a docile image of Mr Pikwick to the reader. These vivid descriptions of the physicalities surrounding each character, aids to further immerse the reader in Dickens's works.

Character arc and product development

Dickens loves guiding his readers through a journey of character growth and transformation. One of his most famous examples of this is Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey from a life of misery to compassion, this is one of the most famous examples of a character arc. Dickens incorporates elements of realism by making his characters adapt in response to the life events surrounding them, ending in moral and emotional turmoil. This process of creating a story through the progression of a character keeps the reader immersed in Dicken's works.

This transpires through Baskets Galore's love of storytelling. Baskets Galore loves telling a story through marketing and weaving our authentic narrative around their hampers and gift baskets. They chose to characterize certain products by associating them with occasions such as festive feelings, Mother’s Day appreciation or Valentine's Day love, telling a story through every gift. The concept of a “brand story” is incredibly important to Baskets Galore. Our company loves going back to our roots of a small family business that prioritizes quality, individuality and attention to detail. We want to paint the story of how we came to be and the success behind that. We want our customers to feel like they are part of a large, meaningful community.

Emphasizing tradition

Baskets Galore loves containing an element of tradition in their hampers and gift baskets especially those correlating with special occasions such as Christmas and Easter. The tradition of giving gift baskets and hampers shows one feeling of gratitude and appreciation for the recipient. Tradition is echoed throughout the gift-giving process, this is highlighted through our festive-themed baskets filled with traditional items such as mince pies, Christmas cake etc. However, tradition is not just encapsulated in the gift-giving process, it is also heavily present in the gift-curation process. The act of selecting various items to create a symbol of care and thoughtfulness is founded on tradition.  Each basket is specifically tailored to an individual to cater to their unique tastes. This celebratory and meaningful way of giving gifts resonates with historical customs of giving gifts as a token of goodwill.

In comparison, Dickens also centres his works around tradition. He makes this evident through his fixation on family and community, this is not too dissimilar from the principles that Baskets Galore. Dickens is best known for emphasizing Christmas tradition through the novel “A Christmas Carol”. This novel prioritized the importance of family traditions and maintaining relationships. Focusing on the festive and harvest season displays Dicken’s characters participating in community events bringing society together. Dickens utilised tradition in multiple ways, the most applicable to Baskets Galore being festival and cultural traditions. Another example of this is Dicken's festive descriptions featured in, "The Pickwick Papers." Dickens paints an image of the characters engaging in dancing, feasting and games reflecting that vibrance tradition can bring.

Celebrating cultural Heritage

Baskets Galore celebrates British and Irish heritage by including a selection of regional and local products in their gift baskets and hampers. You can find these local jams, artisanal sweet treats and cheeses in many products featured on the Baskets Galore and Irish Gourmet website. Some of these hampers and gift baskets even centre around products from a certain region. An example of this is the “Emerald Irish Hamper” which chooses to celebrate only the very best of Irish produce. This hamper includes a mix of sweet and savoury produce deriving solely from the island of Ireland. Baskets Galore prides itself on selecting primarily locally sourced products to help preserve traditional food-making processes. This aids in the celebration of diversity in the British Isles, providing every recipient the opportunity to have a taste of conventional British and Irish heritage.

Dickens also likes to include a vast element of heritage in his writing. While he primarily focuses on England and Britain as a whole he repeatedly mentioned British tradition and festivities throughout his works. Dickes fixated on England portraying it as a rich nation with a vast amount of tradition, history and culture. Dickens did this to cement the importance of national identity primarily centred around shared customs. He had a love for British people and their culture often shedding light on their character fixating on their resilience, unique sense of humour and kindness. He reflected this through multiple of his characters such as the Cratchit family in "A Christmas Carol". This family symbolised charity, kindness and traditional values, which ties in with the cultural heritage surrounding the festive season.

Both the works of Dickens and Baskets Galore evoke emotions of warmth, thoughtfulness and connection, they may do this in different ways. However, they create the same result in relation to the joy they bring their customers or readers.