As we sail into full wedding season, I am reminded of gifts from weddings past that many of you no doubt found yourself staring at the morning after. Things that were weird and wonderful. Or just weird.

I know this because I sold many of those things from the store I worked at for nearly a decade: Consumers Distributing. If you got married 40 years ago (or so), you probably got a dome clock. The domes on most of them were plastic, the guts were plastic and we sold thousands of them.

It was supposed to remind you of olden times when they littered everyone’s mantelpieces, especially in places like England. “Downton Abbey” had them in every room, and a special butler to wind them each day. Luckily for you, you just had to put in two AA batteries.

Sold separately. We tried to talk people out of those clocks. We also carried small, heavier carriage clocks that were a lot nicer and better made.

But somehow, as soon as you opened the box and released a plastic dome that was a foot tall, people gasped and clapped and decided it was just what the newlyweds needed. Most invites now simply ask you to toss into the couple’s honeymoon fund. I have no issue with that.

Times change, and we should change with them. The best wedding gifts I received far outlasted the marriage: French white casserole dishes and the pots and pans I still use, 35 years later. Money fits all sizes, but great quality kitchenware from women who knew what they were doing has made me think of them every time .