We just survived the holidays and who didn't grow up with a Hickory Farms catalog, besides those who are twenty$-$something or younger. For those generations, It's a store that has died essentially, except for holiday time, for purchasing charcuterie gift sets and products. Think nuts, cheese and summer sausage.

My parents and grandparents would leave the catalogs laying around the house like they did with toy catalogs also. I remember distinctly that they would fill out an order form after having circled the products they had chosen and sent a check in the mail. Stone age technology but most of our neighbors and family loved and appreciated the manual work it took to order these gift sets.

Fast forward to the pop up stores today and you'll will find Hickory Farms in a mall near you, if you even have malls near you, at the holiday time. However, I prefer to buy an occasional gift from them online. Easy ordering, no checks involved, and no paper cuts from catalog paper.