Anniversary Celebrations

An anniversary is commonly associated with weddings. Married persons who regard the date of their marriage as important may mark the yearly date of their wedding in some special way.

Broader groups in society, especially the families, and even more especially the children of such a couple, may help to celebrate such occasions; this is particularly common on the 40th, 50th, and 60th annivs.

Retailers (especially jewellers), sensing a profit opportunity, have encouraged gift-giving on such special days, and may often suggest a hierarchy of types of gifts to reflect the importance of longer years of marriage (and perhaps of greater ability to purchase more expensive gifts).

Complete Year-by-Year Anniversary Gift List
Anniversary Gift Year	Traditional Anniversary Gift (American)	Traditional Anniversary Gift (British)	Modern Anniversary Gift
1st	Paper	Cotton	Clocks
2nd	Cotton	Paper	China
3rd	Leather	Leather	Crystal/Glass
4th	Linen/Silk	Fruit/Flowers	Appliances
5th	Wood	Wood	Silverware
6th	Iron	Candy/Sugar	Wood
7th	Wool/Copper	Wool/Copper	Desk Items/Sets
8th	Bronze	Bronze/Pottery	Linens/Lace
9th	Pottery	Pottery/Willow	Leather
10th	Tin/Aluminum	Tin	Diamond Jewelry
11th	Steel	Steel	Fashion Jewelry
12th	Silk	Silk/Linen	Pearls
13th	Lace	Lace	Textiles/Furs
14th	Ivory	Ivory	Gold Jewelry
15th	Crystal	Crystal	Watches
16th			Silver holloware
17th			Furniture
18th			Porcelain
19th			Bronze
20th	China	China	Platinum
21st			Brass, Nickel
22nd			Copper
23rd			Silver plate
24th			Musical instruments
25th	Silver	Silver	Sterling Silver
26th			Original pictures
27th			Sculpture
28th			Orchids
29th			New furniture
30th	Pearl	Pearl	Diamond
31st			Timepieces
32nd			Conveyances (e.g., automobiles)
33rd			Amethyst
34th			Opal
35th	Coral/Jade	Coral	Jade
36th			Bone china
37th			Alabaster
38th			Beryl, Tourmaline
39th			Lace
40th	Ruby	Ruby	Ruby
41st			Land
42nd			Improved real estate
43rd			Travel
44th			Groceries
45th	Sapphire	Sapphire	Sapphire
46th			Original poetry tribute
47th			Books
48th			Optical goods (e.g., telescope, microscope)
49th			Luxuries, any kind
50th	Gold	Gold	Gold
55th	Emerald	Emerald	Emerald
60th	Diamond	Diamond	Diamond
75th	diamonds, diamondlike stones, gold
80th			Diamond, Pearl
85th			Diamond, Sapphire
90th			Diamond, Emerald
95th			Diamond, Ruby
100th			10-carat Diamond

Chicago Public Library http://www.chipublib.org/008subject/005genref/giswedding.html

West Virginia is a state of the United States in the region of Appalachia, generally known as The Mountain State. West Virginia broke away from the Commonwealth of Virginia during the American Civil War and was admitted to the Union as a separate state on June 20, 1863 (an anniversary now celebrated as West Virginia Day in the state). It is the only state formed as a direct result of the American Civil War. The Census Bureau considers West Virginia part of the South because of its location below the Mason-Dixon Line, even though the USGS designates it as a Mid-Atlantic state. Many in the state's Northern Panhandle, and North-Central region feel an affinity for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while those in the Eastern Panhandle feel a connection with the Washington, D.C. suburbs in western Maryland and Virginia and southern West Virginians often consider themselves Southerners. The state is noted for its timber and coal mining heritage and labor union organizing mine wars in particular. Economy The economy of West Virginia is one of the most fragile of any U.S. state. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, West Virginia is the third lowest in per capita income, ahead of only Arkansas and Mississippi. It also ranks last in median household income. The proportion of West Virginia's adult population with a bachelor's degree is the lowest in the U.S. at 15.3%. One of the major resources in West Virginia's economy is coal. West Virginia also engaged in oil drilling, but currently only has a few small to medium sized oil and natural gas fields. Farming is also practiced in West Virginia, but on a limited basis because of the mountainous terrain over much of the state. West Virginia personal income tax is based on federal adjusted gross income (not taxable income), as modified by specific items in West Virginia law. Citizens are taxed within 5 income brackets, which range from 3.0% to 6.5%. Although the state's consumers' sales tax is levied at 6 cents for $1, 12 cents for $2, 18 cents for $3, and so on, this tax is not a flat 6% applied against the purchase price. Rather, the consumer sales tax is computed on a bracket system. West Virginia counties administer and collect property taxes, although property tax rates reflect levies for state government, county governments, county boards of education and municipalities. Counties may also impose a hotel occupancy tax on lodging places not located within the city limits of any municipality that levies such a tax. Municipalities may levy license and gross receipts taxes on businesses located within the city limits and a hotel occupancy tax on lodging places in the city. Although the Department of Tax and Revenue plays a major role in the administration of this tax, less than one-half of one percent of the property tax collected goes to state government. The primary beneficiaries of the property tax are county boards of education. Property taxes are paid to the sheriff of each of the state's 55 counties. Each county and municipality can impose its own rates of property taxation within the limits set by the West Virginia Constitution. The West Virginia legislature sets the rate of tax of county boards of education. This rate is used by all county boards of education statewide. However, the total tax rate for county boards of education may differ from county to county because of excess levies. The Department of Tax and Revenue supervises and otherwise assists counties and municipalities in their work of assessment and tax rate determination. The total tax rate is a combination of the tax levies from four state taxing authorities: state, county, schools, and municipal. This total tax rate varies for each of the four classes of property, which consists of personal, real, and intangible properties. Property is assessed according to its use, location, and value as of July 1. All property is reappraised every three years; annual adjustments are made to assessments for property with a change of value. West Virginia does not impose an inheritance tax. Because of the phase-out of the federal estate tax credit, West Virginia's estate tax is not imposed on estates of persons who died in 2005.