Animals and Wall Plates. What state visits have in common with Bob Marley and the Saarland

Imagine a distant acquaintance has invited you for a meal. You are pleased to have been invited and start making plans. You should of course bring along a gift for your host, but other than wine or chocolates, what might that gift be? Preferably it should say something about your personality, make you seem interesting, while at the same time appealing to your host’s tastes. It should be obvious that you have put some thought into choosing the gift. Historian Robert Kluth means in this instance, giving a present becomes a complex task.