We see you, you last-minute shopper. We know you by the panic in your face like you’re the last person on Earth searching for signs of life. We recognize the way you shamble down the street like the walking dead. Don’t worry, it’s all going to be OK, because your failure to get holiday gifts ahead of time is just an opportunity in disguise. Businesses in Missoula and beyond have tons of great, easy stuff for whatever holiday you celebrate. In order to make it even easier, we offer you a last-minute gift list to cover a wide range of people in your life. Gifts that don’t feel last-minute — which means not only are you going to survive this holiday season, you’re going to conquer it.
A mug from Radius Gallery’s 11th Annual Holiday Show
For the art lover who needs their coffee or tea
$50 or less (but prices vary)
The Radius Gallery’s holiday show features 150 artists from around the state and region, and there’s lots for sale at a variety of price points, with some smaller items — like mugs and jewelry — coming in at $50 or less. Although the show includes a wide array of work in different mediums, a handmade mug is always a solid idea for a holiday gift. It’s a great way to both support local artists and also give a gift that’s broadly useful — if conceptually challenging. Ceramics have long been a pillar of Montana’s art scene, and engaging with the work from the next generation of great potters and sculptors is a cool way to be a part of that history. The holiday show runs through Dec. 28. —Arren Kimbel-Sannit
Radius Gallery
120 N Higgins Ave.
Or check out the collection online
A weird doll from the Montana Antique Mall
For the creepy doll collector
Prices vary
Railroad Street’s antique mall boasts a dizzying array of old furniture, clothing, bric-a-brac, art and other odds and ends across four floors of store space. Prices run the gamut. There are lots of potential holiday gifts here, from taxidermied animals to mid-century chip-and-dip dishes (any Mad Men fans?) to Western memorabilia. In the back, though, tucked in an out-of-use stairwell, live several antique dolls in various stages of physical health. It’s perfect for any children in your life you want to terrify and/or delight. —Arren Kimbel-Sannit
Montana Antique Mall
331 Railroad St. W
Christmas morning breakfast at the Ox
For the holiday iconoclast
Less than $10 per person
Do you know what’s open on Christmas? Not much. But not everyone wants to participate in elaborate holiday rituals, culinary or otherwise. What if you wake up Christmas morning with a hangover? What if you’re more the type to have Chinese food instead of holiday ham? Missoula’s (in)famous Oxford Saloon is one of the few eateries in town open, and it has the added benefit of also offering booze and gambling. While it’s no longer open 24/7 (“for now,” we are told) and it no longer serves brains and eggs, the historic cafe has been a classic hangout since it was established in 1883. If you’re more into placing bets on Christmas Day NBA games than roasting chestnuts, why not buy yourself, your partner or your buddies a plate of pancakes and a frosty Rainier on Christmas morning. —Arren Kimbel-Sannit
The Oxford
337 N Higgins Ave.
A membership to the Roxy Theater
For the cinephile
$45+
There’s no better spot for a day at the picture shows than the Roxy Theater, Missoula’s beloved independent cinema on the Hip Strip. Whether you’re looking to watch the new Bob Dylan biopic, a 1980s sci-fi horror like “Nightmare Weekend,” or a classic film such as “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the Roxy has you covered. Memberships at the theater are a smoking deal. At the lowest tier, $45 a year, you save $2 on all movies and get two free popcorns a month. At higher, more expensive levels, you can get guest passes and even free entry to all Roxy films. The theater makes it easy to purchase memberships as gifts on its website. —Arren Kimbel-Sannit
Roxy Theater
718 S Higgins Ave.
Quinn’s Hot Springs gift card
For your exhausted, brain-fried sweetie
$20-22 per four-hour day soak
As America’s resident outlaw troubadour Sturgill Simpson reminds us, “Life ain’t fair and the world is mean.” But for all that ails us, we can still find salvation and solace in the gloriously sulfuric waters of Quinn’s Hot Springs. Located 70 miles northwest of Missoula, near the idyllic confluence of the Flathead and Clark Fork rivers, Quinn’s offers both four-hour day soaks and overnight stays in its well-appointed cabins and lodges. Quinn’s pools feature a rich and pungent cocktail of minerals and the poolside bar slings affordable and tasty cocktails. (Rest assured, that Bloody Mary can waltz its way right into the steamy waters with you.) The tavern serves up stellar burgers, huge fresh salads and lovely conversation with Paradise locals. (If you’re looking for a more romantic atmosphere, the adjacent Hardwood House whips up excellent steaks and boasts a killer, award-winning wine list.) —Max Savage Levenson
Quinn’s Hot Springs
190 MT-135 in Paradise, MT
Willie’s Bighorn Bourbon
For the whiskey connoisseur
$43ish (prices vary from store to store)
The scene: A chilly night in a friend’s backyard in the Rattlesnake. A cheery campfire crackles. A bottle of Bighorn Bourbon appears gleaming in the light of the fire, and the cork comes out with a satisfying plunk. The whiskey zaps the tongue like an electric current, and the first sip explodes with bold flavor and remarkable buttery smoothness. Trading the spirit’s standard sharp bite for frictionless oakiness, Bighorn tastes, in a word, decadent. The bottle does not survive the evening. The award-winning whiskey comes from Willie’s Distillery in Ennis. If you ever find yourself in that bucolic town, certainly pay the wood-paneled tasting room a visit. Otherwise, you can find Bighorn Bourbon at liquor stores around Missoula (and lots of other great Montana-made whiskeys). Bighorn punches way above its weight. Despite its top-shelf flavor and quaffability, a full bottle will only set you back $43 at KrisCo, making it a splendid and relatively affordable gift for any whiskey-philes or bourbon taters in your blessed corner of the Garden City, or beyond. —Max Savage Levenson
Willie’s Distillery
312 E. Main St. Ennis, MT
Available in local liquor stores
Tosca’s wok-ready oil and vinegar sampler
For the epicurean
$30
Committing to a sole purchase at Tosca, downtown Missoula’s olive oil and vinegar emporium, can prove harder than picking friends to bring on a FREE boat trip for 3!. The fact that the shop lets you sample, well, almost everything on its shelves doesn’t help matters. Fortunately, Tosca is currently selling several boxed sampler sets that make that process much easier. My favorite features mini-bottles of four super tangy oils and vinegars that make any dish pop with unexpected flavor. In a hilarious move clearly not designed for maximum SEO impact, Tosca named the set “Can You Smell… what the WOK… is cookin’?” The package, which currently sells for $30, includes an insanely rich Japanese dark toasted sesame oil (my personal favorite), a lemongrass mint white balsamic, a honey ginger white balsamic and a ginger and black garlic infused olive oil. Together, these four epic flavors make a spot-on gift for any adventurous chef … or a magic bullet that can turn any ole’ dingus in the kitchen [see: me] into a regular Wolfgang Puck. —Max Savage Levenson
Tosca Olive Oils
137 East Main St.
Oxbow’s Ancestral Beef Blend
For the local foodie carnivore
$12/pound
I suspect that Santana and Rob Thomas’ ubiquitous 1999 mandate to “give me your heart, make it real, or else forget about it” likely did not refer to the fortifying power and dazzlingly rich flavor of ancestral beef. But, truly, what could be realer than adding liver and heart meat to your ground beef? The benevolent carnivores at Oxbow Cattle Company have given Missoula’s meat eaters a special treat with their frozen packages of Ancestral Beef Blend, available now at their honor system farm-to-market store in Miller Creek for $12/pound. Ancestral blends have myriad benefits: Heart and liver provide a terrific source of nutrients like iron, phosphorus, Vitamin A, riboflavin and Vitamin B-12. Furthermore, by not simply throwing a cow’s heart and liver into the trash, cattle ranches like Oxbow can reduce their food waste. Pro tip: Ancestral blend makes for a killer bolognese and/or lasagna. —Max Savage Levenson
Oxbow Cattle Co.
Directions to its farm-to-market store here
ACLU membership
For the minimalist progressive
$35+
Over the last 90 years, the American Civil Liberties Union has fought for human rights through the courts, including landmark cases in support of gay marriage and voting rights for people of color. Here in Montana, the ACLU’s state chapter is involved in ongoing cases including a recent win for transgender youth healthcare. As we brace for the incoming Trump administration, it’s a great time to give your progressive family and friends a gift ACLU membership that will support the organization’s work while fostering a little bit of hope this holiday season. They also sell merch. —Kate Whittle
Brightz bike lights at Imagination Station
For the cycling kid and kid at heart
$15-$45
You don’t need to stop riding your bike just because it’s cold and dark out. With warm layers of clothing and bright bike lights, you can enjoy the freedom and fresh air of biking and skip the hassle of defrosting your windshield and fighting traffic (especially if you have a bike with big tires that can handle whatever precip comes our way). At Imagination Station on Higgins, a shop full of clever toys, games and puzzles for all ages, you can also find a selection of fun and lively bike lights from the Brightz company. This gift allows the cyclist in your life to ride in style and be seen! I’m partial to the CosmicBrightz LED string that wraps around the bike frame, as well as the GoBrightz LED strip that attaches to the downtube; these would fit any bike. The Spinbrightz spoke lights and Wheelbrightz disco wheel lights both feature clip-in battery packs that in my experience do not fit on the wide-set spokes of bike tires 3” wide and larger, but should fit on most other types of bikes. There’s also some very exciting light-up pink handlebar tassels. —Kate Whittle
Imagination Station
227 N Higgins Ave.
Thrifted decor at Gathered for Good
For the holiday white elephant
$10+
The office white elephant gift exchange is not my favorite holiday gifting tradition, but it does seem unavoidable. Most of the time, I end up with some un-memorable plastic novelty item that someone grabbed from the gas station or dollar store at the last minute. At my office’s party last year, I wound up with novelty urinal-shaped shot glasses. This year, I’m trying to be the change I wish to see in the world by bringing a cute thrifted secondhand item to the office gift exchange. Even if nobody likes it, at least it’s sustainable and displays a little taste. At Gathered for Good, the proprietor stocks curated vintage items at actual thrift store prices. The selection varies, of course, but you can expect to find charming and quality pieces such as brass candlesticks, a geode slice tray, studio pottery vases, woven baskets, blankets and much more. I’ll feel good about bringing something to the white elephant exchange that isn’t plastic junk destined for a landfill — and I’ll make sure it’s pretty cute in case the gift ends up coming back to me. —Kate Whittle
Gathered for Good
2830 S Higgins Ave.
Missoula Symphony Orchestra family concert tickets
For the kid who likes music and mystery
$10 each
There are still a lot of people out there who think that you have to come out of the womb in a button-down shirt humming Stravinsky to be the type of person who goes to the symphony. But that’s just not true! First of all, we’re in Missoula, which means you get to be your laidback self even at fancy parties. But also, the Missoula Symphony Orchestra has long been friendly to audiences of all kinds, including families. Case in point: “Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Maestra,” which is a family-friendly performance with a plot and music. When the maestra vanishes before the show, Sherlock Holmes has to solve the mystery by investigating the orchestra’s instrument families — strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Who dunnit? (My money is the woodwinds, who always strike me as a little too sweet and innocent.) Tickets to the Feb. 1 show can serve as great stocking stuffers at a pretty great price. (For a more high-end adult stocking stuffer, opt for the Feb. 16 Whiskey, Wine & Wisdom event at Stave & Hoop.) —Erika Fredrickson
1990s Coloring Book
For the anxious Gen-Xer
$14.95
Adult coloring books have been around for a long time and seemed to get even more popular during the height of the pandemic in 2020. And it turns out they aren’t just a flash in the pan. I don’t know if it’s because we finally learned that adults deserve to have fun, too, or if adult coloring books are the product of a culture ridden with anxiety. (Probably both). Rockin Rudy’s, which is really the ultimate local store for getting fun, last-minute gifts, has a little section of on-point adult coloring books with themes like Vincent Van Gogh, The Beatles “Yellow Submarine” and Bob Ross. But probably my favorite is the 1990s Coloring Book, which seems perfect for the Gen X-er in your life who likes waxing nostalgic about hypercolor shirts, Carmen Sandiego and beanie babies, but also for everyone else who is bringing back 1990s culture with their love of butterfly clips, retro arcade games and shows like “Stranger Things.” —Erika Fredrickson
Rockin Rudy’s
237 Blaine St.
