All They Want...

In a yuletide that boasts a hit tune called I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (see Music), retailers did their utmost to provide the unusual--and expensive--in gifts:

P: In Beverly Hills, Teitelbaum furriers offered mink bras and panties in 30 different mutations. Price: $2,500 a set. Also in Beverly Hills, Jewells by Tobias put on sale gold cuff links, in the shape of "his" and "her" shorts (viewed from the rear), for $150.

P: For the kitchen-loving housewife, Dallas' Linz Bros, displayed a bracelet bangle in the form of a 14-carat gold sink with tiny diamonds streaming from the faucets. Price: $200. Another Linz offering: a man's pocket watch, which tells the day of the week, phase of the moon, date of the month and year, and strikes the quarter hours in pretty chimes ($12,000).

P: Chicago's Marshall Field advertised Swiss muslin, organdy and bobbinet curtains, delicately hand embroidered, for prices up to $650 a pair.

P: Manhattan's Dominique France, in its Christmas catalogue of high-priced haberdashery and notions, offered some helpful shopping hints for "other gift suggestions" not available there. "For Dad: a Wheeler Sun Lounge, 65-footer [yacht], $165.000. For Mom: a sable-lined reversible polo coat from Maximilian, $45,000. For mother-in-law: an Air France ticket to Viet Nam (French Indo-China) one way, $963."

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