Monthly Clubs: The Oddball Gift that Keeps Giving

Forget the fruit-of-the-month thing. Here are 10 alternative memberships to consider.

The Bacon Club

Photo: Zingerman’sWhen the companies behind monthly clubs started to look beyond fruit, flowers and other old-fashioned favorites, one of the most popular categories to emerge was bacon —the fatty, salty treat that’s America’s quintessential morning protein. Zingerman’s, the Michigan-based purveyor of all things great and gourmet, offers its own special take — a three-month club ($99) or a six-month one ($189) that features such specialty bacons as an Arkansas peppered bacon and a Tennessee dry-cured bacon. Baconalso figures prominently in another Zingerman’s monthly offering: the Forbidden Foods Club — as in “foods you’ve been warned off.” — By Charles Passy

Coastal Vineyards Chardonnay Wine Club

Photo: Sara Lewis - Bacon Freak.com If a wine club sounds too broad, how about one dedicated to a single varietal? That’s what Coastal Vineyards offers with its Chardonnay Wine Club (memberships range from $90 to $500, depending on number of bottles and months). The club touts its selections as coming from California wineries in the Paso Robles and Santa Barbara regions, and says it focuses on finding wines that “have yet to be discovered.” If chardonnay is not your grape of choice, Coastal also has clubs dedicated to Cabernet, Merlot and pinot noir, plus a Swine & Wine Club that combines — you guessed it — bacon and vino.

Moss of the Month Club

Photo: artincamera / Shutterstock.comA rolling stone gathers no moss. But if you’re a member of the Moss of the Month Club, you’ll be gathering moss aplenty. Yes, there’s a club ($50 for six months) for devotees of the green stuff. It works well as a decorative item in terrariums and it comes in countless varieties, from reindeer to roughstalk moss. “Give this as a gift for someone who is HOOKED ON MOSS!’” the club says. “It is great for the winter months when it is so cold and dreary outside.” The club is one of several offered through Etsy, the online small-biz marketplace.

The Sock Club

Photo: Founders Dane and Noah of sotmclub.comThere are plenty of jokes about socks being the most humdrum of holiday gifts. But this monthly club (a subscription starts at $11 a month) aims to forever change the image of footwear. The socks offered are indeed very colorful — check out the red, white and blue striped ones that arrive in July — and come courtesy of two Texas sock enthusiasts who say they “travel the globe analyzing the quality, craftsmanship, and design of socks.” (We gather they’re joking about the globe-trotting, but they clearly put some time and effort into making their selections.) As for sizing, the club says it ships one universal size and notes the following on its website: “We’ve had plenty of people with large feet sign up, and they have been happy with how the socks fit. If it turns out to be a problem, you can cancel anytime.”

JustFab Shoe Club

Photo: Kimora Lee Simmons of justfab.comYou’ve got the socks, but what about the shoes? Yes, there are shoe clubs, too, geared especially toward fashion-conscious women. Aperfect example: JustFabulous, which offers a $39.95 monthly membership program (or a gift card for a predetermined number of items and months). The key to this club, which was created in partnership with style icon Kimora Lee Simmons, is that it tries to home in on a member’s tastes and preferences, then it makes the appropriate monthly shoe suggestions. Members can use their monthly $39.95 credit to shop from those picks — all pairs are priced at that level — or they can bank credits for a shopping spree down the road. (Members are also free to skip months, meaning they won’t be charged the $39.95.) Selections include boots, sandals, wedges, pumps and just about anything else that fits on a woman’s foot. Need something beyond shoes? Credits can also be used for denim wear, jewelry and handbags — those items are priced at $39.95 apiece, too.

Toys4Tails Club

Hey, Fido deserves to be part of this club thing too! And Toys4Tails is there to fill the void. Its club (starting at $8.95 a month, with different duration options) lets members — humans, presumably — pick their doggie’s preferred toys from among four categories: Chew & Tug, Fetch, Splash and Treat (the latter category is more foodstuffs than toys but no dog is likely to complain about that). Then, Toys4Tails sends out the selections over the chosen duration period; members can also opt to let Toys4Tails do the toy and treat picking. We can’t speak entirely for Fido, but we’re pretty sure he or she will be happy with such items as the Wiggly Giggly ball (it makes giggle sounds when in motion) and the Air Kong fetching stick.

Exotic Tropical Fruit of the Month Club

The traditional fruit clubs still exist — Harry & David offers several versions of its classic club, in fact. But for those seeking a different take on all things fruit, consider the Exotic Tropical Fruit of the Month Club ($599 for 12 months), offered by Fresh Gardens, a South Florida farm, through the LocalHarvest online store. Here, the familiar fruits (apples, pears, oranges and the like) have been replaced by such delicious oddities as dragon fruits, passion fruits, sapodillas, lychees and longans.And, yes, they have bananas — Thai bananas, to be exact. Each month’s shipment comes with five pounds of the selected fruit. Fresh Gardens also offers many of its club fruits in individual shipments.

Diaper of the Month Club

We’re not talking your everyday Pampers. Instead, Fluff Envy offers a club (starting at $18 a month, with different duration options) that showcases cloth diapers in all their stylish glory (color choices range from “root beer” to “lazy lime”) and all their utilitarian glory too (club members can specify their closure preferences — snaps or Aplix hook-and-loop tape). The club is designed with flexibility in mind: Those who purchase a 12-month subscription are entitled to two “opt outs,” meaning they can pass on that month’s selection. Shoppers can also place a one-time order for diapers and such accessories as creams and diaper pins.

Caviar of the Month Club

Caviar is not just for special occasions anymore. At least that’s what Caviar Express seems to be implying with its club ($205 per month, with different duration options). In essence, the club offers a global tour of caviar styles: Russian Sevruga, American salmon, Iranian Ossetra, California white sturgeon and more. The shipments aren’t large — just 2 ounces — but, hey, it’s caviar. Fortunately, there’s no worrying about how to serve the pricey stuff — the first shipment comes with a mother-of-pearl spoon and each shipment includes a package of blinis. And if caviar isn’t enough, there’s always foie gras — Caviar Express sells that as well, although separately from its club.

Mustard of the Month Club

And not just any mustard of the month club, either. This one comes courtesy of the National Mustard Museum, a southern Wisconsin tourist favorite that proudly displays 5,400 mustards from all 50 states and more than 70 countries. (Visitors can even see a show at the museum’s MustardPiece Theatre.) The club ($90 to $250, depending on duration) offers monthly shipments of three different mustards — “whatever looks good,” says museum curator Barry Levenson. He does know that January’s shipment will include an award-winning cucumber-garlic-dill mustard from France. The museum sells individual mustards and personalized mustard gift boxes as well. But shoppers still have to provide their own hot dogs.