Classy Gag Gifts for Women Turning 50: Really Funny 50th Birthday Ideas for Her

What is a good 50th birthday present for a woman? Simple - a gag gift. A woman turning 50 who has a great sense of humor naturally would love a nice, normal present, but her day will be much brighter if she's laughing instead of gloomily surveying her past and future.

This is the big five-oh, so turn up the mood at her party with a good, clever and witty offering that will not only break the ice at her celebration, but also help her come to terms with reaching fifty years of age. Besides gift ideas, I've also written an original funny poem you're welcome to recite aloud at her party to bump up the festivity factor.

The humorous suggestions here steer away from the usual old-lady and aging jokes and toward more sensitive, laugh-with-me-instead-of-against-me humor. That doesn't mean a great over-the-hill gag isn't appropriate - especially if she knows how to laugh at herself. But you'll also you'll find suggestions for:

• Tasteful gag 50th birthday gifts for women that were made to break the ice at parties.
• Humorous book gifts like Fifty Things to Do When You Turn Fifty and cartoon and comic collections written to appeal to a 50-year-old woman.
• Funny T-shirts with a "fifty" theme.
• Witty 50th birthday poetry

These suggestions are affordable and good for a wife, female coworker, girlfriend, fiance, boss, sister, mother, friend, colleague, or client. Basically, you want to choose creative presents that will put her in just that - a good humor, at a time when a woman can feel just a little sappy and sad, too.

Fifty years old - at last it's for real.
So how does five decades feel?
A half century of love and adventures
Doesn't have to mean a new set of dentures!
The next fifty years will top the first
Like sweet relish tops spicy liverwurst
So let this year mark a time of transition
Between youthful dreams and mature ambition.
Gear up for a thrilling trip
Down a road that might have the odd bump and dip
But takes you to places you want to be
Fifty is living - fabulously.

-Copyright Chris Telden.  All Rights Reserved.

Susan Swartz wrote the wildly popular Juicy Tomato books to celebrate mature women who live life to the fullest. With insightful humor, she visits the lives of women over 50, some celebrities, some simply everyday wives, sisters, mothers, and friends.

The Juicy Tomatoes Guide to Ripe Living After 50 and Juicy Tomatoes: Plain Truths, Dumb Lies, and Sisterly Advice About Life After 50 make a fabulous, witty, not to mention affordable birthday gift as a pair or individually.

A hilarious book celebrating life and all the quirky adventures it involves is Things to Do Now That You're 50. Offering half-joking, half-serious advice like "Visit Eastern Europe quickly before it becomes just the same as everywhere else," the book offers advice for places to travel, hobbies to take up, and so much more. With beautiful illustrations by Robyn Neild.

Great Sex After 50: And Other Outlandish Lies About Getting Older is a slim but laughter-packed volume of Close to Home cartoon strips by John McPherson. These irreverent comics capture the ironies of getting older in today's society - like the cartoon strip that reads "Look at those dang-fool teenagers, wearing their pants hangin' down low like a coupla idiots" (the comic depicts two old men in old-fashioned hiked-up pants). The title's an attention getter, but the comics aren't raunchy. A perfect gift for a smart woman who appreciates multi-layered jokes captured tightly in words and visuals.

For a woman who knows reaching her fiftieth is a big achievement, but who is not quite sure how happy-making that is, get her the gift of looking on the positive side: these comic strips by Allia Zobel and cartoonist Roz Chast that point out with wit and a dollop of sarcasm that getting older gives you certain privileges.

A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to Old Age: Life Changes After 50 by Stanley C. Baldwin is, reviewers agree, a remarkable book that not only manages to be humorous, but also offers real, concrete advice for women and men on getting older.  The anecdotes are poignant and communicate a valuable message about growing old with grace and wisdom.  Wonderful for women turning sixty who are sensitive to nuances.

A good over the hill present can be a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that she's not nearly as past her prime as she thinks she is!  

If you go with an over-the-hill basket or joke make sure you counter it in a speech or greeting card that emphasizes that she might be aging, but she's not exactly aged.

From joke tee shirts to amusing books to wine-themed puns, the birthday lady will be cheered by these inexpensive, sometimes silly, sometimes pointed, and always-in-good-taste presents and party gags.

She's lived five decades. Here's to the other five!

See the author's disclosure regarding compensation for this article.