Was watching the english patient on telly and when colin firth's character asks what the first anniversay was... paper or cotton, i googled it to find out for myself, and to determine what other anniversaries were represented by. party-oz offered up the differences between traditional & modern anniversary themes (practiced in australia, i presume), but i preferred wiki's more comprehensive lists for American, British and modern gifts.

Interestingly enough, in the movie, colin firth's character was told that the first anniversay was paper, but as u can see, under brit practice, its cotton. but as far as i can tell, paper is the general preference regardless. Anniversaries after the 35th are the same all around:

Not sure what happens after the 80th anniversary, though. but considering that you could be about 100 years old, you would have outlived the bulk of your gift-givers anyway.