Dancing ladies, pear trees pricey

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 24, 2006 | by Compiled by John MacIntyre

Percentage increase in the price of a pear tree between 2006 and 2007, according to a study: 44

Percentage increase in the price of buying all the items listed in the popular holiday jingle "The Twelve Days of Christmas" between 2005 and 2006: 3.1

Estimated price of the most expensive item on that list in 2006 ("Nine ladies dancing"): $4,759

Source: PNC Wealth Management

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Year in which the Puritan-controlled Parliament of England abolished Christmas Day, claiming it was immoral to be idle for a day: 1647

Source: Encyclopedia of Christmas

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Percentage of the "super rich" (those whose household net worth tops $10 million) who will travel by private jet to shop for holiday gifts, according to the Elite Traveler Magazine/Prince & Associates "2006 Holiday Spending Survey": 25

Estimated amount they will spend on fine jewelry: $91,000

Estimated amount they will spend on holiday entertaining: $34,600

On spirits: $22,300

On events at hotels: $42,800

Source: Elite Traveler

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Estimated number of years that reindeer have been used domestically in Eurasia: 2,000-3,000

Average life span of a female reindeer: 12-15 years

Average life span of a male reindeer: 5-6 years

Source: Reindeer Research Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks

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Year in which Robert L. May created the character Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer, at the request of his employer, Montgomery Ward, to be used in a store promotion: 1939

Number of booklets featuring Rudolph that Montgomery Ward distributed in 1939: 2.4 million

Number of copies of the booklet that had been distributed by the end of 1946: 6 million

Source: Montgomery Ward

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Number of rooms in the prefabricated mansion ordered in 1892 by Jeremiah Nunan of Jacksonville, Ore., from a Tennessee construction company catalog as a Christmas present for his wife, Delia: 22

Number of boxcars needed to transport the mansion by rail, including construction foreman "Big Mick": 14

Source: "Just Say Noel: A History of Christmas From the Nativity to the Nineties" by David Comfort (Fireside, $16.50)

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Percentage of Americans who said they re-gifted because they felt the item was perfect for the new recipient, according to a survey conducted by TASSIMO Hot Beverage System and Harris Interactive: 77

Percentage of re-gifters who admitted they were just too lazy to buy a new gift: 9

Percentage who confessed they were motivated by a dislike for the recipient: 4

Source: TASSIMO Hot Beverage System

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Percentage of chocolate aficionados aged 6 to 11 who said the best way to eat a hollow, Santa-shaped chocolate is headfirst, according a Lindt & Sprungli's 2006 holiday survey conducted in collaboration with Caravan Opinion Research Corp.: 52

Percentage of respondents who said feet first: 26

Percentage who chose the unsophisticated belly-first method: 19

Source: Lindt

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Number of pages in the original manuscript of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol": 66

Number of illustrations: 8

Number of weeks Charles Dickens spent writing the book: 6

Number of copies of the work that sold the week before Christmas in 1843: 6,000

Source: The Dickens Project, University of California, Santa Cruz

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Percentage of managers who will be spreading holiday cheer around the office this year by giving presents to their employees, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com and ShopLocal: 56

Percentage of workers who plan to buy holiday gifts for their bosses: 30

Percentage who admitted to feeling there would be negative consequences if they didn't participate in a grab bag or gift exchange: 12

Source: CareerBuilder.com

John MacIntyre has been writing Figuratively Speaking since 1989. You can contact him by e-mail at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.