On the 12th Day of Christmas My True love Gave To Me, a Bill for $21,465.56
Have you ever wondered how much all of the gifts from the Twelve Days of Christmas song would cost, were your true-love to decide you had far too few Lords a leaping at home? No, me neither, but PNC Financial Services have and since 1984 they've worked out both the Christmas Price Index (the combined cost of all 78 gifts) and the True Cost of Christmas (the cumulative cost of all gifts; in the song the recipient receives a partridge in a pear tree each day, two turtle doves from day 2 to 12 etc). It's very tongue-in-cheek but taken very seriously, so much so that they "buy" the gifts each year from the same sources:
Waterloo Gardens, a Philadelphia nursery. Gordon's Jewelers provided the cost of five 14-carat gold rings, and Philadanco, a modern dance company in Philadelphia, offered the price of ladies dancing. The Pennsylvania Ballet gave the price of the lords a-leaping. Prices for the musicians in the song—the drummers and pipers—were provided by a Pennsylvania musicians union. Lastly, maids a-milking are the only unskilled laborers in the Index, and as such, they reflect the minimum wage.
The index suggests a modest, compared to last year, 1.8% increase, due, says PNC:
to the weak economy in 2009
Moreover, the official press release shows that internet savvy shoppers could even save money this year compared to last with a 2.7% fall in the index. However, bargain hunters should head to the high-street for the best deals, as traditional shoppers would save almost $10k over their techie counterparts.
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