Once again,
someone has calculated the cost of all the gifts mentioned
in The 12 Days of Christmas:
The verses of the
holiday classic “The 12 Days of Christmas” add up to 364 gifts, and if your
true love bought them all, they would cost $107,300, a 6.1 percent increase
compared with last year’s total. The cost of the 12 days of cumulative gifts is
calculated annually by PNC Wealth Management, part of the PNC Financial
Services Group, to come up with an amusing and easily understandable
explanation of how the country’s economy is faring.
This year, the
prices of the six geese, seven swans and other fowl rose because the country’s
drought drove up the price of bird feed. The five golden rings named in the
song’s verses also cost significantly more than a year ago. Higher demand for
gold stems from an improving economy, said James P. Dunigan, PNC Wealth
Management’s managing executive of investments, who oversees compilation of the
index.
The six-figure
outlay to accumulate all the gifts is unlikely to faze those with deep pockets,
but there is still room for a holiday bargain with the milking maids, ladies
dancing and leaping lords as well as with the calling birds, turtle doves and
partridge. The eight maids, who are considered unskilled labor, cost $58, still
a deal because the minimum wage remained at $7.25 an hour.
Musicians like the
11 pipers and the 12 drummers were a bit more expensive, at $2,562 and $2,775.
Each group received a 5.5 percent raise over last year, based on information
from music groups and unions. The nine ladies dancing received no raise,
remaining at $6,294.
Pushing up the
final bill, however, were the geese, which soared by 29.6 percent, to $210
each, up from $162, as corn and other bird feed costs jumped. The seven
trumpeter swans could be found for $7,000, up 11.1 percent.
Also up 11.8
percent was the cost of a pear tree, which rose $20, to $189.99, an increase
that Mr. Dunigan said reflected a better housing market. In the song, the pear
tree is a perch for the partridge, but in contemporary life, it is a tree often
used in residential landscaping.
The gold rings
this year rose by 16.3 percent, to $750 from $645 last year. The three French
hens totaled $165, an increase of 10 percent from last year’s $150. The
partridge is the cheapest item, at $15, and the swans, at $1,000 each, are the
most expensive.
With the cash
outlay of six digits to properly celebrate the twelve days of Christmas I think
I'll just rely on the love of family and friends for my Christmas cheer and
pass on the twelve inflated days of Christmas.
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