Christmas is a wonderful time of the year! Here are some fun facts to share with your family and friends:
- Americans will buy about 25 million real Christmas trees this year at an average cost of over $40 dollars each.
- Americans buy about 11 million fake Christmas trees each year.
- The first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday was Alabama in 1836. Oklahoma was the last state to recognize the holiday in 1907.
- The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year. Black Friday only ranks as the 5th to 10th busiest shopping day.
- An average American household will mail out 28 Christmas cards.
- The “General Giant” was named as America’s Christmas tree in 1925. It is located in King’s CanyonNational Park in California and is over 300 feet high!
- Visa cards are used at an average rate of over 5,340 times per minute during the Christmas shopping season.
- Electric lights were first used on a Christmas tree in 1895.
- Hallmark did not introduce Christmas cards until 5 years after the company was founded!
- Many American retailers make up to 70% of their income in the month preceding Christmas.
- More than 1.7 billion candy canes are made each Christmas season.
- To raise money for a charity Christmas dinner in 1891, a large crab pot was set on a street in San Francisco, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle.
- More diamonds are sold during the Christmas season than for Valentines Day.
Merry Christmas!
