High Life : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : 12 Days’ Gifts Surely Don’t Go for Song

If you’re thinking of giving someone the celebrated gifts in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” be ready to fork over $14,598.78, according to Provident National Bank in Philadelphia.

The grand total of the gifts is up 5.9% over the 1988 figure of $13,785.63. Seven of the 12 items remained at 1988 prices: a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming and eight maids a-milking.

The five gold rings were up 20% to $750, and, except for maids a-milking, the remaining service-industry gift prices were higher this year. The price tag for ladies dancing and lords a-leaping, for example, was up nearly 16% to $2,084 and $2,316, respectively.

The Grateful Dead has come up with a novel way to help victims of the San Francisco Bay Area earthquake.

Callers to a special telephone number ((900) 847-8470) will hear snatches of the Dead’s song “California Earthquake” and a message from guitarist Bob Weir. There’s a $5 charge for the call and the proceeds go to the Red Cross for aid to earthquake victims.

“I don’t want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.”

--Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974)