‘12 Days of Christmas’ Cost Is $15,231.72, Up 4.34% From a Year Ago
Be thankful that your true love isn’t asking for the complete catalogue of gifts in “The 12 Days of Christmas.”
J. Patrick Bradley, that literal-minded chief economist at Provident National Bank, has once again toted up the sales slip for the items listed in the old carol, from a partridge in a pear tree to 12 drummers drumming.
This year’s total: $15,231.72. That means the Christmas price index (CPI) was up 4.34% from last year.
That’s a slower inflation rate than the government’s consumer price index, up 6.3% in the same period.
Five gold rings fell in price, to $600 from $750, and the nursery Bradley checks every year had a half-price sale on pear trees, just $12.48 this year.
So who’s to blame for the higher index?
Those nine ladies dancing and 10 lords-a-leaping don’t come cheap. Bradley checked with the Philadelphia Dance Company and found a performance by the ladies would cost $2,417.90, up from $2,084.40; 10 leaping lords would run you $2,686.56, up from $2,316.
Eleven pipers piping cost $42.12 more this year, or $947.70; 12 drummers drumming can be had for $1,026.68, up $45.63.
And those eight maids-a-milking are still a minimum-wage bargain at $30.40 for an hour’s work, up $3.60.
Everything else held steady. Swans continue to be the biggest strain on the credit card limit at $1,000 a pop, or $7,000 for all seven.
“We have been tracking these prices since 1984, as a way of getting ourselves into the Christmas spirit,” Bradley said. “Many of our clients look forward to reading about it. Plus, it shows that we practitioners of the dismal science have a sense of humor.”
The complete list, with prices:
* One partridge in a pear tree, $27.48 (Partridge, $15; pear tree, $12.48).
* Two turtle doves, $50.
* Three French hens, $15.
* Four calling birds, $280.
* Five gold rings, $600.
* Six geese-a-laying, $150.
* Seven swans-a-swimming, $7,000.
* Eight maids-a-milking, $30.40.
* Nine ladies dancing, $2,417.90.
* Ten lords-a-leaping, $2,686.56.
* Eleven pipers piping, $947.70.
* Twelve drummers drumming, $1,026.68.
