Story highlights
Online holiday sales are expected to reach $105 billion this year
12 percent prefer "Happy Holidays!"
The sad "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree only had one ornament
The holiday season is full of numbers: Five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens … and, well, you get the idea.
We researchers at CNN have done some counting of our own. Here’s a look at some interesting stats surrounding Christmas and its festivities:
92% - Americans who celebrate Christmas, according to a 2013 Pew survey.
630.5 billion - Amount of expected total holiday sales in the U.S. for 2015, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
105 billion - Projected 2015 online holiday sales.
$594.80 - The average amount American shoppers plan to spend in 2015 on gifts, per shopper.
12 - Percent of Americans who prefer to be greeted with “Happy Holidays” over “Merry Christmas.” Twenty-six percent like that way better.
13 billion - The projected number of cards, letters, and packages delivered by the U.S. Postal Service between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve 2015.
26.3 million - Real Christmas trees purchased in the United States in 2014.
15 - Percentage of real trees sold that were “cut-your-own.”
2.7 million - Candy canes manufactured each day by the Spangler Candy Co.
5,083,000 miles per hour - Average speed Santa’s sleigh must travel to be able to deliver presents all over the world in one night.
$34,130.99 - This year’s cost of one set of each gift in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song, according to the annual PNC Christmas Price Index.
364 - Total number of Christmas gifts the “true love” gives.
59 - Percentage of Americans surveyed by NRF who would enjoy receiving a gift card over other types of gifts.
4 inches - Real-life height of the young Rudolph figure used in the stop-motion animated TV holiday classic, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
1 - Number of ornaments on Charlie Brown’s bedraggled Christmas tree before its makeover in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”