Gift Giving Guy

I love trivia. As a kid, I got two copies of Trivial Pursuit for Christmas: one from Santa and one from my grandparents. I kept both, using the second one as my “practice” version. So today’s entry is written in the style of the “Did You Know…” section on the Wikipedia in English home page.

Did you know…

• …that in 2006, U.S. gift givers spent approximately $300 billion buying presents? That’s about 10 percent of the $3 trillion consumer market in the U.S.
• …that the National Retail Federation estimates that shoppers bought $24.8 billion in gift cards for 2006, a 34 percent increase over 2005?
• …that 189 million roses were produced for Valentine’s Day 2006?
• …that approximately 5 million Americans celebrate birthdays each week? An average of 700,000 birthdays take place daily.
• …that June is no longer the most popular month for weddings? August ranks first (10.2 percent), followed by June (9.9 percent).
• …that Mother’s Day is the number two American holiday for gift giving (after Christmas)? Nearly 68 percent give flowers. Also, Mother’s Day is the most popular day of the year to dine out.
• …that Father’s Day was not officially recognized until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed the holiday into law? The Census Bureau estimates there are 64.3 million fathers in the U.S.