Its Christmas Time In America

A recent Rasmussen survey found that nearly two thirds of Americans think Christmas is the most important holiday of the year.

In the survey, 92% of adults say they will celebrate Christmas this year, while only six percent (6%) said they would not. The vast majority (70%) will open their gifts on Christmas morning while more than 20% will open their gifts on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, Hallmark estimates that Americans will send more than 2.1 billion holiday cards this year, up from 1.9 billion cards in 2007. On average, each American household will mail more than 20 Christmas cards this holiday season.

In America, the weeks leading up to Christmas are historically the biggest shopping weeks of the year. Many retailers make up to 70% of their annual revenue in the month preceding Christmas. In fact, the Friday and Saturday before Christmas are usually the two busiest shopping days of the year.

The three occasions that Americans consume food in the greatest quantity are Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Super Bowl Sunday. At least according to the National Football League.

A native Mexican plant, poinsettias were named after Joel R. Poinsett, U.S. ambassador to Mexico who brought the plant to America in 1828. Poinsettias were used by Mexican Franciscans in their 17th century Christmas celebrations.

The modern American Christmas custom of displaying a wreath on the front door of the house, is actually borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's celebrations. Romans wished each other "good health" by exchanging branches of evergreens. It became the custom to bend these branches into a ring and display them on doorways.

According to the National Christmas Tree Association, Americans buy around 30 million real Christmas trees each year . The top selling Christmas Trees are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine. The average growing time for a Christmas tree in America is seven years.

In 2007, 17.4 million people bought artificial Christmas trees, a dramatic 87 percent jump from the previous year's total of 9.3 million. According to the United States Commerce Department 85 per cent of all artificial trees in the United States are manufactured in China.

In 1939, Chicago based Montgomery Ward copywriter Robert L. May wrote the story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. The story was so popular that despite the wartime paper shortage, over 6 million copies had been distributed by 1946.

In fact, the song "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" would become the second most popular holiday song of all time. It is listed only behind Bing Crosby's White Christmas.

If you watch "A Christmas Carol" this holiday season, just remember that Charles Dickens considered several other names before settling on Tiny Tim. The three other alternative names were; Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam.

According to eBay, the best selling 2008 electronics are the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Ipod Touch and Sony PSP. Expect to find these gifts in a featured spot under many real and artificial 2008 Christmas Trees.

Its Christmas time in America. Please have a great holiday and a safe and prosperous New Year.

For More Read: The Holiday Song That Became A World Record on eworldvu.com