Christmas Magic

Although retailers are expecting an increase in Holiday spending this year, the National Retail Federation experts expect it to be tied to promotions and bargains, given consumers generally glum outlook.

Holiday retail sales are expected to increase 2.3% this year to $447.1 billion, according to a study released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation.

The rise marks an improvement from last year’s 0.4% uptick, but is still below the ten-year average holiday sales increase of 2.5%. Overall sales have been choppy so far this year as concerns about the economic recovery abound.

“While consumers have shown they are once again willing to spend on what’s important to them, they will still be very conscientious about price,” federation chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said in a statement. “Retailers are expected to compensate for this fundamental shift in shopper mentality by offering significant promotions throughout the holiday season and emphasizing value throughout their marketing efforts.”

But while bargain pricing and special promotions may be good news for holiday shoppers, there is a downside as well. Retailers will maintain “lean” inventories in an effort to avoid being stuck with unsold goods and huge markdowns to get rid of it. This could make items hard to find, especially hot items or products for which a holiday surge was not forseen.

Holiday shoppers will need to balance their hopes of getting bargains late in the season with the possibility that the gift they want may become unavailable as the shopping season wears on.

Probably the best advice is to go ahead and get that “must-have”  item early instead of waiting for a bargain price.

Keep in mind that many stores will refund the difference if an item goes on sale within a certain time after you have purchased it. And stores that offer lay away, like K-Mart and some Wal-Marts, will generally reduce the price of an item in your lay away to the sale price if it goes on sale while you have it in lay away.

What will be this year’s holiday must-haves? It used to be you had to wait until the shopping season got underway, watch what was flying off the shelves, and guage by what people were hunting for and having trouble finding in the run-up to Christmas. But that may no longer be the case.

Since 2008, Google’s “Insight for Search” trend spotting tool makes it possible to get a picture of the most frequent internet searches on Google in 27 categories, either nationally or worldwide.

This can give you a look at what products people are already searching for long before Christmas. According to Google’s retail division, they were able to predict last year’s Zhu Zhu Pets toy craze after searches for “Zhu Zhu Pets” on the search engine skyrocketed three months before Christmas.

So what are people searching for this year? Huge increases in searches for a few products that could become this year’s holiday favorites have already been seen.

Searches for the Nerf Stampede from Hasbro have risen over 1,700% over the past 30 days. The Nerf N-Strike Stampede Blaster, the latest in the popular line of Nerf dart blasters, debuted earlier this month.

Searches for Mattel’s Sing-a-Ma-Jigs have doubled since July. This colorful set of four small plush toys sing when you press their tummies, and sing in harmony when you press all of them together.

Silly Bandz are already a national craze. Kids stack the rubber animal-shaped bracelets on their wrists. But while Silly Bandz are relatively easy to find, searches for “rare” or “vintage” Silly Bandz have risen sharply. Bands with unusual shapes and colors that are harder to find, such as bandz based on Disney characters, sports celebrities, Hello Kitty bandz, and Fantasy Silly bandz, are what people are searching for.

Searches for the collectible Japanese Iwako erasers, which are shaped like animals, fruits and vegetables have increase sharply on on Google, as have searches for “balance bikes”. Searches for these wooden training bikes for kids have climbed 50% over the last 90 days.

In consumer electronics, another holiday gift category, the last 90 days showed a nearly 5,000% increase in searches for ‘Otterbox” brand of iPhone 4 cases and a 1,150% increase in searches for iPhone. Searches for the Flip camcorder have doubled over last year and searches for 3D-ready TVs are 10 times higher than last holiday season.

According to Daniel Schock, Google’s director of retail industry, data points to holiday shoppers being much more budget-minded this year.

“Consumers are engaged in more comparison shopping this year,” he said. “They have become early bargain detectives. They are looking for deals and coupons. Even their search queries for Black Friday discounts have become more specific.”

In another holiday shopping trend many retailers, including Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club stores, will have their stores WiFi-ready by November. Holiday shoppers will be able to compare prices, look for coupons and check product availability without leaving the store. With about one in every five consumers expected to have a smartphone in hand while shopping this holiday season, mobile devices may well become a major shopping tool this year.

Santa Claus hasn’t always looked like the jolly old fellow we know today. Like so many other American traditions, he’s a product of the great American melting pot – a blend of many different cultures and customs. But the most influential figure in the shaping of who we know now as Santa was a real man, known as St. Nicholas of Myra. He was a fourth century bishop, and is legendary for being generous and kind.

According to one legend,  St. Nicholas heard of a farmer who had three daughters of marrying age who could not afford to pay their dowries. Knowing the farmer was too proud to accept an offer of money, he climbed atop their home and tossed three bags of coins down their chimney, each of which landed in a stocking that each girl had washed and hung their by the fire to dry. The next morning when they woke, they found the gift and each went on to marry and live happily ever after. When word of St. Nicholas’ generosity spread, families far and wide hung stockings by their fireplaces and hoped to also receive gifts. 

Because of his wisdom and sensitivity, many groups claimed St. Nicholas as their patron saint. Children, orphans, sailors, and even thieves often prayed to the compassionate saint for guidance and protection, and even entire countries including Russia and Greece, also adopted him as their patron saint, as have students and pawnbrokers. Eventually, the image of the stately saint was transformed onto an almost mystical being, one known for rewarding the good and punishing the bad.

The date of his death, December 6th, was commemorated with an annual feast, which gradually came to mark the beginning of the medieval Christmas season. On St. Nicholas’ Eve, youngsters would set out food for the saint, straw for his horses and schnapps for his attendant. The next morning, obedient children awoke to find their gifts replaced with sweets and toys, found their offering untouched, and might also find a bundle of firewood. When people came to America, they brought the legend of St. Nicholas with them, which evolved into excitedly awaiting his arrival on Christmas Eve.

In many Western cultures, holly is a traditional Christmas decoration, used especially in wreaths. Many of the hollies are highly decorative, and it’s believed that it and the green ivy that is usually used alongside it in decorating is why the colors red and green have come to be representative of Christmas.

The pagan Druids are believed to have been the first to take holly to heart. They viewed holly as a sacred plant, designed to keep the earth beautiful even in the harshest of conditions. When they ventured into the forest to witness the priests cut their sacred mistletoe, they wore sprigs of holly in their hair.

Romans gave one another holly wreaths and carried them about, decorating images of Saturn with it during their Saturnalia festival. Centuries later, in December, while other Romans continued their pagan worship, Christians celebrated the birth of Jesus. To avoid persecution from the Romans however, they decked their homes with Saturnalia holly. As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, holly lost its pagan association, then becoming a symbol of Christmas.

In West England it is said sprigs of holly around a young girl’s bed on Christmas Eve are suppose to keep away mischievous little goblins. In Germany, a piece that has been used in church decorations is regarded as a charm against lightning. In England, British farmers put sprigs of holly on their beehives. On the first Christmas, they believed, the bees hummed in honor of the Christ Child. Other beliefs included putting a sprig of holly on the bedpost to bring sweet dreams and making a tonic from holly to cure a cough, and to this day, families are still decking their halls with boughs of holly during the holiday season as a result.

Though mildly toxic to humans, holly berries are a very important food source for numerous species of birds, and also are eaten by other wild animals. After being frozen or frosted several times during the cold winter months, the berries soften and become edible. During winter storms, birds often take refuge in hollies, which provide shelter. Their spiny leaves also provide protection from predators.

The tradition of the mistletoe dates back to ancient history and across many cultures. Ancient druids viewed it as a symbol of peace, goodwill and love. Warring tribes chancing across it stopped their battles observed a temporary truce, and people began displaying it the doorways of their homes as a sign of peace. The Druids also believed it to have the power to provide fertility.

There are some cultures who think it guarded them against witches and witchcraft, and other cultures believed it to have medicinal and healing properties and used it to treat a variety of illnesses.

But mistletoe’s roots run deep in the area of love. In some cultures, most notably in Europe, if you kiss a woman under the mistletoe sprig, it is considered a marriage proposal. But its lore has evolved into something a bit more lighthearted. According to most current day traditions, a young woman simply stands under the mistletoe and awaits her sweetheart’s kiss. Traditional legend dictates however that for each kiss that’s stolen from underneath a berry must be removed from the sprig, and if the berries are gone then so are the kisses. It is believed that an unmarried woman not kissed under the mistletoe will remain single for another year.  Therefore, if you’re hanging mistletoe in your home, be sure to get a large enough bunch for the kisses to last!

Few people realize however that mistletoe is actually a parasitic plant with thick, leathery, poisonous leaves and white berries that lives on trees. One French tradition says that the reason mistletoe is poisonous is because it was growing on a tree that was used to make the cross that Jesus was crucified on. Because of this, it was cursed and denied a place to live and grow on earth, forever to be a parasite. 

Mistletoe has been Oklahoma’s state flower and oldest state symbol, adopted in 1893.

Centuries ago many people, especially those of pagan origin, firmly believed by ringing bells they could ward off evil spirits. It was believed at that time that when winter came the evil spirits were very strong because it was so dark and cold, and would harm them and their families. People would have ceremonies and loudly ring bells to drive the bad spirits away while they waited for the warmer days of spring to arrive. They also rang bells to celebrate their bounty following a successful harvest or hunt. It was this tradition of celebration and giving thanks that bells also became known as a symbol for happier times.

Many villages had a large central bell in the middle of town.  When an important occasion arrived, such as Christmas, villagers would ring the bell. It became commonplace for children to ring bells in celebration of Christmas.  Most families had bells back then, and since they were known to be a celebratory sound, most parents didn’t mind their children making a ruckus with their constant bell ringing during the holiday.

Now, people hang bells on their front doors so they’ll ring out cheerfully to announce visiting guests, and children the world over know that Santa’s reindeer wear bells so he can locate them in bad weather or darkness of night. Many popular Christmas carols such as Jingle Bells are a staple song during the holiday season.  We also traditionally ring in the New Year with bells as well.

Today church bells ring throughout the world on Christmas Eve, not to drive off evil spirits, but to welcome in the spirit of Christmas with joyful noise.  In Scandinavia, bells signal the end of work and the beginning of celebration. People in England recognize the tolling of the devil’s knell as the sound that welcomes the birth of Christ, where in Italy and Spain, it signals the beginning of Midnight Mass.

A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that children in the United States and some other cultures hang on Christmas Eve so that Santa Claus can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins, or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as stocking stuffers or stocking fillers. Tradition in western culture dictates that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece of coal.

But how did the tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace begin?  One legend says that has it that St. Nicholas of Myra heard of a farmer who had three lovely daughters who feared they would never marry well because he didn’t have enough money to pay their dowries.  Knowing the farmer would never accept the money outright, St. Nicholas dropped three bags of coins into their chimney on Christmas Eve.  The young girls had each happened to have washed their stockings out and hung them by the fire to dry, so when the coins were dropped a bag landed inside each stocking.  The next morning the young girls woke to find the coins and went on to marry and live happily ever after.  Word of their good fortune traveled quickly and from then on, families would hang their stockings on the mantle each Christmas Eve hoping for the same fortune from St. Nicholas, who later became to be known as Santa Claus.

Originally, children simply used one of their everyday socks, but eventually families began creating their own special Christmas stocking adorned with decorations. One traditional practice is to reserve the stocking for five gifts that stimulate each of the five senses, such as fruit and candy for taste, a noisemaking toy for sound, small but visually appealing gifts like jewelry or books for sight, something with texture such as a soft plush toy or a silk tie, and something scented such as a bag of potpourri, a candle or cologne for scent.

The holiday fruitcake is one of the Christmas season’s great cliches. We’ve all heard jokes about the fruitcake that is gifted and re-gifted for years, or used as a doorstop. The truth is, holiday fruitcake is really very popular. But what exactly is a fruitcake? 

We all have our favorite Christmas goody that we love to eat.  Fruitcake, a heavy cake made from dried or candied fruits and nuts that are marinated in rum or brandy, has origins in ancient Rome. It is often used in both wedding and Christmas celebrations. The earliest Roman recipe lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into a barley mash.

In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added and the name fruitcake was first used. When it was later discovered that fruits could be preserved using a high amount of sugar, they naturally found their way into fruitcakes.

In the 18th century, Europeans were baking fruitcakes using nuts from the harvest for good luck in the following year. The tradition was to save the cake then eat it later before the next harvest. They were in abundant supply across Europe until a law was actually passed banning them at any time other than weddings, Christmas and a couple of other holidays. However, it was still popular during tea time in Victorian England in the 19th century.

The birth of the mail ordered fruitcake can be attributed to the Ringling Brothers Circus back in 1913. The circus management enjoyed the fruitcake from a small local bakery in Corsicana, Texas so much that they ordered them for friends and family members across the country.  Collin Street Bakery has shipped their fruitcakes around the world ever since.

The main ingredient in the modern day fruitcake is butter cakes with just enough dough to bind the fruit. The cakes are saturated with liqueurs or brandy, and covered in powdered sugar, both of which prevent mold. Brandy or wine-soaked linens are used to store the fruitcakes. Many people feel fruitcakes improve with age. Some cakes have been eaten 25 years after baking. Its heaviness and long shelf life probably also accounts for its legendary place as the focus of many jokes and comedy sketch routines.