Discover Your Holiday Favorites
Discover Your
HOLIDAY
FAVORITES
What part of the holidays do you look forward to most?
The holidays are full of wonder, but many of us have something about the season that we like best of all. Maybe it’s the chance to celebrate with distant loved ones we rarely see. Maybe it’s the meaningful traditions that comfort, encourage, and affirm our most cherished beliefs. Or, maybe we can’t stop daydreaming about that first sip of Aunt Pam’s homemade eggnog. Whatever kindles your holiday fires, we have created a journey to help you explore it a bit deeper.
To get started, click on your favorite option below.
Enjoy the journey!
Friends and Family
As Dorothy noted while wandering Oz, there’s no place like home, most especially when home is filled with family and friends. If quality time with loved ones is what you look forward to most, you’re in good company: 93% of Americans get together with family or friends to celebrate the holidays, whether they consider themselves religious or not.1
Scroll on to explore what togetherness means to us.
Over the river and through the woods
Holiday travel reached an all-time high in 2016, with about 93.6 million people journeying to their destination in a personal vehicle. Only about six million took commercial airplanes. 2
 The Best Day NOT to Fly HomeThe Friday before Christmas is the most expensive day to travel by air, and tickets can cost an extra 20% or more.3 Kinda makes you want to drive, eh? | New Generations, |
20% MORE |
Thoughtful Giving
One survey found that 52% of respondents plan to give physical gifts, while 32% said they would be giving gift cards, and 16% would give experiences, such as a trip or concert.4
Show me the
Holiday Money
Brace yourself: the total holiday expenditures for 2016 exceeded $1 trillion, and represented a 4% increase over 2015’s numbers.5 Estimates for personal spending on gifts ranged from $200 to $800 and up, including a little something for number one. Clearly, we are a nation that knows the meaning of “treat yourself.”
OBSERVING
Meaningful Traditions
Do you harbor a warm spot for those special traditions that only roll around once per year? You’re not alone. From Christmas, to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and beyond, millions of Americans take advantage of the holiday season to remember, reaffirm, and reflect on what matters most to each of us.
Scroll on to explore all the reasons for the season.
Season's Greetings!
Approximately 1.6 billion holiday cards are purchased in stores every year, and nearly half a million holiday e-cards are sent.7
What’s more, the USPS delivers over 16 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas.8 Now that’s a whole lotta cheer.
Does Everyone Celebrate Christmas?
Most of us do. According to one survey, about 9 out of 10 Americans (92%) and nearly all Christians (96%) say they celebrate Christmas.9 But a number of other beloved holidays are also celebrated around the year’s end, such Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Pancha Ganapati, Mawlid, and Bodhi Day.
Observing Hanukkah
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that includes the successive kindling of eight lights, one per night over eight nights. As a time to remember the miracles and important milestones in Jewish history, the occasion is marked by special prayers, foods, festivities, and the singing of traditional songs.
The Kwanzaa Principles
Millions of African-Americans celebrate this secular holiday. Born from the civil rights struggles of the 1960’s, Kwanzaa celebrates African cultures and emphasizes the seven essential principles of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Tinsel Up That Tannenbaum
In 1856, President Franklin Pierce erected the first Christmas tree in the White House (Christmas didn’t become a national holiday until 1870). Today, the Christmas tree industry is a nearly $2 billion business, and Americans decorate approximately 30 million live trees every year with tinsel, lights, and baubles.10
‘Tis the Season to be Giving
The end of the year is also a fruitful time for giving back to communities and causes dear to us. The average charitable donation in 2016 was $244.11
THE FOOD
Feasts Treats
Does your heart thrill at the scent of a baking ham? Does the “clink” of silverware being laid out fill your ears with joy? For the foodies among us, the holiday season is primetime for culinary delights. Millions of American households prepare special feasts each year, often with traditional recipes and treats.
Scroll on to explore the season’s delicious bounty.
Crooks and Nogs
‘Tis the season to indulge. Each holiday season, approximately 1.46 billion candy canes are sold (legend has it their crook shape was invented to keep children occupied during church services). Prefer something creamier? Get in on the 135 million pounds of eggnog that’s consumed in the U.S. yearly.12
1.46 Billion
Please, Have Another SliceAccording to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 3,699 pounds, and measured 20 feet across. Ingredients included 525 pounds of sugar, 2,796 eggs, and over 14 pounds of cinnamon.13 |  |
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You Say Potato, I Say Latkes
Jewish families celebrate Hanukkah with latkes, a thin pancake made from potatoes and fried in oil. However, the latkes in centuries past were made with whatever ingredients were commonly available, including buckwheat, ricotta cheese, and schmaltz (chicken fat). Potatoes were widely embraced as a main ingredient in the late 1700’s.14
Seasonal
Sweet Snacks
Who doesn’t love cookies? From snickerdoodles to gingersnaps to Russian tea cakes, cookies are a beloved way to make the season bright. Candies such as homemade fudge, peppermint bark, and peanut brittle are also welcome at any gathering.
Sources
1. Gallup, 2016
2. AAA, 2016
3. Time, November 2015
4. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2016
5. National Retail Federation, 2016
6. Quick Surveys, 2016
7. Atlanta Journal Constitution, December 2016
8. USPS, 2016
9. Pew Research Center, 2015
10. National Christmas Tree Association, 2017
11. PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2016
12. American Egg Board, 2014 (Most recent available)
13. World Record Academy, 2010 (The year the record was set)
14. My Jewish Learning, 2016