There is good news for those seeking to base their Christmas shopping on a classic carol.
The price of the gifts mentioned in the "The Twelve Days of Christmas" has pretty much held steady since last year.
According to PNC financial services group's annual Christmas Price Index, it will cost $38,993.59 to buy the 12 gifts mentioned in the classic carol, an increase of just 0.2% over last year’s cost.
The index says the price of five gold rings and the six geese would have pushed the total higher, but it was helped by the 20% drop in the cost of the two turtle doves.
The prices for the three hens, four birds, seven swans, eight milk maids, nine female dancers and 10 leaping lords all remained unchanged from 2018. However, the costs for the 11 pipers and 12 drummers each rose 0.8%. The price of a partridge? In 2019, it dropped 4.5%.
PNC has been calculating the price of one set of each of the gifts given in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" since 1984, when it cost $12,623 for the whole package. The package price in 2019 is $38,993.59.
The exact origins of the song aren’t known, but some historians have said the song was first mentioned in a children’s book in 1780. While others have said it has roots in the 1800s in England as a children’s memory game, which required each player to repeat all the previous verses before adding a new one.
British composer Frederic Austin wrote the song's current version in 1909, according to Good Housekeeping magazine.
The song also has roots in Twelve Days of Christmas is the period that begins with the birth of Christ on December 25th and ends on January 6th, also known as the Epiphany, the day the three wise men visted the infant Christ.
