Holiday Gift Ideas & Traditions Blog

According to the US Census Bureau, there are about 56 million Grandparents in America. Of those grandparents, nearly 6 million have grandchildren under the age of 18 that live with them.

According to Hallmark research, nearly 80% of grandparents speak to their grandchildren either on the phone or in person each month.  About 3 million Grandparents will be remembered this Grandparent’s Day with a greeting card.

This year, consider remembering your Grandma and Grandpa with a Grandparent’s Day Gift from Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets.

In 1776, the US population was 2.5 million colonists.  In late 2006, the US population surpassed 300 million people.

Fourth of July is synonymous with barbecue and this year Americans will consume around 150 million hot dogs on this holiday.  If you laid all those hot dogs end to end, they’d stretch all the way from Los Angeles California to Washington DC. Now that’s s lot of hot dogs!  It is estimated that more than 68 million Americans will take part in a barbecue sometime this year.

Americans love their 4th of July fireworks displays and waving the American flag.  Every year the US imports nearly $200 million worth of fireworks with over 90 percent coming from China.  Likewise, the US imports $5.5 million worth of American flags again with over 90 percent coming from China.  However when it comes to flags, the US makes most of them right here in the good ‘ole USA. American manufacturers shipped nearly $350 million of flags, banners and flag emblems last year.

Our US patriotism abounds in the names of our cities. Did you know that 30 cities have the word “Liberty” in them and 11 cities have the word “Independence” as part of their name?

According to the US Census Bureau, there are just over 66 million Fathers in the United States.  Of these, 26.4 million are raising their children with their spouse and 2.3 million are single Fathers raising their children on their own.

Today nearly 100,000 men are stay at home Dads.

According to Hallmark Research, Father’s Day is the 4th largest holiday for the sale of greeting cards.  Nearly 95 million Father’s Day cards will be purchased this year. Children (sons and daughters) purchase 50% of greeting cards sold during Fathers Day while 20% are purchased by wives for their husbands who are Dads.  The other 30% of Father’s Day greeting cards are purchased for other men such as Grandfathers, Uncles, Brothers, Sons or other significant male others.

According to the US Census Bureau, just 73% of Americans will celebrate Father’s Day in some way.  Of course, neckties are the most popular Father’s Day gift.  But more and more people are buying items based on Dad’s interests such as power tools, sporting goods and electronics.

According to Hallmark research, Mother’s Day is the 3rd largest holiday for greeting cards sales (behind Christmas and Valentine’s Day). It is estimated that more than 150 million greeting cards will be sent to Moms wishing them a “Happy Mother’s Day” this year which means that greeting card companies will sell over 250 million dollars worth of cards for Mother’s Day alone. Flowers seem to be one of the most popular Mother’s Day gifts. Chances are that if you give Mom flowers this year, they’ll either be from California (leading domestic supplier) or Columbia (leading international supplier).

According to the US Census Bureau, there are an estimated 82.5 million Mothers in the United States. The average Mother has 2 children and on average has her first child around age 25. One interesting tidbit on this front is that Mothers in Alaska and Utah average 3 children in their lifetimes. These days only 10% of women give birth to 4 or more children. Interestingly, birth rates for developed countries around the world range from just 1.25 children per woman in Italy all the way up to 7 births per woman in the country of Yemen.

In the U.S., the chances Mom will give birth to twins is 1 in 32 while the odds that she’ll have multiples of 3 or more babies is only 1 in 540.

In America, the month with the most births is August followed closely by July.

Nearly 10 million Moms are single Mothers raising children under 18 on their own. There were nearly 5.4 million stay at home Moms in 2003 while 55% of Mothers held down a job as well.

Valentine’s Day is a world-wide holiday that is celebrated by numerous countries around the globe including the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, Australia and France.

According to Hallmark, Valentine’s Day is the 2nd most popular holiday for giving greeting cards, second only to Christmas. In fact, this year an estimated 192 million Valentine’s Day cards will be given to friends, family, spouses and significant others. According to the US Census Bureau, 65% of households will celebrate by giving a Valentine’s Day greeting card. The first mass-produced Valentine’s Day cards were sold around 1847 invented in Worcester, Massachusetts by a woman named Esther Howland. Esther’s father operated a book and stationary store which is where she got her inspiration for the embossed paper lace Valentine card she designed.

According to the US Census Bureau, 38% of US households mark Valentine’s Day by giving candy. The classic box of chocolates was purportedly introduced by Richard Cadbury way back in 1868. Of course, it likely didn’t feature the heart-shaped box that is a favorite among romantics today. It turns out that Valentine’s Day is the 4th biggest holiday for candy sales in the US. This really isn’t a surprise considering that the average American consumes about 24.7 pounds of candy in just a year. Chocolate and non-chocolate confectionary businesses are cashing in on that candy consumption making chocolate a 13.5 billion dollar industry and non chocolate candy a 5.5 billion dollar a year business. California and Pennsylvania are the leading producers of chocolate in the US while Canada is the leading international supplier of candy to the United States (both chocolate and non-chocolate).

According to the US Census Bureau, 32% of American households celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving flowers. Surveys show that nearly 15% of women in the US actually send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day. There are over 22,000 florists in the United States who offer everything from fresh cut flowers to beautiful bouquets. Lilies are the best-selling flowers followed closely by roses. California is the leading supplier of domestically grown flowers supplying nearly 75% of the nation’s domestic grown flowers while Columbia is the leading international supplier of cut flowers to the United States.

According to the US Census Bureau, 11% of American households celebrate the Valentine holiday by giving jewelry to their significant other. Jewelry stores in the US typically sell over $2.4 billion in February alone.

Romance is in the air in some specially named cities across the nation. There are actually two towns in the U.S. named “Valentine”, one in Nebraska and one in Texas. Valentine’s Day also conjures up plenty of love and believe it or not, there are nine cities in the nation that have the word “Love” in their city name.