Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
The cost of Twelve Days of Christmas: $34,363.49
The cost of Twelve Days of Christmas: $34,363.49
Jan 18, 2026 9:01 AM

If you’ve been stuck at the mall listening to a song about ten Lords a-Leaping and eight Maids a-Milking you can blame the Jesuits.

Rumor has it they invented the Twelve Days of Christmas song as a catechism in code for persecuted Catholics in 16th-century England. The claim is that each of the items has a coded meaning (Old and New Testaments are the two turtle doves; three hens are the Wise Men; the Evangelists are the four calling birds; five gold rings speak of the five sacraments that should be received by all Catholics, etc.).

Whether that is true or not we’ll leave to the musicologists to decide. Since this is an economics blog will look at another question: How much would all that stuff cost?

For more than 30 years, the financial pany PNC has calculated the prices of the twelve gifts for their PNC Christmas Price Index.

The cost of the items for the 2016 season are $34,363.49. But that’s only if you bought the items once. If you consider the cumulative cost of all the gifts when you count each repetition in the song (364 gifts) you’d spend $156,507.88.

Surprisingly, the seven Swans-a-Swimming are the most expensive item ($13,125) and the most subject to fluctuation. If you take them out, the cost is only $21,238.49.

The PNC Christmas Price Index may seem silly, but it has some educational value since it’s similar to the U.S. Consumer Price Index, which measures the changing prices of goods and services like housing, food, clothing, transportation and more that reflect the spending habits of the average American. “It’s a fun way to measure consumer spending and trends in the economy,” says PNC. “So, even if Pipers Piping or Geese-a-Laying didn’t make your gift list this year, you can still learn a lot by checking out why their prices have increased or decreased over the years.”

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Malachi 3:7-12   (Read Malachi 3:7-12)   The men of that generation turned away from God, they had not kept his ordinances. God gives them a gracious call. But they said, Wherein shall we return? God notices what returns our hearts make to the calls of his word. It shows great perverseness in sin, when men...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Luke 18:18-30   (Read Luke 18:18-30)   Many have a great deal in them very commendable, yet perish for lack of some one thing; so this ruler could not bear Christ's terms, which would part between him and his estate. Many who are loth to leave Christ, yet do leave him. After a long struggle between...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Philippians 4:10-19   (Read Philippians 4:10-19)   It is a good work to succour and help a good minister in trouble. The nature of true Christian sympathy, is not only to feel concern for our friends in their troubles, but to do what we can to help them. The apostle was often in bonds, imprisonments, and...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Proverbs 11:18   (Read Proverbs 11:18)   He that makes it his business to do good, shall have a reward, as sure to him as eternal truth can make it.   Proverbs 11:18 In-Context   16 A kindhearted woman gains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth.   17 Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Proverbs 31:10-31   (Read Proverbs 31:10-31)   This is the description of a virtuous woman of those days, but the general outlines equally suit every age and nation. She is very careful to recommend herself to her husband's esteem and affection, to know his mind, and is willing that he rule over her. 1. She can...
Verse of the Day
  Romans 3:21-24 In-Context   19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.   20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious...
Verse of the Day
  Acts 4:10-12 In-Context   8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: Rulers and elders of the people!   9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed,   10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel:...
Verse of the Day
  1 Peter 1:8-9 In-Context   6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.   7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus...
Verse of the Day
  Commentary on Today's Verse   Commentary on Luke 6:27-36   (Read Luke 6:27-36)   These are hard lessons to flesh and blood. But if we are thoroughly grounded in the faith of Christ's love, this will make his commands easy to us. Every one that comes to him for washing in his blood, and knows the greatness of the mercy and the love...
Verse of the Day
  Philippians 2:14-16 In-Context   12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,   13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.   14 Do everything without grumbling or...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved