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Factoid 2
95 % of pet owners say they buy their pets christmas gifts.
5% spend over $100. the watsons have no comment.
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Factoid 3
for the 1971 holiday season, neiman marcus offered shoppers his & hers ancient egyptian sarcophagi.
shocked store employees heard rattling from inside one sarcophagus and discovered that it contained an actual mummy.
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Factoid 4
santa’s fur coat was depicted in various colors until 1931.
that was the year coca-cola dressed him in red to sell soda. it’s been his signature color ever since.
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Factoid 5
bing crosby’s recording of 'white christmas' is the highest-selling single of all time.
'white christmas' songwriter irving berlin hated elvis presley's version so much that he tried to prevent radio stations from playing it.
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Factoid 6
mariah carey’s 1994 hit 'all i want for christmas is you' holds the record for the most spotify streams in a single day.
it set that record on christmas eve 2018, with 10.82 million plays.
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Factoid 9
children have been receiving gifts in december since the middle ages. 19th century scandinavian children received presents from the yule goat.
21st century watsons wonder where the heck we can get one.
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Factoid 10
the best selling toy of 1964 was g.i. joe.
hasbro prohibited anybody from calling them dolls, and thus the action figure was born — and archaic gender roles were further cemented. way to go, branding!
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Factoid 11
corona’s iconic o' tannenpalm holiday ad, created by agency campbell mithun esty in 1990, is the longest-running beer ad of all time.
it’s also the second-longest-running holiday ad, behind the hershey’s kiss ringing bells spot.
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Factoid 12
a charlie brown christmas was originally sponsored by coca-cola.
the first broadcast included a scene in which snoopy hurled linus from the ice rink into a coca-cola billboard.
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rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was created in 1939 for retailer montgomery ward.
the character was originally rejected because montgomery ward associated red noses with chronic alcoholism. they changed their minds after an artist drew up sketches of a cute, energetic deer — clearing the way for rudolph the red-nosed reindeer to go down in history.
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Factoid 13
Factoid 16
kfc launched its first christmas meal in japan in 1974: chicken and wine for $10.
today, the kfc tradition is so popular that japanese customers make their christmas dinner reservations two months in advance.
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december is the most popular month to get engaged.
it’s also the most popular month to break up. that’s cold.
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factoid 17
december is the most popular month to get engaged.
it’s also the most popular month to break up. that’s cold.
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factoid 18
elf on a shelf, the ubiquitous children’s book and toy, was created in 2004 by a stay-at-home mom and her two grown daughters.
its popularity has spawned many spoofs and spin-offs, including mensch on a bench, troll on the bowl, and (danny) devito on a dorito.
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factoid 19
the hot toy of the 1996 holiday shopping season was tickle me elmo.
consumer demand was so intense that the media dubbed the dolls trample me elmo.
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the theme song to 'how the grinch stole christmas' was sung by voice actor thurl ravenscroft.
ravenscroft also voiced tony the tiger, the mascot for kellogg's frosted flakes. as far as baritones go, he’s grrrreat!
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factoid 20
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