It’s a song that originates in 1780 and has become a staple of the Christmas radio, the song about your loved one giving you a gift for the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Sweet, right? Well, the song has led to some research about how much it would actually cost to give your loved one the true 12 days of Christmas. According to PNC Bank, the 2024 cost of the 12 Days would be $209,272. However, they leave out some crucial parts of their song in their calculations. So, what is the total cost?
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
The first gift for the 12 days of Christmas is a bird and a tree. Now, how much does it cost?
To buy a partridge from Cackle Hatchery, it would cost, at the lowest, $2.98. Now one can’t have a partridge without its famous tree. So, a lover could head over to Amazon and purchase a pear tree for $34.99. Bringing the total cost to $37.97.
It’s also important to remember that in the song, the items are repeated in each verse. To find the total amount of an item in the 12 days, the equation x*(13-x) can be used where x is equal to the initial amount of the item. This leads to the knowledge that the partridge and the pear tree are gifted 12 times, bringing the first total of the song to $455.64.
Two Turtle Doves
For the second leg of the buying of birds, according to Stombergs, a turtle dove costs $150.
Paying for a total of 22 turtle doves would come out to $3,300, the first of many totals in the thousands for the twelve days of Christmas.
Three French Hens
The much more reasonably priced French hens (French chickens) cost $7.94 for each bird, at least from Cackle Hatchery.
Buying 30 of these chickens would cost $238.20. A MUCH more reasonable price for a bird than the turtle doves.
Four Calling Birds
To figure out how much calling birds cost, one must first figure out exactly what a calling bird is. It has been a subject of much debate but the general consensus is that the calling birds referenced in the song are blackbirds.
Buying a blackbird from Lee’s Exotic Birds costs $170. Buying 36 of them comes out to $6,120, a return to the expense of the twelve days.
Five Gold Rings
For the first time so far, the FIRST time, birds won’t be bought. Instead, a typical Christmas gift of gold rings will be bought.
Getting a cheaper gold ring from Pandora costs $60. A fairly reasonable cost for a Christmas gift. However, buying 40 of them, so the gift receiver can wear four on every finger, costs $2,400. Still, nonetheless, cheaper than buying most of the birds on the list.
Six Geese-A-Laying
Geese-A-Laying implies that the geese are laying eggs. Now, while the purchaser can’t guarantee that the geese they buy will be laying eggs when they fly into the gift receiver’s arms, a purchaser can buy female geese to help increase the chance of one being laid.
So, buying female geese from Metzer Farms costs $38.94 a goose. A total of 42 of them would come out to $1,635.48.
Let it be known that if the “a-laying” wasn’t part of this song, the geese would only cost $870.66 (that is if one only bought male geese).
Seven Swans-A-Swimming
Buying a swan kind of already ensures that they can swim. So, no special qualifications need to be met for the swans to be bought like the geese.
Swans are expensive, ordering one from Strombergs comes out to $3,750. It also doesn’t help that 42 need to be brought. Bringing the ground total to a jaw-dropping $157,500.
Let it be known that a consideration was made about whether to add the price of a pond to the total cost. However, the conclusion was made that swans can swim just well in pre-owned sinks or maybe rain puddles.
Eight Maids-A-Milking
The maids are one of the first…interesting calculations. First, the cost of the milking maids needs to be taken into account. HomeGuide stated that a maid costs roughly $120 an hour. Then, the maids need something to milk, and a “cheap” cow is $300 (according to LivestockMarket).
The $420 total cost of the eight maids-a-milking combined with the 40 times they need to be gifted comes out to $16,800, which is…a lot of milk.
Nine Ladies Dancing
Dancers cost around $200 per GigSalad. To get the full 36 ladies dancing it would cost $7,200.
Ten Lords A-Leaping
Lords a-leaping is one of the most interesting categories of the song. Many different articles have a different approach. In this case, since it is hard to find rent-a-jumper, the cost of taking a gymnastics class will be substituted in.
If one takes classes at Twister Gymnastics, classes cost $28. Gifting 30 of these classes would come out to $840.
11 Pipers Piping
A bagpiper, aka a piper, costs $200 on GigSalad. 22 of them, is a total of $4,400.
12 Drummers Drumming
Finally, GigSalad prices a drummer at $200. Getting 12 of them would definitely cause someone hearing damage while taking $2,400 out of the gifter’s pocket.
Grand Total
After adding all of the costs together, and asking the 12 drummers for a drum roll, the cost of $203,289.32 is found. This is…a lot of money, it’s an average of around $16,940.78 every day for the twelve days. So, if one plans on gifting the whole 12 days of Christmas, they better be really well off and really in love.
