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ECONOMICS REPORT - Click, Click, Click. What's That? Another Online Sale
By Mario Ritter / Broadcast: Friday, December 22, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The winter gift-giving season is responsible for twenty percent of all retail spending at American businesses.

Millions of Americans are avoiding crowded stores by shopping online

But how and when people buy holiday gifts is changing.

Record numbers of Americans are turning to the Internet. More than one hundred million people are expected to buy something online this holiday season.

Traditionally, the biggest shopping day of the year was in late November on the day after Thanksgiving. People still call it "Black Friday." The idea was that it could push businesses "into the black" -- the traditional color for recording profits. Red is for debts.

But now the busiest days are right before Christmas. Many people wait for last-minute price reductions.

With the rise of the Internet, the National Retail Federation came up with a new term. "Cyber Monday" is the Monday after Thanksgiving.

The idea is that many people look in stores over the weekend. Then, to save time, they order online using the Internet at their jobs when they return to work.

Cyber Monday is a big day online. But market researchers at comScore Networks reported Wednesday that the biggest day of the holiday season so far was December thirteenth. The company said people spent almost six hundred seventy million dollars at American sites that day. That did not include travel sites.

Online spending during the holiday season was up a reported twenty-five percent over last year. ComScore estimates that online holiday spending will reach almost twenty-five billion dollars.

Online selling makes it easier for businesses to react to changing conditions. It costs less to change the advertising on a Web site than in stores.

Physical stores remain by far the most popular places to shop. But electronic commerce continues to grow, and not just at Christmastime. In the three-month period ending in September, it made up almost three percent of all retail sales in the United States.

But wherever selling takes place, the holiday season means intense competition. For example, demand for flat-panel televisions has jumped recently. Competition has pushed down prices for these popular thin TVs. The Best Buy Company reported selling some at a loss to avoid losing market share to big competitors like Wal-Mart and Circuit City.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. You can download MP3 files and transcripts of our reports at www.voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.

AMERICAN MOSAIC - Not Celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? For Some, There Is Festivus

By Nancy Steinbach / Broadcast: Friday, December 22, 2006

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our special holiday show this week:

We answer a question about why Christmas is celebrated on December twenty-fifth ...

Play some music from new holiday albums ...

And report about an unusual holiday.

Festivus

Every December, many Americans celebrate holidays. Christians have Christmas, Jews have Hanukkah and many African–Americans observe Kwanzaa. Some people also celebrate a holiday that began on a television show. Faith Lapidus explains "Festivus."

FAITH LAPIDUS:

A man named Dan O'Keefe created Festivus and started celebrating it in the nineteen sixties. O'Keefe's son Daniel became a writer for the American television comedy show "Seinfeld." He wrote a show about Festivus that was first broadcast on "Seinfeld" in December of nineteen ninety-seven. He also wrote a book about it. "The Real Festivus" was published in two thousand five.

Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) with a Festivus pole

On the television show, the character Frank Costanza invents "Festivus." He does so to protest that Christmas has lost meaning and has become nothing more than a time to shop.

He celebrates "Festivus" on December twenty-third. He uses an aluminum pole instead of a Christmas tree. People gather at someone's house and tell each other all the ways they have been disappointed in the past year. They eat a holiday dinner. Then two of them test their strength by fighting with each other.

One of the main ideas of "Festivus" is that people of all religions can celebrate it. Frank Costanza explains on "Seinfeld:"

(SOUND)

The Washington Post newspaper recently listed some ways Americans are celebrating "Festivus" for real. For example, it says about four hundred people are expected to attend a Festivus party on Saturday in Springfield, Illinois.

In New York City, the Pink Pony restaurant held a Festivus party earlier this month. The Grape Ranch in Okemah, Oklahoma, celebrated Festivus with a party on December sixteenth. The Grape Ranch also produces a Festivus wine.

And shoppers in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, can attend a Festivus marketplace. They can give away gifts they have received that they do not like.

December Twenty-Fifth

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Dinh Cong Huy wants to know why Christmas is celebrated on December twenty-fifth.

That is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, whom they believe was the son of God. But history and religious experts say there is no evidence that the man known as Jesus was born in December. In fact, the Christian Bible says nothing about when he was born or that his birth should be celebrated.

Painting of a Saturnalia celebration

Experts say the reason for celebrating the birth of Jesus in December came from festivals in ancient Greece and Rome. The Greeks honored their god Bacchus on or about December twenty-first each year. The Romans honored their god Saturn for seven days beginning December seventeenth. The Romans observed Saturnalia by closing businesses, attending parties and giving gifts.

Another important part of the celebration was using light to frighten away dark spirits. History experts note that these holidays came at the same time of the year as the day with the shortest period of daylight. That day is called the winter solstice. The ancient calendar said it was December twenty-fifth.

Experts say the winter solstice was an important part of all societies because the sun is at its lowest point. Ancient people believed that the gods must defeat evil forces for the sun's light to return.

People in the Roman Empire in the fourth century celebrated festivals honoring the sun on December twenty-fifth. Roman Emperor Constantine celebrated such a sun festival. He became a Christian shortly before he died more than one thousand six hundred years ago.

The Christian Church within the Roman Empire took the date of the sun festival, December twenty-fifth, as the date for Christmas. Not all Christians did this, however. In areas using a different calendar, Christmas was celebrated in January. Some Christian churches today celebrate Christmas on January sixth.

Experts say many Christmas traditions began as Christian attempts to gain religious followers. These early Christians accepted the traditions of other groups. For example, the Norsemen of Scandinavia celebrated a sun festival in which they burned fires and placed green plants in their homes. Many Christians today place evergreen trees in their homes as part of the holiday celebration.

You can hear more about modern Christmas traditions and music on the Special English program THIS IS AMERICA on Monday.

Holiday Music

Popular singers and musicians release special holiday albums for the Christmas season. Barbara Klein tells us about some of the new albums this year.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Sarah McLaughlin's "Wintersong"

Grammy award winning singer Sarah McLaughlin released her first ever album of Christmas music, "Wintersong." It offers quiet and serious music for the holiday season. Here, Sarah MacLaughlin sings "Christmas Time is Here." Diana Krall is playing the piano.

(MUSIC)

Another new Christmas album is from country singer Brad Paisley. His album is called "Brad Paisley Christmas." Critics say it is a good mix of new and traditional holiday songs. Here is Brad Paisley singing "Winter Wonderland."

(MUSIC)

Still another new Christmas album is from Bette Midler. It is called "Cool Yule." Her collection includes both serious and funny Christmas songs.

She sings one song in the language of Hawaii -- the state where Midler was born. We leave you now with Bette Midler singing "Mele Kalikimaka." It means "Merry Christmas."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our special holiday program today.

It was written by Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was the producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, www.voaspecialenglish.com.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English. And all of us in Special English wish all of you a happy holiday!

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