The economy may still be floundering. But the Christmas tree business is booming. Americans will spend an estimated $3.4 billion on Christmas trees this year, the highest amount since 2007.

• 25 million -– Number of real Christmas trees Americans will buy this year
• $800 million — Estimated retail cost of those trees
• 10 million — Artificial trees Americans will buy this holiday season
• $2.6 billion — Estimated retail cost of those artificial trees
• 80 — Percent of all artificial trees that are manufactured in China

More Christmas tree facts!

Ignorance was bliss for these twins back in 2006. But just one year later, they were wise to Santa’s game. And by 2008, it was every little man for himself. More reader-submitted silly Santa photos here

PHOTO: Sarie Scully

The first “War on Christmas” was waged almost 400 years ago by our Puritan forefathers. The Pilgrims who came to America in 1620 were outraged by Christmas, partially because it did not originate as a Christian holiday. The upper classes in ancient Rome celebrated Dec. 25 as the birthday of the sun god Mithra. Beyond that, the Puritans considered it historically inaccurate to place the Messiah’s arrival on Dec. 25. They thought Jesus had been born sometime in September. They felt so strongly about the holiday that in New England, they banned Christmas celebrations entirely. Christmas Day was only formally declared a federal holiday in 1870.

Christmas tree syndrome: A new study from State University of New York’s Upstate Medical University suggests that our beautiful, festive Christmas trees are actually making a lot of unsuspecting Christmas revelers ill, sometimes with dangerous, long-term health problems.

Last chance to be in an amazing, awkward slideshow!

Send your awkward Santa photos to Facebook@TheWeek.com. Tell us who is in the picture and when it was taken. The only rule is that the photo has to belong to you or your family.

Let the awkwardness commence!

So… this is kinda awkward.

Got any awkward Santa photos from your past? Send them to us! If they make the cut, we’ll include them in our upcoming awkward Santa photo slideshow!

The only rule is that the photo must belong to you or your family. Send submissions to facebook@theweek.com, along with your name, a quick description of who is in the picture, and when it was taken.

Needless to say, we can’t wait to see these.

(photo CC BY propaganda panda)

Something tells me mental_floss is up to something…

George Washington’s eggnog recipe. It’s gotta sit for a few days and… stew…