Galison

Each year holiday cards fill up our mailboxes and we worry about how many pounds we’re going to (or already have) gained as a result of eating too many goodies. But are we really complaining? Receiving a sweet note or a sweet treat from a business associate is a nice gesture and we still enjoy it no matter how often (or how many) we receive.

UPS is telling dozens of retailers it intends to do away with big discounts on oversize packages this holiday season and, in the case of some retailers, year round, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move could hit consumers hard—forcing them to get their items at a store or absorb some of the shipping charges of more than $57.

Christmas came on time this year for most people.

After FedEx and UPS failed to deliver some presents in time for Christmas last year, the two package carriers improved their performance this holiday season.

FedEx delivered more than 99 percent of express packages as promised on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, according to shipment tracker ShipMatrix. UPS delivered 99 percent of express packages as promised on those days.

Last year, the percentage of express packages delivered on time those days was in the "low 90s," said Mark D'Amico, a spokesman for ShipMatrix.

Last chance to vote! Polls for the latest round of PM's Video Battle, which features Motivator's Johnny Cash versus SnugZ USA's break-dancing lanyard extravaganza, will end Friday morning.

To help customers capitalize early for fourth-quarter market share of the holiday gift season, Bodek and Rhodes announced the launch of the industry's first holiday campaign using ready-to-launch integrated media, through both catalogs and a variety of web-based outlets.

Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Zipline announced the launch of its second edition holiday catalog–Gift With Zip.  The 48-page holiday catalog provides distributors with gifts ideas for fourth quarter sales. 

'Tis the season to start planning for the season to be jolly. Winter is just around the corner with all of its trademark holidays, and you know what that means—spending too much money on gifts, awkward familial interactions, and socks, socks, socks.

It's hard to believe, but the holidays are just around the corner. First Halloween will hit us, and then in the blink of an eye, chestnuts will be roasting on a open fire. If I learned anything from my mother, it's that early holiday preparation is key.

The U.S. Postal Service Governors recommended increasing the price of a first-class stamp 2 cents to 46 cents and authorized the production of a pane of four evergreen tree branches as the newest image for Forever Stamps. The price of a postcard would increase 2 cents to 30 cents.

THE UNIFORM MONDAY Holiday Act was signed into law on June 28, 1968, mandating that certain federal holidays be moved from fixed dates to specifically designated Mondays. Why, you may ask, would the government spend taxpayer time and money moving holidays from their traditional dates to arbitrarily assigned Mondays?