DOWNTOWN — When it comes to making deliveries in Chicago, Santa had better be loaded up on designer handbags and jewelry, Legos and one particular party game.
Google was asked by the New York Times to develop lists of the top-trending gift-related searches in major U.S. cities. The Times writers did not ask for the gifts searched most often — they are too similar nationwide, usch as "iPhone6" and "ugly Christmas sweater," they said.
Instead, they asked for data on searches by cities that are "significantly more popular this holiday season than last."
The results "reveal a repository for our collective wants," say writers Claire Cain Miller and Derek Williams.
The findings reveal some stereotypes about certain cities, the Times says: smartwatches are popular in San Francisco, $800 handbags are hot in Los Angeles and people like Harvard sweatshirts in Boston.
In Chicago, the top three were:
• Michael Kors: The designer and retailer makes a range of products including footwear, watches, jewelry, clothing and fragrances.
• Legos: Currently bolstered by the hit movie, Legos building blocks have actually been around since 1949. The company says it makes 19 billion of the blocks annually. There are more fun facts here.
• Cards Against Humanity: This odd, downloadable card game was developed by a group of Highland Park High School alumni and is described on the company's website as "a party game for horrible people" and "as despicable and awkward as you and your friends."
Basically, there are question cards and answer cards and the players match the two in often funny (and usually off-color) ways. Example: One player's question card might ask: "Next time on Dr. Phil: How to talk to your children about..." and another player will select the answer card "an icepick lobotomy."
The profanity-laden game is free to download but many people buy pre-printed sets. Inc. magazine estimates that there have been some $12 million worth sold, turning its eight 20-something creators into millionaires.
Part of an improv group in high school, the creators would get together in college during breaks and create games to amuse themselves. What would turn into Cards Against Humanity "was the first game we'd made up that we were still thinking about when we woke up in the morning," one of the creators, Max Temkin, told Inc.
The Chicago-based group retains its sense of humor: they recently bought an island in Maine, renamed it Hawaii 2, and "sold" one-foot plots in a fundraiser for the Sunlight Foundation, which works for openess in government.
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