Getting the Dirt on a Popular Online Gift

A dour note for homemakers in this most joyous of seasons: Corona del Mar-based online retailer Shopping.com last week reported that the second-most-popular holiday gift bought through its site is a vacuum cleaner.

On the upside, the Hoover Windtunnel Ultra Vacuum is “self-propelled.”

On the downside, if you receive one of these this holiday season, that means your benefactor passed up on the higher-end “Deluxe,” “Plus” and “Supreme” models of the Windtunnel line also offered by Shopping.com.