In 1895, President Cleveland displayed the first lit Christmas tree in the White House. In the early 1900's lighted trees were very expensive --- upward of $300, which in today's economy translates to more than $2000! General Electric sold lights for at-home trees in 1903, still expensive at $12 a strand ---- equivalent to about $80 today.
The pointsettia originated in Mexico where it was called the "Flower of the Holy Night." It was first brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1829.
In 1836, Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Oklahoma was the last state to do so making Christmas a legal holiday in the state in 1907.
The popular Christmas Carol, Jingle Bells, was originally written for Thanksgiving. It was composed by James Pierpont in 1857 and was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh.
About 37 million fresh Christmas trees are sold every year.
In an effort to raise money to pay for a charity Christmas dinner, a large crabpot was set down on a San Francisco street, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle.
In his efforts to gain our independence from England, George Washington spent Christmas night of 1776 crossing the Deaware River in dreadful weather. He didn't do much better in 1777 when he spent Christmas at Valley Forge, celebrating with a dinner of fowl cooked in a broth of turnips, cabbage and potatoes.
Animal Crackers are cookies imported from England in the late 1800's. The circus-like boxes were designed with a string handle so they could be hung on a Christmas tree.
Wreaths were used from the earliest time as a symbol of victory. In the 17th century, wreaths with holly, red berries and other decorations appeared, Holly, with its sharplypointed leaves, symbolized the thorns in Christ's crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolized the drops of Christ's blood. A wreath at Christmas marked a home that celebrated the birth of Jesus.
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