In 1895, President Cleveland displayed the first lit Christmas tree in the White House. In the early 1900's lighted tress were very expensive which compare to today's economy would be more than $2000. General Electric sold lights for at-home trees in 1903 at $12 a strand.
About 37 million fresh Christmas trees are sold every year!
In 1836, Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Oklahoma was the last to do so in 1907.
The popular Christmas Carol, Jingle Bells, was originally written for Thanksgiving. It was composed by James Piermont in 1857 and was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh.
In an effort to raise money to pay for a charity Christmas dinner, a large crab pot was set down on a San Francisco street, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle.
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 sharply pointed 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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