From The Pixie in the House by Laura Rountree Smith and illustrated by Clara Powers Wilson, 1915.

Christmas is a dreamy time ("I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," for example.)  But is the classic imagery nightmarish?  We consulted an old book of dream symbolism, The Gates of the Future Thrown Open by Carlotta de Barsy (1899):

Reindeer are auspicious:

However, sleigh-bells are inauspicious:

Santa being a stout person is auspicious:

That his beard is white is auspicious:

Snowflakes are auspicious:

The singing of carols or hymns is inauspicious:

A fire in the fireplace is auspicious:

With only three of these nine symbols being inauspicious, Christmas is two-thirds a sweet dream.

From Purple Parrot, 1935.

From The Johnson Journal, 1946.

From Lighted Pathway, 1981.

From Short Stories for Little Folks by Catherine Bryce, 1910.

"So this is a Christmas tree?"  From Gokaiger episode 44.

From There Really Is a Father Christmas by Douglas Flintan, 1938.

From Ontario College of Art's Sketch magazine, 1949.

From Park College's 1948 yearbook.

We previously saw that every day is Christmas, but there has to be a holiday occasionally.  We finally tracked down "the day it really wasn't Christmas."  From Together, 1969.

From Purple Parrot, 1938.

From Yule-Tide in Many Lands by Mary Pringle and Clara Urann, and illustrated by L. J. Bridgman, 1916.

A century ago, math was relatable and children learned to calculate the costs of a cantata.  From The Triangle Arithmetics, Book Two, 1928.  See Presumptive Conundrums: Rhetorical Math Questions + Answers.

Christmas tree UFOs seem to appear earlier every year.  From UFO Newsclipping Service, 1971.

Around the world, gas masks for Christmas.  From Der Bärenspiegel, 1936.

The ritual burning of the Christmas tree.  From South Suburban College's 1961 yearbook.

The war on Christmas.  From The Gateway, 1981.