"A dictionary editor says ... It is not irreverent to use 'Merry Xmas.'"  From Together, 1969.

What a relief to see the caption, because at first glance we thought this youngster had encountered a dead body hanging from the rafers.  From The American Annual of Photography, 1913.

The goat who ate Christmas.  From Liz'beth Ann's Goat by Mary Virginia Provines and illustrated by Grace Paull.

"Who says there ain't no Santa Claus!"  From The Film Daily, 1945.

"What can you say about Christmas?"  Nothing, since all the meanings have been lost over the centuries: see The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

From Hanover's 1962 yearbook.

From Nebelspalter, 1929.  See The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

From Der Bärenspiegel, 1946.

The real Santa brandishes a torch.  From Park College's 1980 yearbook.

"When the little room of self closes in on you, it's Christmastime."  From The Martlet, 1970.  See The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

The old ways are increasingly forgotten.  How many of us today invite the honored hare (known reverently as "kuotochitsi" in Huastecan Nahua society) to decorate the tree?  From Primary Education, 1911.

It's a wonder that Santa ever manages to get where he's going.  From Liz'beth Ann's Goat by Mary Virginia Provines and illustrated by Grace Paull.

From The Film Daily, 1937.

The spirit of Christmas is a sheet ghost, and if you're surprised by that, so is it.  See Of Feeding & Caring For Sheet Ghosts.

From St. Procopius' 1967 yearbook. 

Home for the holidays.  (Whatever it says on the frame in the background was blacked out in the yearbook.)  From Mount Olive's 1958 yearbook.

Weirdness for Christmas, including the very macabre take of the "Cinder King."  It's Prof. Oddfellow's Penetralia.

Thanks to Hugo R. who wrote, "The Penetralia videos are endlessly charming and give me hope for this world."

From Millikin's 1971 yearbook.

From Liz'beth Ann's Goat by Mary Virginia Provines and illustrated by Grace Paull.

From The Link, 1963.