Before the advent of PETA, Christmas trees were traditionally fetched by dogs and bears.  From St. Nicholas magazine, 1915.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

Mr. S. Claus's predicament, from St. Nicholas magazine, 1873.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

From Catalogue of Sunday School Supplies for Christmas, 1897.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

Here's one of Santa's unsung helpers, from Catalogue of Sunday School Supplies for Christmas, 1897.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

"Tommy's stocking and its astonishing evolution," from St. Nicholas magazine, 1908.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

An illustration from an 1888 issue of Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours magazine.  The caption reads: "'Ring on!' he exclaimed, as the bells from many a church-dome rang out their merriest Christmas chime."

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

"Christmas tree" is an anagram of "Hermetic stars."

An illustration from The Bachelor's Christmas by Robert Grant (1895).  The caption reads: "The wreaths of holly were the nearest semblance to faces, and they seemed almost to grin at him."

An illustration from The Bachelor's Christmas by Robert Grant (1895).  The caption reads: "Alone in his bachelor quarters on Christmas Eve."

Here's a precursor to "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" -- the proposal occurred 52 years earlier, as we see in the Daily Colonist, 1900.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

In came the Christmas goat, from Svenska Minnen och Bilder by Nils Petrus Ödman (1899).  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

Who dances the frozen yule away?  Why, it's the hearthstone goblins, of course!  They teach the wind to sing and usher back the spring.  They teach the gulls to scream and dance the ages into dream.  From Cosmopolitan Magazine, 1893.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

It's a nearly-forgotten fact that too much mistletoe can actually prevent kisses.  Our proof appears in The Quiver, 1892.  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.

Here's a precursor to the classic The Lion in Winter, in which Eleanor of Aquitaine says, on Christmas day, "Of course he has a knife; he always has a knife; we all have knives!  It's 1183 and we're barbarians!"  This will also be of interest: The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.