When Did Christmas Trees Become Important in the US?

[Traveling Man]

There was a 19th Century tradition in the South of gathering Mistletoe by shooting it out of the trees. Absolutely serious here.

You mean there is another way?
I've always used a shotgun. You have a better chance of knocking it out, and the return to earth isn't dangerous.
I did climb for some one time, but it was oddly pretty low.

 

[MaineYooper]

Also in the early 1800s, the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" appeared in a news paper, by anonymous. Later, 1837 (per Wiki), Clement Moore claimed authorship. The poem is credited with giving us our notion of Santa Claus. Also, if I remember, Coca-Cola is credited with giving us the modern image of a man-sized Santa, rosy-cheeked, jolly, and fat. Nothing to do with trees, but as the thread seemed to cover more ground, I decided to chime in!

 

[Raissermesser]

Thomas Nash also contributed with his drawings of Santa Claus as a human.