"Most 19th-century
Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first
record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German
settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in
many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German
settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as
the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not
accepted by most Americans... In 1846, the popular
royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were
sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their
children around a Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family,
Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done
at court immediately became fashionable—not only in
Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast American Society. The
Christmas tree had arrived."
- Evergreen Traditions, History.com, (http://www.history.com/content/christmas/christmas-trees/evergreen-traditions)