"The churches of
the Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists were not open
on December 25 except where some mission schools had a
celebration. They do not accept the day as a holy one, but the
Episcopalian, Catholic, and German churches were all open.
Inside they were decked with evergreens."
- Article in the December 26, 1855 edition
of The New York Daily Times
"By about 1870,
Christmas was an accepted lesson topic in the publications
of the Sunday School Union. This demonstrates a widespread
change in the attitude of the most denominations toward
Christmas between 1830 and 1870. An
interesting confirmation of this is found in the fact that many of the popular
Christmas songs of a religious character were composed between the
years 1850 and 1868."
- The American Christmas: a study in
national culture,
by
James Harwood Barnett, p.7