A popular Christmas song tells us this is the “hap-hap-happiest time of the year,” and for many of us, it is. Of course, that is not always the case, as a look at recollections of some past Christmases shows. But despite the problems that have beset our ancestors through the years, most of them overcame — or simply survived — their difficulties. One source says the singing of the Midnight Mass by members of LaSalle’s group in the 1680s was the first documented Christmas celebration in Texas. It isn’t clear that this was an unhappy holiday for them, but having...