The US has always had a strong puritanical streak. Part of it is that when Europeans migrated to America, many of the people who decided to make the trip were various religious sects which were just a bit too extreme and too weird to be accepted at home. And they brought along some strong ideas about what you weren't allowed to do. The prohibition laws were spearheaded by such religious groups, for example.

This all got a boost in the 50's with McCarthyism and the Cold War. America felt it was in a competition to prove its way of life superior, and so it had to become as anti-communist as possible. Whatever they did, we had to do the opposite*. Communists were opposed to religion, so America embraced religion, and became far more religious than it was a few decades earlier. And this, naturally, gave more power to the religious groups who were still around, and who still didn't approve of nudity or books with bad words in them.

Of course there's more to it than that, but America has always been quite prudish and puritanical.

Was it though? Only white men, owning land and not being Catholic, Jew or Quaker could vote in the 18th century. Not so very different from voting rights in the UK https://anglotopia.net/british-history/the-history-of-voting-rights-in-the-united-kingdom/

Religious groups are a large but shrinking voting block in America they donate to campaigns and vote, so some politician pander to their wishes to get the money and votes.

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Op should travel to Asian countries, where the 60"s sexual revolution never took over. Nudity is only embraced in a handful of European countries, and tolerated only in touristic locations acrossed other parts of the world.

> It was the land of the free around 100-200 years ago,

Slavery has entered the chat.

In Rome we see them all the time

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5"1 95 lbs. That's the weight and height of a twelve year old. Are you sure they didn't mistake her for a child?

Nope, Blue Laws

How cheeky are we talking about? A picture is worth a thousand words.

It was the land of the free around 100-200 years ago, but other countries reformed in the mean time, the US not really. From today's perspective the US seems to be a bit behind in this regard.

Can you explain how they were the first big democracy? Just curious.

They were the first big democracy, so their system bear all the bugs. And they never patched them or upgraded.

Surely you meant red laws ?

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All of these laws are held at the state level, so there are 50+ different answers to this question. The easiest answer is that these laws vary widely from state to state.

This explains it best: The USA is not the land of the free. That's just something Americans are made to believe in order to keep them productive without complaining.

Green for plants, red for animals = life.

Also, uh, pagans. Green for goddess, red for god.

If you are looking for consistency or even self awareness from Florida, you’re going to be disappointed.

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A lot of states were first founded by religious people. So it probably has to do with it being blue laws.

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Cardinals only live in the Americas, so while they'll have become a Christmas icon there, they're not well connected to it in Europe.

Europe has the European Robin however, affectionately called the Robin Redbreast in the UK, which has long been associated with Christmas and featured on some of the first Christmas cards.

The European Robin is mostly sedentary, so it doesn't migrate to warmer climates in the winter. When the trees are bare of leaves, it's quite easy to spot a Robin with it's colourful chest against the greys and whites of winter. This makes them quite an iconic image of winter.

It became a staple part of the modern Christmas tradition which started in the 1800s in the UK. It's certainly fair to say it's one part of why the colour red is associated with Christmas time.