Dear Santa…

I know I’m not that well-behaved but I do have a list of wishes.

Here’s the bargain.
If my wishes come true, I might believe that you probably exist.
Quite fair, right?

Here goes my wishlist…

1. Taking picture with Nicholas Saputra, chatting, or if possible, befriend with him.
I want to tell him, “stay true to yourself, we will always love you.”
If Nicholas Saputra is not available, Johnny Depp or Robert Downey Jr. will do. If both are not present, well.. Jonathan Rhys Meyers then.

2. Producing a documentary film, “Chasing Nicholas Saputra” where my bestfriend (Inayah Agustin) will play the role as groupie. (See I’m not that selfish!)

3. Teleportation (just like Star Trek), I want to travel across planets and maybe I’ll find a tribe like Navi there.

If none of the above is possible, well I just have to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)

… Be able to fly so I won’t get stuck in traffic jam.

Lotsa wishes and hopefully love,

Olivia

NOTE:
On behalf of Santa (he’s on vacation, apparently), I’d like to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
May fruitfulness and blessing be with you always

Modern Santa Tracking Devices:
Official NORAD Santa Tracker
I Spot Santa
Santa Games:
Santa Claus Christmas Games

For the young or young at heart this Christmas Eve!

Family dog Bo barks at Santa Claus as first lady Michelle Obama reads a Christmas story with her daughters Sasha (2nd R) and Malia to patients at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington December 22, 2009.

To –
Mr.Claus,
Santa’s Grotto,
Reindeerland,
SAN TA1

Letter to Santa

O good San Nicolás of Myra,
I call upon you, like millions before me,
Heed me, unobscured,
My wishes void of capitalistic intent,
I ask not for fame, nor for wealth,

But for strength of character and resilience,
For those who fight the good fight,
The young private defending the borders,
The doctor healing the sick,
The men in blue, the men in red,
The terminally ill battling against the reaper,

O good San Nicolás of Myra,
I call upon you, like millions before me,
Heed me, unobscured,
My wishes void of capitalistic intent,
I ask not for fame, nor for wealth,

But for hope, faith and joy,
For those who need it most,
The family who have lost a loved one,
The forgotten destitute living off alms,
The lover heartbroken and spirit wounded,
The disabled denying victory to the odds,

Resurrect the spirit of Chrimbo – generosity,
Not of the material kind, but of the soul,
A helping hand, a warm embrace,
Words to motivate, make a difference,
Time donated to those less fortunate,
Fellowship of friends, hearts contented,

O good San Nicolás of Myra,
I call upon you, like millions before me,
Heed me, unobscured!

Yours Sincerely,
Niro N

Copyright © 2009 by Niro N

Happy Holidays, Gang!

For your Yule Tide enjoyment we are taking a look at one of the most controversial and universally reviled films in all slasherdome. That’s right, we’re talking about the 1984 axe wielding killer in a Santa suit flick, Silent Night, Deadly Night.

So bundle up and prepare yourself for crazy grandpas, adorable little kids, early childhood trauma, nun S&M, bad Santas, the birds and the bees, snowman murder, slay rides, Jabba the Hutt playsets, Linnea Quigley’s tits (again), billiard banging, crotch gazing and so much other naughtiness!

This is one Rotten Review you’ll want to view with a warm mug of cocoa, someone to be naughty with and your therapist on speed dial!

Have a Happy Holiday and a Trashy New Year!

your pal,

-The Primal Root

Just click on the poster below to watch the latest Rotten Review!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have noticed a depressing trend. People in my social media circles and on the street having been making a great number of disparaging remarks about Old Saint Nick. Most are about mall Santas, but some aim at the icon himself–a jolly old man who flies around the world and lets himself into the homes of little boys and girls. My guess is that this proliferation of ho-ho-horrible is the result of two factors. The first is the H1N1 flu. This has been the season of protecting one’s personal space. Pediatricians are told not to where neckties, there are hand-cleaner dispensers outsides every elevator and rest room, and other measures of insuring under-kill through overkill.

The second, though, is more depressing. It is the trend of Americans in the last thirty years or so to generate humor and an air of personal hipness by denigrating the “motives” of traditional childhood icons.  This is what brings us to clowns.  Clowning had been a popular and revered art form for centuries. The combination of skills possessed by master clowns like the legendary Emmet Kelly were formidable–including mime, dance, magic, juggling and acrobatics to name a few. Then pretty much all at once, sometime around the late Seventies or early Eighties it became fashionable to hate clowns.  There have been three primary social forces working against them–the apocalyptic turn in American films, the growth of ironic comedy, and . . . oh yeah . . . a serial killer who dressed like a clown.

The post Vietnam era is marked by two obvious shifts on the focus of American popular culture. One was what I referred to above as the apocalyptic turn. The tradition of the American hero had always been of one who was slow to fight but good at it. Restrained but effective. The Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers would shoot the gun out of the hombre’s hand, the put their own gun away and duke it out. Lucas McCain, the Rifleman, who try to intimidate his opponents with demonstrations of raw skill before having to face them in the street. Even icons like John Wayne’s characters, Shane and Tom Destry would attempt to solve problems with smallest dose of violence necessary to do the job. Then along came Clint Eastwood who between 1973 and 1985 made three westerns–High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Pale Rider–that portrayed the protagonist as millennial scorcher of the earth.  His heroes were bringers of judgment not just to the evil few but too the inherent evil in everyone. The breadth of his destruction was Biblical, and none of us were without sin.  The Biblical judge was balanced by creatures of evil like Jason, Freddy and Michael Myers, who slaughtered the impure and who could not die. For the audience it wasn’t a choice between Saint and Sinner, because all of us were sinners.

Clowns used slapstick to mock our human fallibility, because doing so brought us together. Since we are all fallible, we should all be less quick to judge. When fallibility morphs into original sin, though, brutal and final justice becomes the par.  At the same time the trend in comedy was the pose that nothing is as it seems–everything is a facade, a scam, if not to hide our base intentions at least to hide our insecurities. David Letterman used his television show to mock television. Jerry Seinfeld drew his humor from everyday life and referred to that topic as “nothing.” The Black-White world of millennial right and wrong in parallel with the consensus everything sacred should be mocked spelled the death of slapstick and the tired obvious edifice of farce.

Then of course there was the guy who dressed up like a clown and killed little boys. John Wayne Gacy was probably not the first killer clown, but he has to be the most well known. During a six-year span between 1972 and 1978, he killed at least thirty-three young boys, many of whom he met under the pretext so throwing block parties under the pseudonym Pogo the Clown. Gacy’s crimes were heinous, and the clown angle was regularly played up in their retelling. Soon after than the scary, killer clown meme gained steam.

It might seem like a pretty broad leap from scary clowns to Jolly Old Saint Nick, but it really isn’t. The mood these days is to see every cherished icon as harboring at least a secret agenda and at most the subliminal hegemony of the capitalist ruling class.  See our Pogo the Clown and raise us a generation of predatory priests, and the its open season on any seemingly nice old guy who wants to put Jimmy or Julie on his lap. Just within the last few days, as previously mentioned, I have seen several posts in social media complaining about mean dirty nasty—and of course flu ridden—Santa, some wishing he and all of his cohorts would just go away. Am I just shouting fire in a crowded Styrofoam wonderland? Is it beyond the collective imagination that American popular culture would enthusiastically toss Old Nick overboard for no better reason than the short term “edge” appeal of doing so? I think not. I think Santa needs some vigorous defense. So in the next few days, when you see him in the mall or on the street go out of your way to perpetuate the myth.

Yes, Virginia, there is Santa Claus. And there is a better than ever chance he doesn’t want to kill you in your sleep.

Hello everyone,

In recent years there has been a pull from two sides to denote the significance of Christmas. On the side of the atheistic or agnostic or those wanting to celebrate Christmas with out acknowledging the birth of Christ there has been a movement involving the media, political groups and universities to point out the so-called “falsehoods” or “contradictions” of the Christmas celebration. Everything belonging to European or Celtic customs that has been used in conjunction with the celebration of the birth of Christ is either called pagan or secular.  While some customs date back before the time of Christ, to say that they remained totally separate from a Christ’s Christmas or to ignore how, like all things under Christ, these traditions took on new significance to the glory of God, is willful and wicked ignorance.  The miracle of Christ is not limited to what was written in the Bible.  It continues in the lives of every believer and as the message of Christianity spreads through out the world you will notice that the worldly religions of old wither away and die, just as the power of sin died before Christ.

The reason for holly at Christmas time is because the red symbolizes the “blood of Christ, and it prickly leaves and branches represents the “crown of thorns” that was placed on Christ’s head at the time of his crucifixion.  As well it is believe that the tree Moses spoke to in the old testament was a holly tree.

Another misguided notion is that the Christmas trees are pagan.  In fact Christmas trees have their roots belonging to medieval German mysteries.  The most popular was the “Paradise Play” which was based on Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise.  It generally ended with the promise of the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  The “Paradise Play” was often performed in or around the churches of Germany and the tree represented both the “tree of life” and the “tree of knowledge” from the Garden of Eden.

Candy Canes were not just a secular snack that mystical elves, created by Macys or Walt Disney, passed out to good little boys and girls.  They were invented by a choirmaster in Cologne Germany around the 17th century.  Originally, they were  sugar sticks bent into the shape of a shepherd staff to hand out to children in church during the Christmas pageant.

Even Santa Claus, in all his various manifestations, has his roots in Christianity.  He is after all St. Nicholas who was a very real and generous Bishop of the early Christian church.  Nicholas gave away his inheritance, filling the empty shoes of his neighbor’s daughters with gold so that they would have money for their dowery to be married.  The very real act of generosity is why we hang our stockings out every Christmas Eve.  The most fantastical and mythical elements of Santa also were created not by pagans or secularist but once again by a clergyman; a professor of biblical studies.  Clement Clark Moore’s purpose in writing “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was to merely create a bed time story for children and was surprised at how the story caught the imagination of America.  Commercial industries then further morphed and blend St. Nicholas with the Dutch legends and English protestant stories of Father Christmas and create the Santa Claus’ that is popular in movies and in shopping malls.  All versions however grew out of Christian’s celebrations of Christmas.  Though with secularists in the media now lending to the Santa Claus mythos and perhaps corrupting it for their own selfish reasons parents need to be at guard on what and who is portraying Santa and what is Santa’s message.  Is he a Merry Christmas ambassador who worships Christ and gives in the same spirit of the wise-men and St. Nicholas, or is he something else…something false to what Christmas is about?

The second group who is also trying to pull apart the significance of Christmas are Christians who find the “holiday” false because its not historically accurate.  They claim to have proof Christ was not born on December 25, and that it was not on a cold winters night, and that he was not born in a wooden barn-sytle manger but a cave.  Some will even argue that Christ is not Christ until he puts Himself on the cross and therefor the only day worth remembering is Easter.  Many of these legalistic Christian arguments have their roots in puritanical and cultish churches who banned the Christmas celebrations in their villages during the 17th and 18th centuries.  Yet many of those Puritans had their own end of year celebrations where they thanked God (Father, SON, and Holy Ghost) for the harvest.  Such celebrations were the roots  of our modern “Thanksgiving.”

As to the puritanical argument the response should be a shrug of the shoulders as if saying “so what’s your point?”  True it was once argued, in the early years of the church, that birthday’s themselves were pagan celebrations but this debate in relationship to Christmas is false because we are not honoring man but God.  In one form or another Christians have always celebrated Christ in wintertime.  Before Christmas it was the Epiphany, on January 6, when Christians celebrate the visit of the wise-men, as well celebrate when Christ revealed the Holy Spirit to the gentiles.  Even if the more cynical reasoning for the date turns out to be correct and the church decided to used the day of December 25 to further intwine Christ into pagan lands, then what of it? When Christmas became officially observed by the Church, Europe, as well as Asia Minor was in the midst of a religious revolution.  God, who had only made himself known to the Jews, had now made a covenant with the rest of the world and the old ways and the old religions had become relics of the past.  The religion of Christ competed against those of the world and the truth of God revealed the deceit and the darkness of the practices and beliefs of the worldly.  (It is perhaps worth mentioning that  it has been argued that in 274 AD the Roman Emperor Aurelian instituted the December pagan feast of the sun to counteract the spread of Christianity.) It is by no coincidence or fickle fate that the western world emerged from the dark ages and became Christendom.  Therefore, because of the total victory of Christ over converted souls, replacing old, meaningless celebrations with ones that glorifies God and celebrates His Gift of Salvation, is a small matter to argue at best. Maybe Germans songwriters imagined Christ being born on a cold winters night because it simply made sense to them given they celebrated Christmas during winter.  It is not the time of year we celebrate or whether it was a cave or the wooden manger portrayed in nativities that is of significance but the matter of Christ’s Holy birth and his divinity that are stated in each Christmas hymn.

You can call Christmas a birthday celebration or you can call it a holiday.  I tend to think of Christmas as neither.  Because, in this generation we simplify Christmas or bring it down to a level that is on par with Halloween or Valentines Day much of the significance of this day of remembrance and celebration has been lost.  Its is not just about bringing families together, nor the wonderment of childhood (although certainly Christmas encourages such sentiments).  Nor does Jesus really need a birthday party, though He may appreciate one. What Christmas really is about is fulfillment, victory, and the Glory of God.  As it was at Christ’s resurrection so it was at His birth; for Christ is God and no ounce of impurity, no temptation, no suffering or woe, could ever stop God’s plan.  God is perfect, after all.  He is Holy.  When believers stop to realize that they follow a God who is the King of Kings, who is the real Champion of all, and who is most merciful and loves His creation so much that He humbled himself in the flesh and sacrificed that flesh to save us from our sins then of course there should be an immeasurable joy for Christmas.  We should be filled with so much gratitude that we should want to share with others.  We should want to celebrate with our friends and transform the ordinary into the jubilant, with festive decorations, gift giving, testimonies and stories of lost souls saved and by cherishing the families God has blessed us with.  Just as Easter should be celebrated with reverence, for God is glorified through His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection, so to shall we celebrate Christmas jubilantly, for God is glorified through putting Himself in flesh through his Son, Jesus Christ, and through all the wonders of His arrival including the virgin birth, the chorus of angels, and the Christmas star.

Christmas, for me, is so much more than just a “holiday” and its significance and meaning can only be found in truth of the “Word.”  I invite you all to read or re-read the Christmas story this year.  It is my hope and prayer that you will find comfort and joy when you read.  Gospel of Luke Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

A more in depth and factually based argument in defense of Christmas can be found by clicking here.

Merry Christmas and God Bless,

Matt Thompson

People all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. But why is the Nativity marked by gift giving, and was He really born on that day? And just where did the Christmas tree come from? Take an enchanting tour through the history of this beloved holiday and trace the origins of its enduring traditions. Journey back to the earliest celebrations when the infant religion embraced pagan solstice festivals like the Roman Saturnalia and turned them into a commemoration of Jesus’ birth. Learn how Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree to the English-speaking world in 1841, and discover how British settlers in the New World transformed the patron saint of children into jolly old St. Nick.

We’re going to explore the origin of Christmas and how it came to be the way we know it today.

An Ancient Holiday

Norse God Oden

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

The Yule Log

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.

Saturnalia

Ancient Romans Celebrating Saturnalia

Also around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born of a rock. For some Romans, Mithra’s birthday was the most sacred day of the year.

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth (a fact Puritans later pointed out in order to deny the legitimacy of the celebration). Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

Lord of Misrule

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An Outlaw Christmas

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, canceled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

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Christmas Reinvented

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday?

The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended – in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.

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A Christmas Carol

Also around this time, English author Charles Dickens created the classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. The story’s message-the importance of charity and good will towards all humankind-struck a powerful chord in the United States and England and showed members of Victorian society the benefits of celebrating the holiday.

1881 illustration by Thomas Nast who, with Clement Clarke Moore, helped to create the modern image of Santa Claus.

The family was also becoming less disciplined and more sensitive to the emotional needs of children during the early 1800s. Christmas provided families with a day when they could lavish attention-and gifts-on their children without appearing to “spoil” them.

As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a perfect family holiday, old customs were unearthed. People looked toward recent immigrants and Catholic and Episcopalian churches to see how the day should be celebrated. In the next 100 years, Americans built a Christmas tradition all their own that included pieces of many other customs, including decorating trees, sending holiday cards, and gift-giving.

Although most families quickly bought into the idea that they were celebrating Christmas how it had been done for centuries, Americans had really re-invented a holiday to fill the cultural needs of a growing nation.

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The man we know as Santa Claus has a history all his own. Keep reading to find information about the history of Santa Claus, his earliest origins, and how he became the jolly man in red that we know today.

The Legend of St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas

Sinter Klass Comes to New York

Sinter Klaas

The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society’s annual meeting. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a “rascal” with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a “huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.”

Shopping Mall Santas

Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the holiday’s rejuvenation in the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of time before stores began to attract children, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at a “live” Santa Claus. In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New York to solicit donations. Those familiar Salvation Army Santas have been ringing bells on the street corners of American cities ever since.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, an Episcopal minister, wrote a long Christmas poem for his three daughters entitled, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas.” Moore’s poem, which he was initially hesitant to publish due to the frivolous nature of its subject, is largely responsible for our modern image of Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf” with a portly figure and the supernatural ability to ascend a chimney with a mere nod of his head! Although some of Moore’s imagery was probably borrowed from other sources, his poem helped to popularize Christmas Eve – Santa Claus waiting for the children to get to sleep the now-familiar idea of a Santa Claus who flew from house to house on Christmas Eve – in “a miniature sleigh” led by eight flying reindeer, whom he also named – leaving presents for deserving children. “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” created a new and immediately popular American icon. In 1881, political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore’s poem to create the first likeness that matches our modern image of Santa Claus. His cartoon, which appeared in Harper’s Weekly, depicted Santa as a rotund, cheerful man with a full, white beard, holding a sack laden with toys for lucky children. It is Nast who gave Santa his bright red suit trimmed with white fur, North Pole workshop, elves, and his wife, Mrs. Claus.

The Many Names of Santa

18th-century America’s Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. Similar figures were popular all over the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning “Christ child,” Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children’s stockings with holiday treats. Pere Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Russia, it is believed that an elderly woman named Babouschka purposely gave the wise men wrong directions to Bethlehem so that they couldn’t find Jesus. Later, she felt remorseful, but could not find the men to undo the damage. To this day, on January 5, Babouschka visits Russian children leaving gifts at their bedsides in the hope that one of them is the baby Jesus and she will be forgiven. In Italy, a similar story exists about a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children.

Rudolph: The Ninth Reindeer

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

In 1939, May wrote a Christmas-themed story-poem to help bring holiday traffic into his store. Using a similar rhyme pattern to Moore’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” May told the story of Rudolph, a young reindeer who was teased by the other deer because of his large, glowing, red nose. But, When Christmas Eve turned foggy and Santa worried that he wouldn’t be able to deliver gifts that night, the former outcast saved Christmas by leading the sleigh by the light of his red nose. Rudolph’s message—that given the opportunity, a liability can be turned into an asset—proved popular. Montgomery Ward sold almost two and a half million copies of the story in 1939. When it was reissued in 1946, the book sold over three and half million copies. Several years later, one of May’s friends, Johnny Marks, wrote a short song based on Rudolph’s story (1949). It was recorded by Gene Autry and sold over two million copies. Since then, the story has been translated into 25 languages and been made into a television movie, narrated by Burl Ives, which has charmed audiences every year since 1964.

Yes, kiddies, Santa is smoking...bad Santa!

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Like any other Americans, the family living in the big white house on Pennsylvania avenue has traditions surrounding the holiday season as well. Sit back, and get comfortable, while we explore how Presidents have celebrated Christmas from President George Washington to President Barack Obama.

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. ~ President Calvin Coolidge

History of Christmas at the White House (1789-1849)

President George Washington and First Lady Martha (1789-1797)
President John Adams and First Lady Abigale (1797-1801)
President Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
President James Madison (1809-1817)
President James Monroe and First Lady Elizabeth (1817-1825)
President John Quincy Adams and First Lady Louisa (1825-1829)
President Andrew Jackson and First Lady Rachel (1829-1837)
President Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
President William Henry Harrison and First Lady Anna (1841-1841)
President John Tyler and First Ladies Lettitia and Julia (1841-1845)
President James K. Polk and First Lady Sarah (1845-1849)
President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret (1849-1850)

History of Christmas at the White House (1850-1901)

President Millard Fillmore and First Ladies Abigail and Caroline (1850-1853)
President Franklin Pierce and First Lady Jane (1853-1857)
President James Buchanan (1857-1861)
President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary (1861-1865)
President Andrew Johnson and First Lady Elizabeth (1865-1869)
President Ulysses S. Grant and First Lady Julia (1869-1877)
President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy (1877-1881)
President James A. Garfield and First Lady Lucretia (1881-1881)
President Chester A. Arthur and First Lady Ellen (1881-1885)
President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Francis (1885-1889, (1893-1897)
President Benjamin Harrison and First Lady Caroline and Mary (1889-1893)
President William McKinley and First Lady Ida (1897-1901)

History of Christmas at the White House (1901-1953)

President Theodore Roosevelt and First Ladies Alice and Edith (1901-1909)
President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen (1909-1913)
President Woodrow Wilson and First Ladies Ellen and Edith (1913-1921)
President Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence (1921-1923)
President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace (1923-1929)
President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou (1929-1933)
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor (1933-1945)
President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess (1945-1953)

History of Christmas at the White House (1953-1977)

President Dwight Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower (1953-1961)
President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1961-1963)
President Lyndon Johnson and First Lady Claudia (Lady Bird) (1963-1969)
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Patricia (1969-1974)
President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty (1974-1977)

History of Christmas at the White House (1977-2009)

President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalyn Carter (1977-1981)
President Ronald Regan and First Lady Nancy (1981-1989)
President George HW Bush and First Lady Barbara (1989-1993)
President William J. Clinton and First Lady Hillary (1993-2001)
President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush (2001-2008)
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (2009- )

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President George Washington and First Lady Martha 1789-1797

George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City. There was no White House at that time so the Washington’s lived in houses that were “borrowed” as Presidential homes, first in New York City and later in Philadelphia.

At a time when Christmas was still quite controversial in a new nation, at the time Martha Washington’s holiday receptions were stiff and regal affairs, quite befitting the dignity of the office of President of the United States and invitations were much desired by the local gentry. A Christmas party was given by the Washington’s for members of Congress on Christmas Day, 1795 at which a bountiful feast was served to the guests, all men with the exception of the First Lady.

The 2009 Mount Vernon Holiday Ornament

Some documents show that Christmas at Mt. Vernon were quite a celebration. The traditional feast varied from household to household (depending on how wealthy the family was) but generally, consisted of wines, rum punches, hams, beef, goose, turkey, oysters, mincemeat pies, and various other treats. The season was considered a grown-up celebration, but presents would generally be given to children. Irena Chalmers notes that in 1759, that George Washington gave the following presents to his children: a bird on Bellows; a Cuckoo; a Turnabout Parrot; a Grocers Shop; an Aviary; a Prussian Dragoon; a Man Smoking; a Tunbridge Tea Set; 3 Neat Books, a Tea Chest. A straw parchment box with a glass and a neat dressed wax baby.

President John Adams and First Lady Abigale 1797-1801

When the second President of the United States, John Adams, moved into what would come to be known as the White House, the residence was cold, damp, and drafty. Sitting at the edge of a dreary swamp, the First Family had to keep 13 fireplaces lit in an effort to stay comfortable. It is in this setting that the cantankerous president held the first ever White House Christmas party in honor of his granddaughter, Susanna. It could be said that the invitations sent for this party were the very first White House Christmas cards, though in those early days, the building was referred to as the President’s Palace, Presidential Mansion, or President’s House.

Peacefield, the Quincy, Massachusetts home and farm of John Adams, where he spent Christmas with his family before and after his presidency

The 2009 John Adams Administration Christmas Ornament

President Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809

Since Christmas did not become a national holiday until 1870 during the administration of Ulysses S. Grant, it is not surprising that the exchanging of White House Christmas cards was not a yearly presidential custom during the very early history of our country. For most of our earlier presidents, there is very little documented information regarding Christmas celebrations or traditions they or their families may have practiced. However, whether it is because he was a prolific letter-writer or that scholars have accumulated a wealth of information on his life from painstaking research, there is more information describing Christmas celebrations of our third president, Thomas Jefferson, than any of our other Founding Fathers who became president. This information reflects both the time Jefferson spent as president in the White House and at his famous Virginia home and plantation, Monticello.

Monticello, the Virginia home and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, where he celebrated many Christmas seasons with his family before and after his presidency

2004 American President Collection Thomas Jefferson Ornament

President James Madison 1809-1817

President James Monroe and First Lady Elizabeth 1817-1825

Monroe, a Virginian who is considered the last of the United States’ Founding Fathers, was, however, one of the participants in what may be the most famous Christmas in our nation’s history.

It was on Christmas in 1776 that Monroe, a lieutenant in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, was wounded in the shoulder serving with General George Washington in the surprise attack against the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey. In fact, in the famous 1851 painting by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze, it is the young James Monroe who is shown holding the flag as Washington leads his men into battle as their boat crosses the Delaware River from Pennsylvania into New Jersey. Had the exchanging of Christmas cards been a custom back in Colonial times, certainly none would have been exchanged between the pro-British Hessians and the revolution-minded colonists!

The famous painting by Emanuel Leutze featuring George Washington leading his troops across the Delaware on Christmas of 1776. Future President James Monroe is depicted holding the American flag.

In 1831 James Monroe died from tuberculosis and heart failure one year later on the 4th of July – the third president of the first five in our country’s history to pass away on the date of the birth of our nation.

President John Quincy Adams and First Lady Louisa 1825-1829

President John Quincy Adams spent four Christmases in the White House and yet there is very little written about his Christmas celebrations, if indeed there were any. He was a very prolific writer and there is certainly the possibility that he sent Christmas messages from the White House. Since Christmas cards were not in vogue until after the 1850s, we can be sure that President John Quincy Adams did not send out White House Christmas cards.

President Adams appointed Joel R. Poinsett as the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico in 1825, who shortly thereafter brought back red, wild growing plants from the southern Mexican states. These red plants would be called poinsettia, the popular Christmas plant of today.

President Andrew Jackson and First Lady Rachel 1829-1837

During the 1835 Christmas season, a number of young relatives occupied the White House of President Andrew Jackson. His wife’s niece, her four children and the two children of his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr., all made their residence in the executive mansion. The President and his family sent invitations, White House Christmas cards, of sorts, to the local children inviting them to an event in the East Room on Christmas Day.

On Christmas Eve, President Jackson and the White House children embarked upon a carriage ride, delivering gifts to former First Lady Dolly Madison and Vice President Martin Van Buren. As they rode, one of the children asked the President if he thought Santa would visit the White House. Mr. Jackson replied that they would have to wait and see and told the children of a boy he once knew who had never heard of Christmas or Santa Claus and who had never owned a single toy. The boy, he told them, never knew his father and then his mother died. After her death, he had no friends and no place to live. Jackson and the children then visited an orphanage and delivered the remaining gifts in the carriage to its residents. Years later, one of the children, Mary Donelson, realized that the boy the president spoke of had been Jackson himself.

The 2004 American President Collection Andrew Jackson Ornament.

Later that day, the children who had received the White House Christmas card invitations arrived at the residence and found the East Room decorated with mistletoe and other seasonal foliage. They participated in song, games and danced throughout the afternoon. At dinnertime, the youngsters filed into the dining room two-by-two as the band played “The President’s March.” The French chef had created a remarkable feast including winter scenes filled with animals carved out of icing and confectionery sugar. Also featured were cakes shaped like apples, pears, and corn. In the center, there was a large pyramid of cotton “snowballs” – frosted creations which exploded when struck in a certain way.

The Hermitage, the Nashville home of Andrew Jackson, where he spent several Christmas holidays following his stay in the White House

After two terms, Jackson retired to his estate, the Hermitage, outside Nashville, Tennessee. He remained a force in national politics and was instrumental in the elections of Democrats Martin Van Buren in 1836 and James K. Polk in 1844. He died from tuberculosis in 1845 at the age of 78.

President Martin Van Buren 1837-1841

President William Henry Harrison and First Lady Anna 1841-1841

William Henry Harrison was not in the White House long enough to enjoy a Christmas season, serving only one month before he died. It is very clear that he did not send White House Christmas cards. The first known Christmas cards sold in the United States weren’t until 1843, two years after Harrison’s election in 1841. The custom of sending White House Christmas cards began officially with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, although many prior presidents sent Christmas cards to family and friends.

President William Henry Harrison was portrayed in a 1991 Christmas ornament issued by the White House Historical Society. He was depicted atop a white charger in full military regalia. Harrison spent many years on the Northwest Frontier (as it was known in his time) probably spending Christmas with family or his troops. There is little written about President Harrison’s Christmas celebrations prior to his short tenure in the White House. There is little doubt that he would have followed his Episcopalian beliefs in any Christmas observances.

Grouseland, the Northwest Frontier home of William Henry Harrison, where he spent many Christmas seasons before his short stint in the White House

President Harrison gave the longest inauguration speech in history and had the shortest term. He was the first president to die in office. He served only 30 days before dying of pneumonia. His wife, Anna, never had a chance to be First Lady, but was given a widow’s pension of $25,000 and lifetime franking privilege. President William Henry Harrison was buried in Ohio and the Whig party died with him.

President John Tyler and First Ladies Lettitia and Julia 1841-1845

There were probably no White House Christmas cards sent at the beginning of the Tyler administration. There is no information whatsoever as to whether the Tyler family followed that present-day Christmas tradition, but it was not until 1843 – during the middle of the Tyler administration – that the first commercial Christmas cards were even commissioned. That card was quite controversial as it showed a family and their young child partaking of some wine drinking, a picture of which would have been scandalous had the Tyler’s sent out something similar as their White House Christmas cards. Although Christmas cards were not exchanged, it is known that President Tyler enjoyed hosting Christmas parties for young children.

Married to wife Letitia since 1813, by 1839 she had become an invalid. After her husband acceded to the presidency, a daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper, became the President’s official hostess since the First Lady was not able to perform her official duties. On September 10, 1842, after a lengthy illness, Letitia died.

An illustration of party for children thrown by President John Tyler, perhaps a Christmas party

Serving as First Lady for only a little more than eight months until the end of her husband’s term, Julia made quite an impact during her short reign. At the age of 24 and 30 years younger than her husband, she was the youngest woman to serve as First Lady. Bringing gaiety and a youthful feel to the White House, she made sure that the song “Hail to the Chief” was played at state occasions and she also introduced the Waltz and Polka to White House dance festivities. The one Christmas Julia spent as White House hostess must have been one of joy and celebration.

President James K. Polk and First Lady Sarah 1845-1849

James K. Polk is considered by historians to be the last strong pre-Civil War president. In his one term, he nearly doubled the territory of the United States, strengthened the economic power of the federal government, promoted trade, and bolstered the power of the chief executive. While nearly all give him credit for greatly strengthening the nation, he is often criticized for his lack of a forward-looking vision on the issue of slavery.

Polk accomplished the first two fiscal goals before the middle of his term. These policies were popular in the South and West, but not in Pennsylvania and much of the northeast. His first foreign policy victory came four days after Christmas of 1845, when Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state. This angered Mexico, which viewed the area as its own breakaway province. Avoiding a costly war, Polk reached an agreement with Great Britain to recognize the 49th parallel as the border between British Canada and the U.S., acquiring slightly more than half of the Oregon territory in the process. Acquisition of California and New Mexico would prove more difficult as the Mexican government refused Polk’s $20-30 million offer for the territories and by the spring of 1846, the nations would find themselves at war.

The Tennessee home of President Polk where he celebrated Christmas with Mrs. Polk before taking up residence in the White House

President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret 1849-1850

Zachary Taylor served as the 12th President of the United States before dying in office after leading our nation for only 16 months. Having spent only one Christmas in the White House (1849), there is no information as to how the President and his family celebrated the holidays or whether they exchanged White House Christmas cards with friends and acquaintances.

Indeed, First Lady Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor cared so little about performing the traditional social duties of a president’s wife that she would not have had a hand in sending out White House Christmas cards anyway. In fact, President Taylor was empathetic to his wife’s feelings of not wanting to take on the role of presidential spouse since his wife had endured a life of hardships as the spouse of a career military man. One of their daughters, newly-married Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Taylor Bliss, assumed her mother’s role at official functions and carried on in that capacity during President Taylor’s short term in office. Whether Betty Taylor Bliss had a hand in overseeing the exchange of White House Christmas cards is unknown as well.

Kentucky boyhood home of Zachary Taylor where he spent Christmas with his seven brothers and sisters

Taylor’s death, however, has been clouded in controversy. Being a robust man in good health, historians have surmised that perhaps because of the controversy surrounding the country at that time, certain people upset with Taylor’s stance on slavery might have had reason to do him harm. In 1991, acting on the idea that Taylor was possibly poisoned, the former president’s body was exhumed, and hair and fingernail samples were taken. After testing, it was determined that there was arsenic present but the levels were too low to consider that Taylor – rather than Abraham Lincoln – had been the first president of the United States to have been assassinated.

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President Theodore Roosevelt and First Ladies Alice and Edith 1901-1909

As the youngest man ever to take the oath of office, Theodore Roosevelt came to the White House with a large, vivacious young family. With him were his wife, Edith, and his six children aged three through seventeen. While there is no record of the 26th President sending any official White House Christmas cards, there is much written about how the Roosevelts would spend their holiday celebrations.

President Roosevelt posing for a portrait photograph with the entire Roosevelt clan

2004 American President Collection Theodore Roosevelt Ornament

An ornament featuring former US President Theodore Roosevelt is hung on the official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room in 2008

1902 Washington Post illustration depicting the famous “Teddy Bear” incident, coining the term for the popular Christmas gift

Teddy Roosevelt Visiting Neighbors on Christmas 1917

President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen 1909-1913

On the subject of William Howard Taft and Christmas, more than a few presidential historians have likened the large, jovial Taft to a Santa Claus-like figure. Few would deny that the burly Ohioan was a warm, generous and good man, but it was this very nature which made him a relatively ineffectual politician and led to a mostly forgettable presidency, which avoided any major catastrophies, other than the political ones inflicted on Taft’s party and his electoral career.

During his time in office, Taft’s famously generous nature was apparent in the scope and number of Christmas gifts he sent out. The president believed more in the act of giving than in the essential value of the gifts themselves. As did not limit his gifts to family and friends, his Christmas list often climbed into the hundreds. He would send out presidential Christmas cards to accompany the gifts. Oftentimes, his aides would have to scramble to acquire more White House cards as the list grew to ungainly lengths. Mr. Taft would usually devote several days of his own time to going Christmas shopping from store-to-store.

Flyer from the Election of 1908. Taft defeated opponent William Jennings Bryan in the election shortly before Christmas.

The Taft’s were also the initial First Family to display the White House Christmas tree and hold the presidential Christmas party in the Blue Room, a location previously considered sacred to official entertaining.

President Woodrow Wilson and First Ladies Ellen and Edith 1913-1921

Woodrow Wilson had the first Christmas tree put up and decorated in the White House when he was President of the United States. Wilson was accustomed to having gatherings with the attendance of many intellectuals and family. As President he also wanted to have a national Christmas tree lighting ceremony and in 1913, the first year the president was in office, he was able to have a celebration with a Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Christmas Eve at the Capital.

President Wilson and second wife Edith Galt, whom he married around Christmas of 1915

The White House also had its first Christmas tree that year, although it did not become a national tradition until Calvin Coolidge became president and First Lady Grace Coolidge gave permission to put a tree on the Ellipse.

President Wilson asked that a community Christmas tree be placed at the Capitol in 1913, requesting a national tree lighting event to be started. A U.S. Marine Band, 1,000 singers, and a costumed group re-enacted the Nativity on Christmas Eve. Wilson also planted an elm tree outside the North Portico of the White House a few days before Christmas to symbolize peace and serenity. A night view of this tree would become a watercolor done by Robert H. Laessig that graced the 1966 White House Christmas cards of President Lyndon Johnson.

President Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence 1921-1923

Warren G. Harding would only live to see two Christmas seasons after being elected the 29th President of the United States. President and Mrs. Harding were able to escape the stresses of Washington D.C. and their political and social obligations their first Christmas in the white house by traveling to North Carolina during the holidays.

President Harding passed away suddenly several months after celebrating what was to be his second and last Presidential Christmas in 1922. Unfortunately, Harding’s marital indiscretions were not his only shortcomings, many of which did not come to light until after he passed away.
The President sent a gift to his sister, Abigail, a former school teacher of one of Harding’s several known mistresses. Accompanying the gift was a Presidential Christmas card of sorts, a handwritten note on White House stationery. Dated December 23, 1922, the letter read:

Dear Sister Abigail, Enclosed find a little Christmas gift, a token of a brother’s loving regard. I shall think of you at Xmas time, and I shall have a real regret that I can not celebrate in the atmosphere of home and amid the surroundings of family and friends. My love and good wishes to you. Yours affectionately, Warren G. Harding

President Harding buying seals for his White House Christmas cards from a young girl with tuberculosis in 1923

In the year of his death Harding was photographed buying Christmas seals from a young girl suffering with tuberculosis. The President would reach his untimely death prior to the holidays that year and would not be able to use the Christmas seals he had purchased for his official White House Christmas cards. Harding and John F. Kennedy are the only two presidents to have predeceased their fathers.

President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace 1923-1929

As the 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge was the first to truly extend a White House Christmas celebration to the American people. During his first Christmas in the White house in 1923, he initiated the tradition of the National Community Christmas Tree. A 48-foot Balsam Fir from his native state of Vermont was erected on The Ellipse, and an electric button enabled the President to light the tree on demand for the first ever National Community Christmas Tree lighting ceremony.

During the summer of 1924, Coolidge’s youngest son, Calvin, Jr., died of staphylococcus septicemia, an event that was said to have changed “Silent Cal” forever. That same year, the White House received a record setting 12,000 Christmas cards from the American public.

The Coolidge's 1927 Christmas tree

In 1925 after the National Community Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, 2,000 people were welcomed to the White House grounds for caroling led by the choir from the President’s church. And on New Year’s Day, almost 4,000 people were invited to line up and shake the hands of the President and First Lady.

“Silent Cal” received his nickname from his stoic and serious demeanor. But in 1926, after receiving so many heartfelt gifts and Christmas cards from the American people, Coolidge was so emotionally affected that he gave a gift of a gold coin to all of the White House officials and staff members.

The Coolidges - 1927 signed Christmas message

In 1928, Coolidge decided not to run for re-election, making this his last Christmas in the White House. At the National Community Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, Coolidge spoke to the large crowd of spectators and to the American people listening on their radios, “In token of the good-will and happiness of the holiday season and as an expression of the best wishes of the United States toward a Community Christmas Tree, in behalf of the city of Washington, I now turn on the current which will illuminate this tree.”

President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou 1929-1933

Herbert Hoover took office as the 31st President of the United States in March of 1929. Several months later on Tuesday, October 29, the stock market crashed triggering the onset of the Great Depression. Americans were reluctant to spend money on holiday gifts and Christmas cards, but this didn’t stop the President and First Lady Lou Henry from doing so. The First Lady had an impressive collection of old photographs of the White House and gave five different etchings of these photographs to over 200 White House staff members. Some were mounted and personalized with the greeting, “Best Wishes of Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover.” Additionally, President Hoover gave his personal staff a photo of himself on his horse, Billy, at his Rapidan Camp in Shenandoah Nation Park, Virginia.

The Hoovers - Christmas notecards from 1929

The Hoovers carried on the tradition set by the Coolidges of lighting the National Christmas Tree. The original living Norway spruce donated to Coolidge in 1924 by the AFA (American Forestry Association) had to be replaced due to wear and tear from decorating and trimming. Another living Norway spruce was donated by the AFA from Amawalk Nursery in Westchester County, New York and planted in Sherman Plaza. During the tree lighting ceremony, the President addressed the crowd and the listeners on their radios, “I want to have the privilege of wishing you all, and all the unseen audiences, a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.”

Aftermath of the Christmas Eve fire in the old West Wing, 1929

Additionally, each gift was accompanied by an engraved card with a personalized greeting that read, “The President and Mrs. Hoover take Christmas pleasure in presenting this historic bit of pinewood with their greetings.” Mrs. Hoover also had framed photograph prints distributed to additional staff members and aides.

The Hoovers - 1932 Christmas card featuring side-by-side photographs of the executive couple

In 1932, for the Hoovers last Christmas at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, they gave a gift of a leather folder that included photographs of the President and a separate photograph of the First Lady with two White House police dogs. A personal note accompanied the folder that read, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Herbert Hoover and from Lou Henry Hoover and Weegie and Pat 1932 – 33.”

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor 1933-1945

Franklin Delano Roosevelt began his first term as the 32nd President of the United States in 1933. That year, the White House received a record 40,000 Christmas and holiday cards from the American public; the number was so large that a staff had to be hired to handle the influx of mail. The Roosevelts sent Christmas cards to close family and friends. The card they ordered was single-sided and featured an etching of the White House, hand engraved by A.B. Tolly. That same year marked the 10th anniversary of the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. 5,000 people attended the ceremony, during which Roosevelt gave the longest speech to date. Roosevelt’s speech established the tradition of the president speaking directly to the American people during the tree lighting ceremony.

2004 American President Collection Franklin D. Roosevelt Ornament

Tensions overseas continued to augment with the onset of the following year. Nazi forces invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland, and Germany created an alliance with Italy. France and Great Britain also created an alliance and declared war on Germany while the Soviets signed an armistice with Japan and removed all military support from China.

The Roosevelts - Christmas Card from 1935

In 1935, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt purchased gifts for White House staff members from Val-Kill Industries, a workshop she established with several lady friends to help low-income families supplement earnings by crafting furniture and metalware. Each pewter gift was accompanied by a single-sided Christmas card that featured a photograph of the President and First Lady. The White House that year received over 6,000 Christmas cards, and the Roosevelts sent out 400 Christmas cards to family and friends.

The following year, the First Lady again purchased metal gifts from The Forge for the White House staff. The card design featured a lithograph of a bucolic red farmhouse and barn flanked by two evergreen trees. At the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony, 3,000 people were present to hear FDR’s annual speech, in which he discussed Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Scrooge’s renewed sense of self from the lessons he learned. With the reforms set into motion from the President’s First New Deal, the economy was on an up swing for the first time since the onset of the depression years.

1940 Christmas gift from the President was a key chain depicting his beloved Scottish terrier, Fala.

Once America was officially at war, the Treasury Department began promoting and encouraging Americans to purchase defense bonds and stamps. Appropriate for the occasion, the Roosevelts’ Christmas gift to their White House staff was a black leather stamp album. A copy of the previous year’s Christmas speeches by Churchill and the President were given to cabinet members, heads of the executive office, family, and friends.

FDR enjoyed receiving Christmas cards as much as he enjoyed sending them. He established his own private collection of Christmas cards, and by 1940, the collection contained over 3,000 designs. The National Christmas Tree was decorated sans lights that year because electric lights were being rationed while America was at war.

For the 1943 holiday season, it was recommended that the National Community Christmas Tree not be resurrected because of the continuation of war time rationing of electricity and other commodity resources. First Lady Roosevelt insisted that the tree lighting ceremony take place because it was the one thing that Americans needed during the war-causing lackluster holiday season. And so the 20th annual National Community Christmas Tree was decorated with ornaments made by children in local schools, but similar to the year prior, the tree was without lights.

1944 Christmas gift from the President - a copy of his D-Day Prayer

The Roosevelts spent Christmas at their home in Hyde Park again. FDR delivered his Christmas message to the American people and the troops overseas via radio broadcast from his personal library.

In April of 1945, the President left for his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia, where he sought comfort for his paralysis in the town’s warmed mineral springs. He died on April 12 at the age of 63. Although the war wasn’t over, peace was very near thanks to his efforts.

President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess 1945-1953

Harry S. Truman had been Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Vice President for only 82 days before Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. Just weeks after Truman took over the Executive office as the 33rd President of the United States, the Allied forces defeated the Axis Powers and World War II came to an end. May 8 was declared as V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day), which was also Truman’s 61st birthday. Writing to his mother, he remarked, “Isn’t that some birthday present?” He held a press conference announcing the victories in Germany and Italy and the end of World War II. For Christmas that year, he gave each White House staff member a scroll of his speech from the news conference. He also sent out official White House Christmas cards, which featured a lithograph design of holly and berries along with a standard gold imprint. The back of the envelope was also imprinted in gold with the Presidential Seal.

Official 1946 White House Christmas cards from the President and First Lady

1948 Christmas gift to the White House Staff invoking the sentiments of the President

For the 1949 Christmas gift to their White House staff (or rather the Blair House staff), the Trumans gave a leather key holder. Each holder contained a snap closure and was imprinted with a brief Christmas greeting. To a small few of the President’s closest executive team members, he gave the same paperweight from the year prior, and to his Cabinet members, he gave the bound book, Selected Speeches and Statements on Foreign Affairs by Harry S. Truman.

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the south lawn of the White House in 1947

Christmas gift print from Truman to his staff given in 1952

2004 American President Collection Harry S. Truman Ornament

Harry S. Truman went back to Independence, Missouri in January of 1953 to enjoy a simpler life that didn’t involve the heaviness of politics he experienced while in Washington.

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President Dwight Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie 1953-1961

As General of the United States Army and Supreme Allied Commander during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower easily became a well-liked man on domestic soil due to his military triumphs overseas. With the campaign slogan, “I Like Ike,” Eisenhower captured the majority vote in a landslide victory during the election of 1952, becoming the 34th President of the United States of America.

During his first Christmas in the White House in 1953, Eisenhower referred to Hallmark President Joyce C. Hall for assistance with his first official Christmas cards as the President of the U.S. An artist himself, Eisenhower painted a portrait of Abraham Lincoln while waiting for news on a Korean armistice. For inspiration, he used a photograph of Lincoln done by Alexander Gardner in 1863. Eisenhower ordered 1,100 white keepsake folders from Hallmark, each containing a reproduction of his Lincoln painting.

Signed card was sent by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie

Unlike other Presidents who distinguished political from household staff, the Eisenhower’s brought both together, more than 500 in all, for a Christmas party each year. For the White House staff, Mamie purchased gifts in area department stores, personally wrapping each one to save money.

Mamie Bangs gift enclosure Christmas cards design from 1957

The 2005 Secret Service Eisenhower Executive Office Ornament

The Eisenhowers holding Christmas dinner in 1960

President Eisenhower’s Christmas Wishes From Space 1958

Having launched its first space satellite in January 1958, the United States launched an unique communications satellite on December 18, 1958 for the Christmas season. The recorded voice of President Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed the wishes of the American people for peace and goodwill.

President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline 1961-1963

John F. Kennedy was a Massachusetts senator when he declared his intent to run for President for the election of 1960. Defeating Hubert Humphrey for the democratic candidacy, Kennedy ran against Republic Richard M. Nixon, who was also the Vice President of the lame duck Eisenhower administration. During the first ever televised U.S. presidential debates in late September, less than two months before the election, Kennedy trumped Nixon with his poised, relaxed demeanor and handsomely tan appearance. Nixon, who was sporting his perpetual five o’clock shadow, appeared tense on camera and was 20 pounds underweight due to a serious leg injury from which he was recovering.

1961 Christmas gift from the Kennedys to their White House staff

First official White House Christmas cards from President Kennedy in 1961

Caroline Kennedy's attention as she inspects it before a party for White House employees given by her parents, December 1961

2004 American President Collection John F. Kennedy Ornament

The President and Mrs. Kennedy at the White House Staff Christmas reception, 12 December 1962.

The official presidential Christmas cards from 1962

John F. Kennedy and Jacquelyn Kennedy celebrate the season around the Christmas tree with their children Caroline and John Jr., the former First Lady's sister Lee Radziwill, her husband Prince Stanislaus Radziwill and their children Anthony and Ann Christine and two of their furry friends in 1962

The 71-foot Norway red spruce from West Virginia was lit on December 22, marking the end of the 30-day mourning period after the President’s assassination. During his Christmas message to the American people, President Johnson said, “Today we come to the end of a season of great national sorrow, and to the beginning of the season of great, eternal joy. We mourn our great President, John F. Kennedy, but he would have us go on. While our spirits cannot be light, our hearts need not be heavy.”

President Lyndon Johnson and First Lady Claudia (Lady Bird) 1963-1969

The Lyndon B. Johnson Administration began during a time of great uncertainty. In November 1963, the assassination of President Kennedy had stunned America. New First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson certainly felt a desire to help the nation heal. She chose comforting and nostalgic holiday decor during her White House years.

President Lyndon Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, and Yuki, the White House dog

Her 1965 and 1966 Blue Room Christmas trees were decorated in an early American theme. They featured thousands of small traditional ornaments, including nuts, fruit, popcorn, dried seedpods, gingerbread cookies and wood roses from Hawaii. A paper mache angel graced the tops of the trees. For the 1967 holiday season, Mrs. Johnson added silver balls, silver stars and round mirrors to the previous years’ ornaments.

Lynda Bird Johnson Robb in front of White House Christmas tree with infant daughter.

When President Johnson was in office the theme for that year was An American Past.

The Johnson’s final Christmas in the White House in 1968 was a time of reflection for them and the opportunity to say goodbye to their friends. On December 23rd, President Johnson sent Christmas greetings to the American troops in Southeast Asia, which included his two sons-in-law. In Drew Pearson’s syndicated column, he noted that Christmas at the White House for the Johnson’s was “not as gay this year as last.”

1967 Presidential Christmas cards from the Johnsons depicting the White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room

These included trees planted by Presidents, trees surrounding the South Portico, trees on the South Lawn as viewed from the South Portico, and the Blue Room Christmas tree. The artist in each case was American Greetings watercolor painter Robert Laessig, with whom the Johnsons were to have a long, productive relationship. The gift prints were reproduced on textured paper 14 by 18 inches in size; to accompany each print, the First Lady enclosed a personal message penned on parchment.

On the bitter cold evening of December 16, President Johnson lit his last National Community Christmas Tree. At the touch of a button, the 74-foot Engelmann spruce from Utah lit up with 4,000 blue and green lights. During his last two years as President, Johnson’s credibility began to slip. With the Vietnam War still going strong and with no end in sight, Americans began to question their President’s motives. And with the Civil Rights movement on the rise, urban riots broke out across the nation. In his final Christmas greeting to the American people, Johnson prayed for peace in Southeast Asia and reconciliation on domestic soil. In his departing words he said, “We cannot say that we have triumphed in this endeavor. But we have begun at long last.”

President Richard Nixon and First Lady Patricia 1969-1974

After serving as Eisenhower’s veep and then losing the election of 1960 to John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon retreated from executive-level politics until 1967, when he decided to again run for President in the election of 1968. Appealing to the “Silent Majority” of socially conservative Americans as well as promising peace in Southeast Asia, Nixon beat out Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace to become the 37th President of the United States.

For President Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon’s first Christmas in the White House in 1969, they began a tradition of gifting Presidential portraits to their staff members. That year they gave reproductions of Gilbert Stuart’s famous portrait of George Washington (the same portrait that Eisenhower used for inspiration to paint his 1954 Christmas gift print).

In 1969 Mrs. Nixon had the White House tree decorated in beautiful velvet and satin balls that represented the 50 States.

1971 White House Christmas Cards from the Nixons featuring a painting done by N.C. Wyeth in 1930

At Christmas, the First Lady delighted in opening the White House for candlelight tours as well as nationally televised specials. It gave her and the President great pleasure to share with the nation at Christmas the rare and authentic acquisitions for the State Rooms. An admirer of his great predecessors, the President surprised no one when it came to holiday cards and gift prints. Each card was a rendition of the White House, which, for the last three Christmases, was an historical view by a well-known artist. Each gift print, invariably, was the portrait of a great President rendered by a celebrated portrait painter.

President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat with Frosty

In his Christmas greeting to the American people, President Nixon talked about the impending energy crisis. He said, “This year we will drive a little slower. This year the thermostats will be a little lower. This year every American perhaps will sacrifice a little, but no one will suffer.” Unfortunately for Nixon, he wouldn’t stay President for much longer to make sure no one would suffer. Due to the Watergate scandal, which resulted in Nixon’s loss of political support and near certainty of impeachment, he resigned on the evening of August 8, 1974.

President Richard Nixon Tapes: “Merry Christmas, Operator“

President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty 1974-1977

Immediately following Richard Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974, Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States. He nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to fill his vacated position as Vice President, and Rockefeller was officially confirmed several months later. Perhaps one of Ford’s most controversial decisions – one that he made only weeks after taking the Presidential Oath of Office – was pardoning Nixon for all the crimes he may have committed during his presidency. Nixon’s pardon might have been the best Christmas present he ever received.

In 1976, First Lady Betty Ford looks over decorations and presents

President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty's 1974 Blue Room tree.

Gerald and Betty Ford brought to the Executive Mansion an informality that reflected their unique style and personality. The ambiance of the Ford White House was warm and folksy, simple and low-key. Mrs. Ford described it as kind of “down-home-like.” Especially at Christmas, the First Lady was able to define her independence and leave the distinctive mark of an old-fashioned Christmas on the White House, a tradition the Ford family had always enjoyed.

Final White House Christmas cards sent by President and Mrs. Ford in 1976

For his final Christmas greeting to the American people, President Ford spoke about peace as “…more than absence of battle. It is also the absence of prejudice and the triumph of understanding.”

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President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalyn 1977-1981

When Jimmy Carter decided to run for the Presidential Election of 1976, it was quite a shock to most seeing as he had very little name recognition throughout the United States. But the Democrat Georgia governor campaigned in 37 states, gave 200 speeches, and even gave a private interview to Playboy magazine. Running against President Ford, Carter won the popular vote by 2.1% and earned 57 more votes in the Electoral College. On January 20, 1977, Jimmy Carter was sworn in as the 39th President of the United States – the first man from the Deep South to be elected President since the election of 1848.

First White House Christmas cards sent by President and Mrs. Carter in 1977

The extended Carter family wears personalized knit hats in this Christmas portrait.

1980 White House Christmas cards from President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter

President and Mrs. Carter with daughter Amy in front of The White House Christmas Tree in 1977

On December 18, 1980, President Carter lit his final National Christmas Tree. The tree stayed illuminated for only 417 seconds, each second symbolizing the total number of days that the American hostages were being detained in Iran. In his final Christmas greeting to the American people, the President talked about the hostage situation in Iran and the reasons why the tree was to remain unlit. At one point he said, “The hostage families asked me to do this year the same thing we did last year. And this is just to light the Star of Hope and to hold the other lights unlit until the hostages come home. And they also asked me to ask all Americans to continue to pray for the lives and safety of our hostages and for their early return to freedom…”

Christmas 1979 Statement by the President

First Daughter Amy Carter pushes the button for the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in 1979

May this Christmas season truly be the beginning of a time of peace among nations and good will among all peoples, and may the spirit of love and caring continue from this holy season through the coming year.~President Jimmy Carter

President Ronald Regan and First Lady Nancy 1981-1989

First Lady Nancy Reagan chose the themes for eight White House Christmas’s. Her official 1981 Blue Room tree was trimmed in ornaments lent by the Museum of American Folk Art. For all the following years, she arranged for the people of Second Genesis, a drug treatment program in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, to help decorate her trees. In 1982, they made foil paper cones and metallic snowflakes. These were reused in 1983 on a tree featuring old-fashioned toys lent by the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum. In 1984, Second Genesis fashioned ornaments out of plant material to compliment natural pieces crafted by the Brandywine Museum in Pennsylvania.

First Lady Nancy Reagan decorating the White House Christmas Tree in The Blue Room in 1981

For Christmas of 1985, the Reagan’s Executive Residence staff and Second Genesis made 1,500 ornaments from holiday cards sent to President Reagan in 1984. The residence staff and Second Genesis worked together for the next three holiday seasons. In 1986, they made 15 soft-sculpture nursery rhyme scenes and 100 geese for a “Mother Goose” tree. For the 1987 “musical” tree, they decorated miniature instruments, notes and sheet music. White House carpenters made 300 wood candles for Mrs. Reagan’s 1988 “old-fashioned” tree, which reused hand-blown glass ornaments from the Eisenhower Administration and the Nixon state flower balls from 1969.

Dutchman Tree Farms provided the National Christmas Tree for President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy

The 2004 American President Collection Ronald Reagan Ornament

President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan stand in front of the White House Christmas Tree in 1987

President Regan and First Lady Nancy push the button to light the National Christmas Tree in 1988

The themes of Christmas and of coming home for the holidays have long been intertwined in song and story. There is a profound irony and lesson in this, because Christmas celebrates the coming of a Savior Who was born without a home.
There was no room at the inn for the Holy Family. Weary of travel, a young Mary close to childbirth and her carpenter husband Joseph found but the rude shelter of a stable. There was born the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace—an event on which all history would turn. Jesus would again be without a home, and more than once; on the flight to Egypt and during His public ministry, when He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath no where to lay his head.” From His very infancy, on, our Redeemer was reminding us that from then on we would never lack a home in Him.

First Lady Nancy Reagan and Santa aka Dom DeLuise, throw some artificial snow in the air during a press preview of White House decorations in 1987

Like the shepherds to whom the angel of the Lord appeared on the first Christmas Day, we could always say, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
As we come home with gladness to family and friends this Christmas, let us also remember our neighbors who cannot go home themselves. Our compassion and concern this Christmas and all year long will mean much to the hospitalized, the homeless, the convalescent, the orphaned—and will surely lead us on our way to the joy and peace of Bethlehem and the Christ Child Who bids us come. For it is only in finding and living the eternal meaning of the Nativity that we can be truly happy, truly at peace, truly home.
Merry Christmas, and God bless you!

President Ronald Regan’s 1981 Christmas Greeting

1984 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

President George HW Bush and First Lady Barbara 1989-1993

First Lady Barbara Bush chose a theme of “family literacy” for the Blue Room tree of 1989. She had the Executive Residence staff create 80 soft-sculpture characters from literature. Tiny books completed the motif. In 1990, Mrs. Bush revisited “The Nutcracker” with little porcelain dancers. White House florists dressed the figurines, and a castle from the Land of Sweets was constructed by White House craftspeople. The Saintly Stitchers of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, joined with the staff on the “needle work” tree of 1991. They created a needlepoint village and 92 needlepoint figures for a wooden Noah’s Ark built by staff carpenters. For the 1992 tree theme of “Gift-Givers,” White House florists fashioned 88 different “gift-giving” characters.

1992 George H.W. Bush White House Christmas Card

They especially enjoyed celebrating Christmas at the White House with family and friends and the thousands of visitors who came each year to enjoy the beautiful Christmas sights and sounds with them. The First Lady added her own special touches to the holiday with her annual cherry picker ride to hang the star at the top of the National Christmas Tree, a trip she took 12 times beginning in the Reagan Administration as the wife of the Vice President.

First Lady Barbara Bush

President and Mrs. Bush in front of the 1992 White House Christmas tree.

President Bush left the White House after four eventful years. Upon their departure, First Lady Barbara Bush remarked, “As someone blessed with the extraordinary privilege of living here, it was a bit surprising that this house so quickly became our home…the White House must be many things to many people: repository of so much of our history, seat of government, public museum and, of course, private residence. This wonderful place fills each of these roles magnificently.”

Message on the Observance of Christmas 1989

A Christmas card from...all the George Bushes...asking to Support UNICEF, date unknown

During the beautiful and holy season of Christmas, our hearts are filled with the same wonder, gratitude, and joy that led the psalmist of old to ask, “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” At Christmas, we, too, rejoice in the mystery of God’s love for us — love revealed through the gift of Christ’s birth.

Born into a family of a young carpenter and his wife, in a stable shared by beasts of the field, our Savior came to live among ordinary men. Yet, in time, the miraculous nature of this simple event became clear. Christ’s birth changed the course of history, bringing the light of hope to a world dwelling in the darkness of sin and death.

President Bush and First Lady Barbara ring the Salvation Army bell

Today, nearly 2,000 years later, the shining promise of that first Christmas continues to give our lives a sense of peace and purpose. Our words and deeds, when guided by the example of Christ’s life, can help others share in the joy of man’s Redemption. During Christmas, we may symbolize this spirit of giving through the exchange of presents, but it is daily acts of goodness and generosity — performed time and time again throughout the year — that hold the true meaning of this holy season. Every kind and selfless deed we perform for others can rekindle in our hearts and in our communities the light of that first Christmas.

As we gather with family and friends this season, let us recall what our Savior’s life means to the world. Let us also rededicate ourselves to sharing the love that gives greater meaning and joy to Christmas and to every moment of life.

Merry Christmas, and God bless you.~President George HW Bush

President William J. Clinton and First Lady Hillary 1993-2001

Over her eight White House holiday seasons, First Lady Hillary Clinton showcased the talents of America’s artistic communities. Her 1993 “angels” theme coincided with “The Year of American Craft,” and the Blue Room tree was decked in 7,000 fiber, ceramic, glass, metal and wood angel ornaments. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” tree in 1994 displayed decorations by American art students. The 1995 “A Visit From St. Nicholas” tree featured pieces by architecture students and members of the American Institute of Architects. Stockings by the American Needlepoint Guild and the Embroiderers Guild of America also hung from its boughs. In 1996, woodcraft artisans and professional ballet companies helped bring “The Nutcracker” tree theme to life.

Clinton Family Portrait

First Lady Hillary Clinton poses with the gingerbread house in 1994

The Clintons in 1999

Going shopping at the malls, walking around and watching people always was a big part of Christmas for Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea-but one tradition not easily carried out as a First Family of the Land. Though the Clintons were all “pretty crazy … about celebrating Christmas,” according to the First Lady, the new President’s ambitious agenda for the country absorbed most of their attention. When informed that plans for the official Christmas card needed to be fully under way by May, the First Lady responded, “Being the type who’s relieved if my tree is up and decorated by Christmas Eve, I was shocked to hear this.”

The Clintons' 1995 Christmas Card

Simultaneously, the Clintons commissioned contemporary figurative artist Thomas McKnight to do the art for the second year’s card. He showed up at the White House during Christmas 1993 and took lots of photographs. His unique style was to adorn the next three official Presidential cards in his renderings of the Red Room, Blue Room and Green Room. Artist Kay Jackson pleased the Clintons with her rendition of the White House at night for the 1997 Christmas card.

First Lady Hillary Clinton with the White House with the traditional gingerbread house in 1997

The 1993 White House gingerbread house was dubbed the “House of Socks,” in honor of the Clintons’ cat. Pastry chef Roland Mesnier outfitted the gingerbread house with 21 marzipan figures of Socks in various poses, including the cat hauling Santa’s sleigh, ice-skating, playing a “Soxaphone,” and posing as a Secret Service agent.

Clinton Grand Foyer Tree

Also in the Grand Foyer, you will see the needlepoint “kissing ball” made by master needlepoint artist, Hyla Hurley of Washington, D.C. It is a miniature version of the tapestry which hangs in the First Family residence, and depicts the road to the White House, from the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock, via Monticello and a place called Hope.

Message on the Observance of Christmas 1996

President Clinton and First Lady Hillary at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony

Warm greetings to everyone celebrating Christmas.

Each year during this blessed season, the world pauses to look back across the centuries to the birth of a Child. This Child was born to poor but loving parents in the small town of Bethlehem—born into a world where few noticed His coming, except for some simple shepherds and a few wise men. He was the Son of God and the King of Kings, but He chose to come among us as servant and Savior.

Though two thousand years have passed since Jesus first walked the earth, much remains the same. Today’s world is still caught up in the challenges and cares of everyday existence, and too often we crowd God into the background of our experience. Too often we still ignore His loving presence in our lives and the precious gifts of peace and hope that He so freely offers to us all. And today, as on that first Christmas morning, He still reveals himself to the loving, the wise, and the simple of heart.

The Roanoke College Children's Choir performed at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony

As we gather with family and friends again this year to celebrate Christmas, let us welcome God wholeheartedly into our daily lives. Let us learn to recognize Him not only in the faces of our loved ones, but also in the faces of those who, like Jesus, are familiar with poverty, hardship, and rejection. And let us be inspired by His example to serve one another with generous hearts and open hands. In this way we will approach the dawn of a new century and a new millennium confident in God’s abundant grace and strengthened by His timeless promise of salvation.

Hillary joins me in praying that the peace and joy of this holiday season will remain with you throughout the coming year. Merry Christmas, and God bless you.~President William J. Clinton

Aaliyah Singing What Child Is This for the Clinton’s at Christmas in Washington 1998

President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura 2001-2008

Message on the Observance of Christmas 2001
Christmas is a time of wonder and joy, of generosity and peace, that brings family and friends together in celebration and song. We sing old hymns and familiar carols, we show love for others in the giving of gifts, and we observe the hallowed traditions that make the season special. This year in the midst of extraordinary times, our Nation has shown the world that though there is great evil, there is a greater good. Americans have given of themselves, sacrificing to help others and showing the spirit of love and sharing that is so much a part of the Christmas season.

President Bush and the First Lady In front of the White House Christmas Tree December 2007

According to the Gospel of Luke, two thousand years ago, the savior of mankind came into the world. Christians believe that Jesus’ birth was the incarnation of God on earth, opening the door to new hope and eternal life. At Christmastime, Christians celebrate God’s love revealed to the world through Christ. And the message of Jesus is one that all Americans can embrace this holiday season–to love one another.

This Christmas we remember those who are without their loved ones. They continue to be in our hearts and prayers. May they experience peace, and may they find hope. And as we again celebrate Christ’s birth, may the glorious light of God’s goodness and love shine forth from our land.

Laura joins me in wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God’s blessings of peace be upon us and upon the world.~George W. Bush

First Lady Laura Bush introduces Christmas card artist T. Allen Lawson and his work during a media preview in 2008.

For 2002, Mrs. Bush adopted the theme of “All Creatures Great and Small.” As an animal lover, she wanted to highlight the history and importance of pets in the White House. Perched on the boughs of the official tree are finely crafted representatives of America’s favorite birds. The tree stands in the oval Blue Room, an elegant space most often honored as the official center of holiday splendor in the White House.

The White House was closed to visitors for George and Mrs. Bush’s first Christmas in the Executive Mansion. Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. changed the way many things were done in post 9/11 America.

In the Nov. 29, 2007, file photo above, an ornament honoring the Flight 93 National Monument hangs on the White House Christmas Tree during in the Blue Room at the White House during the presidency of George W. Bush.

Official 2001 Christmas Card

Adrian Martinez, an artist from Downingtown, PA, was chosen to paint the interior scene that graced the Bush’s first official card. The story of his youth and how he was selected makes for interesting reading in “Season’s Greetings from the White House.” The card featured the Second Floor Corridor of the White House with Mary Cassatt’s 1908 painting, Young Mother and Two Children. Mrs. Bush selected the Psalm for the card on September 16. At Camp David, the chaplain based his sermon on the Psalm, which was outlined in the lectionary for that September Sunday.

First Lady Laura Bush, with Barney and Miss Beazley, in the 2008 Barney Cam video.

What started out in 1953 with President Eisenhower sending out 1000 White House Christmas cards, by the 21st century, had turned into a behemoth. In 2008, President Bush and the First Lady Laura sent 2.25 million cards to friends and associates.

President Bush Attends Lighting of the National Christmas Tree 2006

Bush White House Christmas Party in 2008

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush welcomed the children of servicemen to the White House for a Christmas party.

A Very Barney Christmas in 2008

First Lady Laura Bush Discusses White House Christmas Decorations in 2008

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle 2009-

President Barack H. Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African-American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii. Obama previously served as the junior United States Senator from Illinois from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008.

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he ran for United States Senate in 2004. During the campaign, several events brought him to national attention, such as his victory in the March 2004 Democratic primary election for the United States Senator from Illinois as well as his prime-time televised keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004.

Obama began his run for the presidency in February 2007. After a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Clinton, he won his party’s nomination. In the 2008 general election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Obama is the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Please CLICK the symbol below to check out how the Obama’s are celebrating their first Christmas in the White House!

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Enter a word from a Christmas song, like “drummer” and sing along

Each year, 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States, and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.

In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today’s Mardi Gras parties.


From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings.


Christmas wasn’t a holiday in early America—in fact Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the country’s first Christmas under the new constitution.


Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828.

The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith’s 1607 Jamestown settlement.



The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s.



Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.


Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was the product of Robert L. May’s imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.


Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.

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My name is Santa Claus. I’m a private eye.
Cold rain beat against the window of my office and made me glad for once that I wear all that fur.
December used to mean that I was gearing up for the big night. The gifts. The ho ho ho. These days it means sitting in my office waiting for no cases to come knocking on my door. Instead of Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen I have a bottle of scotch, a .38 revolver, and too many memories.
“Mr. Claus?”
I must have nodded off for a second, because when I opened my eyes she was there. She folded a frilly pink umbrella, which dripped water on the bare wooden floor. She was a high class dame, dressed in a frilly pink dress that matched her shoes, the umbrella, and my bloodshot eyes.
I took my feet off my desk and tried to look presentable. The bits of rotting sushi in my beard (I have all my food delivered from Gino’s Chinese n’ Chili Roundup on the first floor) probably didn’t help, but there was no time for a shower when a lady needed my help.
“What can I do for you?” I asked.
She smiled a smile so pure and angelic that I wanted to ravage her right on the spot.
“I want you to find my donkey.”
Donkeys. Why was it always donkeys?
“Is that your game?” I asked. “You came in here to make fun of me?”
“Not at all, Mr. Claus,” her pouty lips said.
` “Get out of here, sister,” I said. “Everyone knows about the donkey disaster of ‘07.”
I still couldn’t believe that I used donkeys to fill in for sick reindeer. It was the end of my career as a Christmas icon. Children on the street still yell “Hee-Haw!” when they see me.
“That’s why you’re the only one who can help me,” she said. “My name is Valerie, but you probably know me as Mrs. Gordon Fontescue.”
“Mrs. Gordon Fontescue who is always in the society pages?” I asked. “Married to the richest member of the richest family in town? Mother of Suzie and Rodney Fontescue, ages 8 and 13? Subject of scandalous rumors that you have a lover named Dumont Norgood the third?”
“That’s right.”
“Never heard of you.”
“I can tell when you’re lying, Mr. Claus. Your cheeks are like roses and your nose is like a cherry.”
“That’s the scotch,” I said. I lifted the bottle and took a swig. “Now I think I told you to get the hell out of here.”
“But you must help me,” Mrs. Gordon Fontescue said, her eyes quivering. “You see, my husband is trying to kill me.”
What does that have to do with a donkey?”
“I trained my pet donkey, Mortimer, to do tricks,” she said.
“What, like sit, beg, and play dead?”
“Yes, and recite the complete text of my pre-nuptial agreement with my husband.”
“That’s some donkey.”
“He’s part parrot on his mother’s side. And he’s missing.”
“I’m missing too.”
“You are?”
“I’m missing the point.”
“My husband is denying that we ever had a pre-nup. He has destroyed all the copies. If Mortimer can be found he can go to my lawyer’s office and recite it.”
I took off my red hat with the little white ball on it and wiped my chin. I was beginning to re-think the red and white fur motif. The ensemble was designed by a guy named Rod Mookmook. Maybe I should stop taking fashion advice from a gay eskimo.
“Pre-nups usually limit what a divorced wife gets. Why do you want to prove it exists?”
Valerie sat on my desk and leaned so close that I thought mommy was going to kiss Santa Claus.
No such luck. She said, “The pre-nup just says that I get the same amount as I would if there was no pre-nup.”
I stood up. “My fee is a thousand a day plus expenses. I need a five day retainer to start.”
Without hesitation, Valerie took five grand out of a little pink clutch purse and tossed it on my desk.
“Please let me know the moment you find Mortimer,” she said. She opened her umbrella and walked out the door, her perfume lingering and giving me thoughts that a character beloved to children all over the world should not have.
As soon as she was gone I picked up my phone and called a cab. I would find Mortimer the donkey if I had to search every inch of the beach at the Bermuda Hilton.
I stepped out in the rain and let the silent night wash over me. After I blew the five grand I would need a new start. Maybe I would call my friend in British Intelligence and ask for a job.
I always did like my egg nog shaken, not stirred. Call me Nick. Saint Nick.

Merry Christmas

The First Noël Performed by Allison Crowe

“The First Nowell” (sometimes The First Noel or just Noel) is a traditional English Christmas carol, most likely from the 18th century. In its current form it is of Cornish origin, and it was first published in Some Ancient Christmas Carols (1823) and Gilbert and Sandys Christmas Carols (1833), edited by William B. Sandys and arranged, edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a variation on that phrase. All three phrases end on the third of the scale. The refrain, also unusually, merely repeats the melody of the verse. It is thought to be a corruption of an earlier melody sung in a church gallery setting; a conjectural reconstruction of the earlier version can be found in the New Oxford Book of Carols .

The word Nowell comes from the French word Noël meaning “Christmas“, from the Latin word natalis (“birth“). It may also be from the Gaulish words “noio” or “neu” meaning “new” and “helle” meaning “light” referring to the winter solstice when sunlight begins overtaking darkness.

Lyrics

The first Noel the angel did say
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Refrain:
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel.

Then entered in those Wise Men three,
full reverently upon the knee,
and offered there, in his presence,
gold and myrrh and frankincense.

THE TRUE STORY OF SANTI CLAUS
(Originally read for the Cowboy Poet’s Contest, National Western Stock Show, 1996)

I was listenin’ to Baxter Black,
On NPR the other day.
I love his poems and stories,
And what he had to say.

Now he tends to talk about,
People, animals and the west.
But there was one thing that really bugs me,
The one that I put to the test.

You see, I was listenin’ to the radio
Tryin’ to understand the cowboy poet’s drawl
To learn the diphthongs and perimeters
‘Specially how to say ‘Y’ll.’

Then Baxter told a story,
How the angel got on top of the tree.
But, Baxter, you never told us,
How Santi Claus came to be.

So I done some research,
And low and behold,
The true story of Santi Claus,
Now can be told.

It all started in the winter,
Of Eighteen hundred ought three,
At a little toy store in Brooklyn,
Down on 33rd and Sullivan Street.

It was a wonderful store,
With confections, games and toys,
Where the white haired owner would ask,
“Have you been good little girls and boys?”

Then it happened,
On that snowy December night
When the owner, Sammy
Was awaken with a fright.

Sleeping in comfort,
Red night cap and PJ’s,
When neighbors were heard screaming,
“Sammy, your place is ablaze!”

Now Sammy had no horses,
And it was years before the SkiDoo.
But he had eight reindeer he was watching,
Special for the Central Park Zoo.

He pulled on his black boots,
Then hitched the team to his sleigh,
And with a cry of “Sugar Plum Fairies,”
Ol’ Sammy was on his way.

“Hoo Ha Hoo Ha”
Was the call through the night,
As his store in flames,
Soon came in sight.

By now the crowd had gathered,
All a round the place.
Sammy’s rosy cheeks sparkled,
As the fire’s light hit his face.

As he arrived at the store,
The front was completely aflame,
But the back barn was still safe.
And filled with toys and games.

He grabbed a ladder,
Climbed to the second floor,
And started throwing game and toys,
Out the double hay door.

They were snatch up by children,
Under Sammy’s watchful eye.
He was saving his products,
But was kissing profit good-bye.

He put the candy in stockings,
And then in to a burlap sack,
As he turned to leave,
He threw the bag on his back.

He looked around the shop,
As the clock struck twelve,
Just to make sure nothing else,
Was still sittin’ on the shelves.

He climbed from his perch,
And back to the ground,
Only to be amazed at,
The support he had found.

The children brought him cookies,
Hot chocolate and cider.
Someone brought him a towel,
To remove the soot from the fire.

As he sat in the snow,
A tear came to his eyes,
As the fire was extinguished,
Its light dimmed in the sky.

His friends gathered around,
To ease the trauma from the sight.
The sheriff was heard to say,
“Next year will be better, Sammy Klaus…
And to all, a Good Night.”