Presidential ornaments tell us much about U. S. history
Ornaments a popular tradition for those who love presidential trivia
Nearly 1 million Americans will hang a miniature portrait of a somber and contemplative President John F. Kennedy on their Christmas tree this year.
The replica of the posthumous official portrait of the slain president serves as the official 2020 White House Christmas ornament.
I’ve already hung mine. And I’d say the Kennedy ornament, more than any of its predecessors, highlights the peculiarities of what has become a fond holiday tradition for my family and many others.
The official White House Christmas ornament began in 1981 as a fundraising vehicle for the White House Historical Association.
Every year since, the association has issued a new ornament commemorating a president’s time in office or marking a significant milestone in White House history.
The ornaments have become so popular over those four decades that the most popular ones bring in sales of 800,000 to 900,000 in a good year, said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association.
They go sequentially, which means we’ll see an ornament for Barack Obama in 2029 and Donald Trump in 2030, unless the association chooses to mark some other anniversary in between.
Through the years, the ornaments have grown increasingly sophisticated in terms of artistry, design and materials.
The first one depicted a simple copper weather vane of an angel in flight.
The George Washington ornament, which didn’t come until the second year, was a similarly plain, one- dimensional dove of peace, this time modeled after a weather vane at Mount Vernon, McLaurin said.
Last year’s ornament was a replica of a Sikorsky military helicopter. This was in recognition of Dwight Eisenhower, the first White House occupant to make that a common mode of presidential travel.
Some ornaments invoke patriotic
imagery. Others are more whimsical. Many are beautiful. All of them draw on presidential history.
As the ornaments move into what I would consider the modern era, meaning presidents most people actually remember, it gets trickier for the historical association.
After all, nobody is going to have much of a personal reaction to an ornament for Millard Fillmore. But it can be a little awkward to display for Christmas the likeness of a president you once saw assassinated or to honor some other president you couldn’t stand.
Most of the ornaments don’t use the likeness of the president at all — with the exception of the Abraham Lincoln ornament, based on his official White House portrait.
The folks who design the ornaments have exhibited a particular interest over the years in presidential forms of transportation. In addition to the helicopter, there was a horse- drawn carriage in 2001 to honor Andrew Johnson, who was said to relax by taking an afternoon ride around the Capitol with his children and grandchildren, who all lived with him in the White House.
This was followed by a sleighride ornament in 2004 for Rutherford B. Hayes, described as a real jingle- bells kind of guy.
There’s an automobile for William Howard Taft’s 2012 ornament. The 355- pound Taft is said to have introduced auto travel to the White House in 1909, probably much to the relief of his horse.
Herbert Hoover’s ornament is a fire truck carrying a Christmas tree, oddly enough commemorating Christmas Eve 1929, when the White House almost burned down while the Hoovers were throwing a party.
It was the worst fire damage inflicted on the
White House since the British torched the place during the War of 1812.
Still, Hoover might have appreciated the irony of the ornament. A year after the fire, he distributed toy fire trucks to children for Christmas.
Warren G. Harding’s ornament is a replica of a steam locomotive that took him out West in 1923 for his “Voyage of Understanding” speaking and sightseeing tour. It then brought back Harding’s casket to Washington after he fell ill during the trip and died in a San Francisco hotel.
Each ornament comes with a small pamphlet that explains it and provides a thumbnail biography of the president and tidbits about his time in the White House.
The notes on Ulysses S. Grant’s ornament mention he once was cited for speeding down Pennsylvania Avenue in his horse- drawn sulky. The historical association says he paid the $ 20 fine on the spot and complimented the police officer, though I keep thinking $ 20 was a lot of money in those days.
Grover Cleveland gets two ornaments as the only president elected to two non- consecutive terms, the feat we’re told Trump hopes to duplicate.
Cleveland also was the first president to get married in the White House — with the wedding of the 49- year- old chief executive and the 21- year- old daughter of his late law partner commemorated by the 2007 ornament. The law partner had died in a carriage accident when the daughter was 12, leaving Cleveland as her unofficial guardian.
The stuff you learn from Christmas ornaments!
Cleveland’s second ornament in 2009 depicts the first Christmas tree in the White House illuminated by electric lights. Which should not be confused with Calvin Coolidge’s 2015 ornament of the National Christmas Tree. It comes with an LED bulb that actually lights up ( when it works).
McLaurin said ornaments that have an image of the White House or a Christmas tree tend to be the best- sellers.
A good buddy of mine from Washington began giving us White House ornaments in 1988, and we always look forward to receiving the new one.
McLaurin said he learned the hard way something I already knew from my friend: “Once you start giving them as a gift, you can’t stop.”
That’s because the recipients come to expect it and are disappointed if the new one doesn’t arrive each year.
Politics and Christmas can be an awkward mix — separation of church and state and all that — but the historical association tries to keep everything nonpartisan and noncontroversial.
“Our job is the same whoever is in the White House,” McLaurin said. “We don’t involve the White House in the decision- making process.”
Lyndon Johnson’s ornament will debut in February on Presidents Day. No hints from McLaurin about the theme.
We all have our own Christmas traditions. I just wanted to share one of mine.