VP Thomas R Marshall cheered by Senate pages after inviting them to Christmas dinner
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Holiday Traditions In The White House
Before the twentieth century there was no official event or observance of the Christmas holiday. Instead, First families held private celebrations and created modest decorations. The first White House Christmas tree came to the White House in 1889, at the request of President Benjamin Harrison's family.
Grover Cleveland and family were the first to enjoy electric lights on their tree, in 1894.
The first tree on the state floor in the Blue Room was decorated with the assistance of President Willian H Taft's children.
Here's a photo of Caroline Kennedy and pal checking out the Kennedy tree in 1962.
President Harding Purchases Christmas Seals
Holiday Parties In The White House
Another holiday tradition in the White House is the holiday party. One of the most elaborate Christmas parties was the "Frolic" President Andrew Jackson thre for his children in 1834. In addition to enjoying a wonderful dinner, lucky guests danced, played games and participated in an indoor snowball fight (the snowballs were made of cotton wool).
Not to be outdone, President and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt's Christmas Carnival in 1903 boasted a guest list of 500 children and in addition to dinner, a concert and dancing were ice cream treats shaped like Christmas characters.
Oh, Those Kids!
Roosevelt's most entertaining Christmas story, however, comes courtesy of his two sons, Archie and Quentin, who, dispite their father's staunch conservationist stance, wanted a live Christmas tree. The boys cut a small tree on the White House grounds and secreted it in a closet in the upstairs sewing room. Gifts for President and Mrs Roosevelt were hung on its branches and the staff electrician was enlisted to wire miniature electric lights to a switch near the closet. When the family opened gifts in the room on Christmas morning, Archie swung open the closet door and threw the switch. President Roosevelt took it in stride, but soon afterward took the boys to visit friend and environmental adviser Gifford Pinchot, expecting him to lecture on the negative effects of killing trees for decoration. Instead, Pinchot conceded that cutting some larger trees was in the best interests of forests. Archie and Quentin must have become great admirers of Pinchot's that day!
The National Christmas Tree
Of all holiday traditions in the White House (or outside it, anyway), lighting of the National Christmas Tree is the most recognized.
- In 1923, Calvin Coolidge became the President to hold a ceremony for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree.
- In 1929, First Lady Lou Henry Hoover began the custom of decorating an official White House Christmas tree and all first ladies after her have had the honor of decorating the official tree on the state floor's Blue Room.
- In 1961 First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was the first to add a theme--The Nutcracker Suite--for the tree, another tradition that has been carried forward.
- In 1969, First Lady Patricia Nixon added a charitable element by selecting disabled workers in Florida to create ornaments for her American Flowers themed tree.
- First Lady Hillary Clinton had eight Christmas trees to decorate. Her focus was on artistic communities.
- First Lady Laura Bush created themes “All Creatures Grand and Small" and “A Red, White and Blue Christmas.”
- First Lady Michelle Obama's 2010 theme was “Simple Gifts” and in 2012, "Joy To All."
1902 Washington Post illustration of “Teddy Bear” incident
Love That Story!
Perhaps the best holiday tradition in the White House is the Charming Holiday Story. A really good one will be passed down through the ages, such as the one about Roosevelt's sons' tree. Roosevelt is the source of another story with a holiday connection:
On a hunting trip, Teddy Roosevelt famously refused to shoot a bear cub, inspiring a toy manufacturer to create the Teddy Bear, one of 1902's hot-selling Christmas gifts and still popular today.
Teddy Roosevelt visitng neighbors on Christmas
**Some photos courtesy of The Libarary of Congress
More sources for White House history:
www.whitehousehistory.org
www.whha.org/
http://the44diaries.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/the-history-of-christmas-at-the-white-house-1901-1953/
http://www.american-presidents.org/2007/12/silent-cal-and-white-house-christmas.html
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