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Presidential

Christmas

Cards

by Bill Thornbrook
Figure 1

ne December day it appears in the mailbox with other holiday greetings. Something sets this
envelope apart, says it’s special. The return address catches the eye. Yes, just three words imprinted
Oon a single line – THE WHITE HOUSE. Your Christmas card from the President has arrived!
Today’s Presidential holiday cards evolved during the mid-20th century from modest beginnings. Mary
Evans Seeley, author of Season’s Greetings from the White House (fifth edition, 2005), traces the tradition to
1927. That year Calvin Coolidge penned a brief Christmas message to the American people on a sheet of
White House stationery that was reproduced in newspapers across the nation.
Through the 1930s and 1940s, the Hoovers and Roosevelts placed orders for a few
hundred “official” Christmas cards. Embellished with small black-and-white
photographs and engraved good wishes, the greetings accompanied modest holiday
gifts for White House employees.
Certain years might bring the mansion staff an inscribed photograph or an ornate
Presidential “proclamation” celebrating the season. In 1950, for instance, the
Government Printing Office prepared 1,000 colorful 9x12-inch broadsides on
textured paper bearing the President’s message with facsimile signatures of Harry and
Bess Truman (Fig. 1).
Becoming President in 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower expanded the official
Christmas card list to include not only White House personnel but also his Cabinet,
Congress, other high-ranking officials, and
Figure 2
foreign heads of state. Hallmark designed the
cards with a simple “Seasons Greetings” and a
date beneath the Presidential Seal.
First-term Senator John F. Kennedy’s holiday card pictured his
photogenic family in 1959, a year before his election as President
(Fig. 2). In the White House, the Kennedys initially continued Ike’s
practice of posting about 800 understated “Seasons Greetings.” But the
young President soon departed from this staid
format. His 1962 card showcased a charming
snapshot of the mansion’s South Lawn on a
wintry day as Jackie rode with one of their
children in a sleigh pulled by daughter
Caroline’s pony, Macaroni.
An elaborate creche display in the East
Room graced the Kennedys’ 1963 Presidential
Christmas card, the first to feature an overtly
religious image. A portion of the Hallmark
order arrived at the White House in mid- Figure 4
November 1963, just days before the President and First Lady went to Dallas. Prior
to their departure, the Kennedys hand-signed only about 30 of the 750 cards left
blank for that purpose. Those cards, together with an additional 1,600 with
pre-printed signatures, were never sent. Instead, they went into storage after the President’s assassination.
A few have re-surfaced since the mid-1980s (Fig. 3).
The tragedy unexpectedly thrust Lyndon B. Johnson into the Oval Office a little more than a month
before Christmas. The new President opted to send top government officials and foreign dignitaries a
Figure 3 reserved white card with a raised eagle seal and a thin red border as his official 1963 greeting. Prepared by
Hallmark on short notice, the cards’ interiors conveyed alternate versions of a basic holiday greeting from
the President and Mrs. Johnson.
26 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles