The first official White House Christmas ornament was simple and elegant: a silver angel with the inscription: “Christmas 1981 The White House.”
First lady Nancy Reagan introduced the tradition of official White House Christmas ornaments, and since then, they have become collector’s items. Each ornament is handmade in Rhode Island, and each piece honors a significant time in the White House or a different U.S. president.
Over the years, the design has become more elaborate, with colors and engravings added to portray detailed scenes from White House history.
The White House Historical Association honors presidents in sequential order on the ornaments to avoid any political connotations.
“It started with Washington and we have now worked our way up to Harry Truman,” Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, told Parade.com in an email back in 2018. “That takes the politics out of it. We don’t focus on the policies, the politics or the popularity of a president—it’s about the period of time in the White House that that president served.”
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Since then, the White House Historical Association Christmas ornaments have gone from honoring Harry Truman to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2019, John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 2020 and Lyndon Baines Johnson in 2021.
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This year’s ornament “represents the cherished White House tradition of displaying a gingerbread house each holiday in the State Dining Room,” according to the White House Historical Association’s website. Official 2022 White House Christmas Ornament, $24.95 on Amazon
Launch the gallery to see how the official White House ornaments have evolved through the years.
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