Most of the White House Christmas traditions we have come to recognize and cherish developed thanks to the innovative creativity of the late first lady Pat Nixon.
In 1969, Nixon said her favorite time of the year is when the White House is “aglow with the magic and spirit of Christmas.” Fifty years later, the magic of Christmas at the White House was felt once again when first lady Melania Trump unveiled the White House Christmas decorations on Monday, Dec. 2.
The holiday season is the most popular time to visit the People’s House, and this one is no different. What many do not realize is how many annual practices and decorations began with Nixon. Her Christmas décor and traditions were an extension of her pride in the White House and her desire to make it more beautiful and accessible for as many as possible.
One beloved tradition that Nixon started was the building and installation of the White House Gingerbread House, traditionally displayed in the State Dining Room on the marble-topped console table with gilded eagle supports that had been ordered by President Teddy Roosevelt. In 1969, a charming and simple ‘A’-framed gingerbread house was created by then-assistant White House chef Hans Raffert. So impressed were reporters with Nixon’s inaugural Christmas decorations, they barely noticed the little gingerbread house. But over time, it has become one of the favorite traditions at the White House. Every year, the gingerbread house changes and grows with different administrations and different executive pastry chefs designing their own culinary confections. This year, Executive White House Pastry Chef Susie Morrison created the masterpiece, which features the White House South Portico and iconic American landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Alamo, and the Statue of Liberty, to just name a few.
Another beloved tradition that continues today is the hanging of wreaths in the White House windows. Nixon started this tradition by hanging boxwood wreaths and candles in all 16 windows that face Pennsylvania Avenue 50 years ago this Christmas. The lighted wreaths had been a Nixon family tradition. Today, they live on as one of Trump’s most elegant White House decorations that has been brought back to life, as Christmas wreaths are displayed in each window of the White House. (In 2017, Trump had a record-breaking 71 wreaths installed!)
Nixon also began the tradition of hanging ornaments representing every state in the republic onto the official White House tree. This is a custom so many visitors look forward to seeing, searching around for their state’s ornament as they tour the Blue Room. The first lady brought in Henry Callahan, executive display director at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, to help design the tree. Both he and Saks Fifth Avenue donated their time and the necessary supplies to handcraft the 100 eight-inch, pastel-colored velvet and satin balls, which were created by disabled workers in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Each ball was embossed with the name and state flower of one of the fifty states and embellished with pearls and representative gemstones. These are some of the very few ornaments that have remained at the White House and were placed on the official tree nearly every year through the Clinton administration.
Nixon also began the special candlelit evening White House tours. As first lady, she was dedicated to opening the White House to more people than ever before. She installed wheelchair ramps for the handicapped, initiated special tours for the blind and hearing impaired, and had pamphlets made in foreign languages. During the holiday season, she realized many of those working in Washington were not able to see the decorations on the early morning public tours, so Nixon and her husband announced special evening tours for the public. These self-guided evening tours, with the “President’s Own” playing in the foyer with the lights dimmed to mimic the soft glow of candles, were enormously popular, and another tradition was born.
In 1970, Nixon told a reporter, “I suppose of all the places we’ve spent Christmas, the White House must be our favorite. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. To be here in this historical house with memories of all the other families who’ve been here means so much — and to realize that we, in our way, are making a moment of history, too.”
Time magazine obviously agreed, writing at the time of the Nixons’s love of Christmas at the White House, saying, “Few presidential couples . . . have gone at the Christmastime merrymaking with quite the gusto of Richard and Pat Nixon. Nobody in Washington can remember a more festive White House Christmas.”
This Christmas, we can all give thanks to Pat Nixon’s lasting impact on the White House, which began 50 years ago.
Jennifer Boswell Pickens is a White House East Wing historian with expertise in White House traditions, social events, and first ladies. She is a public speaker and author of three books, Christmas at the White House, Pets at the White House, and her latest book, Entertaining at the White House. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
