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I've been writing about the official White House Christmas card here at History Is Elementary and American Presidents Blog since 2006 .  I love to look back at past administrations to see what design was chosen. Unfortunately, over the last few years the card seems to cause some type of controversy...either it causes the politically correct leaning folks to be appalled because a Bible verse is on a card that happens to be recognizing a holiday  which happens to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ OR the card happens to be too secular for the taste of Christians who get their feathers ruffled because there aren't enough details on the card to determine it is in fact a Christmas card. Well, this year is no different. Head on over to American Presidents Blog for the whole story and to get a glimpse of this year's official card.

The White House theme this year for Christmas decorations is “Simple Gifts”…. emphasizing what Mrs. Obama says are the simple things at Christmas time, such as music, children, friends, and family, and gifts made from nature. However, the Obama’s dog, Bo, has his stamp all over Christmas at the White House this year. A larger-than-life version of the Obama family pet, made of 40,000 twisted black and white pipe cleaners, is one of the first things tourists and other guests will see when they stroll through the White House all decked out for the holidays. Bo also features prominently in a 350-pound, white chocolate-covered gingerbread White House. A tiny version of the family dog made from almond paste sits on the edible grounds near of replica of Mrs. Obama’s fruit and vegetable garden. Bo’s signature….of sorts….is even found on the official White House Christmas card seen below: Notice everyone in the Obama family signed the card including Bo. His little paw print is seen along with e...

I love the premise behind the National Treasure movies where members of the Gates family feel compelled to solve a series of historical clues in order to find a treasure that will ultimately save the family reputation. Unfortunately, there are always a few bad men along the way and some of the clues and found artifacts end up painting the Gates family in a bad light. It must be difficult to have your family ridiculed and doubted because historians don’t believe your ancestor’s role in the American story. Luckily for the fictional Benjamin Gates he finds all the pieces of the historical puzzle and in the end he finds the treasure, saves a few lives, and even gets the girl. Not so for the real-life family of John Honeyman, a spy for Washington and little known hero of the Battle of Trenton during Christmas, 1776. I’m not surprised if you have never heard of John Honeyman because most contemporary historians have relegated his story to the back burner and allowed the pot to simmer a bit ...

The Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock in November, 1620. Can you imagine moving to a “New World”? Can you imagine moving anywhere for that matter right before the rush of the Christmas season? I can’t. Maybe it’s just a woman thing, but I know what would have been on my mind had I been on the Mayflower . I would be thinking.......Here it is nearly the first of December, I have no home, and Christmas is just around the corner. I have shopping to do, the decorations need to be up (hope I remembered where I packed them), and then I have all the cooking to do. How am I going to fit 30 various parties, dinners, and gatherings into four weeks? When are the greeting cards going to get addressed? And.....how does one ship gifts back home from the “New World”? By December, 1620 many of the Pilgrims were sick with scurvy and many more were suffering from wild coughing fits   They hardly felt like celebrating, but the fact of the matter is any Pilgrims well enough spent their ...

As my regular readers know I contribute articles to American Presidents Blog and for that reason I became interested in researching and writing about the yearly White House Christmas card that have been sent out by each president since the 1950s when it became an official practice of each administration. So, last month I once again began my search for the first card of the Obama administration. It’s been difficult to say the least, and I’ve found a little art mystery as well that has really challenged my research abilities. First off….even several days into December the only image I could find was the a picture of the inside of the card showing the sentiment and signatures. I’ve posted it below. Of course, I’m a traditional kind of girl, so in keeping with tradition here at History Is Elementary you will have to follow me over to American Presidents to discover more about this past season’s card and the art mystery I discovered within the White House walls. It truly astounds me tha...

When I was high school there was this girl a couple of years older than me who wore pink every chance she got. We were required to wear school uniforms, but had the choice of adding jewelry and scarves in order to feed the need to be unique and different. I threw my identity out for others to see by using an antique men’s collar bar to pin various handkerchiefs to the lapel of my “required” navy blazer. I alternated between a handkerchief my mother had brought back from a trip to the Caribbean and one that belonged to my great grandmother I had found languishing in a drawer at my grandfather’s. But this acquaintance of mine absolutely adored pink…..she accessorized with all things pink that she could get away with and constantly announced to anyone, much like Shelby Eatenton in the movie Steel Magnolias , that “pink was her signature color.” Unfortunately my friend and even the character of Shelby Eatenton can’t exactly corner the market on credit regarding the signature pink line bec...

Well, I’m waiting….I know they have been placed in the mail but haven’t seen an image of this year’s White House Christmas card…..yet. I know I won’t be getting one from the Obamas, but many people will be finding a card from the White House in their mailbox this week. For the last three years I’ve mentioned the card here at History is Elementary and published an image at American Presidents . While we are waiting for this year’s card to arrive here are some links to past postings regarding the White House Christmas card: 2008…. here and here 2007… here and here 2006… here and here I hope to be able to post the image of the 2009 card in the next few days. Stay tuned!