White House Offers Ornaments of History

WASHINGTON — The House speaker’s wife bought 101 of them. President Clinton gives them away. With friends in such high places, the White House Historical Assn.’s annual Christmas ornament may be the hottest holiday item in town.

“They not only make great gifts for family and friends, they also enhance my collection,” said Marianne Gingrich, wife of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). She started adding White House ornaments to her collection in the 1980s.

She is not the only Washingtonian with a passion for the ornaments.

“It’s just like receiving a Christmas card from the president,” said Bill Codus, who served as assistant chief of protocol for visits under Presidents Nixon and Ford. “They are a collector’s item and they are beautiful.”

Codus, who now runs a consulting group, has been collecting the ornaments and giving them away as gifts since the historical association offered its first one in 1981.

“People want them, and they want them all,” the association’s Michael Melton said as he stood in a conference room piled high with boxes of this year’s ornaments waiting to be shipped or picked up.

The first family gets a generous supply to give away, and two ornaments usually hang on the Christmas tree in the White House Blue Room. Clinton gave last year’s ornament, a replica of a presidential seal designed by President Millard Fillmore, to Bob Dole, his opponent in the presidential race.

Codus sends ornaments each year to most of his clients, including Jehan Sadat, widow of slain Egyptian Prime Minister Anwar Sadat, and he always buys some for his own family’s tree.

There are 17 ornaments so far; 14 of them commemorate the administrations of the first 14 presidents, from George Washington in 1982 to Franklin Pierce this year. The first ornament is a replica of an 1840 weather vane made for the Universalist Church in Newburyport, Mass.

The 1989 ornament honors the 200th anniversary of the presidency with a replica of the official seal of the president. The 1992 ornament marks the 200th anniversary of the start of construction on the White House. One side of that ornament shows the text of the mansion’s cornerstone. The other is a full color reproduction of an 1848 lithograph of the White House’s north front.

This year’s ornament sells for $14. All of the ornaments are still available, although the first eight are sold only in sets of four.

The ornaments reflect each president’s administration and their connection to the White House, Melton said.

For example, Martin Van Buren created the Blue Room out of the oval parlor and his 1990 ornament is a view of the room during his administration.

The ornament honoring William Henry Harrison’s short term in office shows him in full military dress seated on a white horse. Harrison died 32 days after taking the oath of office.

James Madison’s wife, Dolley, is depicted along with her husband on the 1985 ornament.

The ornaments also are educational. Each piece comes with a pamphlet on the presidential administration they commemorate. The pamphlets even list a bibliography of suggested reading.

This year’s offering honors Pierce, who had a greenhouse built on the executive mansion’s South Lawn during the 1850s. The ornament is a color illustration, circa 1857, of a view from the South Lawn showing the greenhouse. The association expects to sell more than 400,000 of them, Melton said.

Proceeds from the sale are used to buy historical furnishings and art work for the White House’s permanent collection and to maintain the mansion’s historical rooms.

Ornaments may be ordered by calling 800-555-2451 between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.