White House display & Made in RI 2020 White House Christmas ornament

December 3, 2020/RINewsToday

ChemArt, a Lincoln, Rhode Island company, has commemorated Christmas 365 days a year. From December 26^th on, it’s all Christmas ornaments for the next year.

What some may not know is that since the 1980s, ChemArt has also produced all the commemorative ornaments for the White House.

Each one has something unique to do with a president. This year the ornament honors President Eisenhower and his commitment to innovation.

The ornament can be seen – as well as a few others – in the annual video showing the beautiful decorations at The White House, hosted by First Lady Melania Trump.

If you visit the White House gift shop during a trip to Washington DC, you’ll have the opportunity to purchase one, but you can also purchase them through ChemArt’s catalog.

The White House Historical Association

Since 1981, The White House Historical Association has proudly created the Official White House Christmas Ornament to bring the history of the White House into millions of homes across the country and support our mission. As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, we understand the importance of carefully selecting the brands and products you affiliate with your group. By choosing the Official White House Ornament for your organization’s fundraising efforts, you are supporting the mission of the White House Historical Association to protect, preserve, and provide public access to the rich history of America’s Executive Mansion.

American made by a veteran-founded business in Rhode Island, we hope that the patriotic and historic focus of each year’s ornament design brings excitement and energy to your fundraising efforts. This page is designed to provide complimentary promotional resources to you in support of your campaign and a way to purchase the ornaments directly at the bottom of the page. We will be adding additional materials over time.

Here is the link to view all the ornaments over the years, and how to order: https://shop.whitehousehistory.org/holidays/ornaments

The 2020 White House John F. Kennedy Ornament

The White House Historical Association’s Official 2020 White House Christmas Ornament honors John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States. The youngest president since Theodore Roosevelt, Kennedy took office in January 1961, at age 43. Before his vibrant presidency was cut short by an assassin’s bullet on November 22, 1963, he had invigorated the American spirit. His legacy lives on in his youthful belief in America and his faith in America’s responsibilities to the world.

With this ornament we remember President Kennedy through his posthumous official White House portrait, made in 1970 by Aaron Shikler, the artist selected by the president’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy. The portrait, symbolic of his unfinished presidency, hangs in the White House today. Shikler recalled that Mrs. Kennedy did not want the portrait to look the way other artists had portrayed him. “I painted him with his head bowed, not because I think of him as a martyr,” Shikler said, “but because I wanted to show him as a president who was a thinker… All presidential portraits have eyes that look right at you. I wanted to do something with more meaning. I hoped to show a courage that made him humble.”

The reverse of the ornament features the dates of President Kennedy’s brief term, 1961-1963, on either side of an engraving of the White House. The White House as it is today is another Kennedy legacy. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy restored the furnishings and decor of the State Rooms to the era of the early presidents and invited the public to view them in a television special. “The White House belongs to the American people,” she said. The White House Historical Association, which Mrs. Kennedy founded in 1961 continues today to fulfill the mission she envisioned: “to enhance understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the historic White House.” The Association remains a lasting legacy of a presidential term unfinished.