Our Annual 2024 White House Heritage Collection™ Ornament features the White House Library. This exclusive ornament, finished with 24k gold, is sold nowhere else. The ornament makes a great collector's item, is beautiful hanging from your Christmas tree, and would be a wonderful gift for family and friends.
Details
- Materials: Brass with 24 karat gold finish
- Size: 3 1/4" x 2 3/4 x 1/4"
- Included: Ornament, history card
- Package: Beautiful, custom box
- Origin: Made in America
- Exclusivity: These Heritage Collection ornaments are designed with care by our team and led by our expert historian, and are not sold anywhere else
More about the design
This ornament is even more beautiful in your hands and on your tree than it is in the pictures. The beautiful table and Christmas tree are physically mounted above the rest of the ornament, casting real shadows. The red banner at the bottom of the ornament is surfaced above the beautiful gold frame. Incredible attention was paid to details in the design.
More about the library
The White House Library is a room 27 feet by 23 feet located on the ground floor of the White House. It contains over 2700 books that represent classic works in American history, philosophy, politics, and culture. These books are available to the President, his family, and staff.
John Adams, the first president to live in the White House, used the future library for laundry and storage for tubs, buckets and other miscellaneous items. When Millard Fillmore moved into the Mansion in 1850, his cultured and well-read wife encouraged him to request from Congress a permanent collection of books for the family’s Yellow Oval Room. Mahogany bookcases, desks and a sideboard were built by Washington cabinetmaker, William McLean Cripps. These were installed in the library, that remained on the second floor until the sitting room was needed for other purposes.
In 1929, the Hoover administration moved the library to a corridor in the basement. Some presidents were in the habit of taking their personal collection of books with them at the end of their administration, thus there were few books remaining at the time of the relocation.
Franklin Roosevelt loved to read and was determined to reestablish a library in the White House. With the help of architect, Lorenzo Winslow, a room was designated as the library in the northeast corner of the White House on the ground floor east of the stairs to the state floor. Theodore Roosevelt had used this room as a men’s lounge, with adjoining toilet facilities. When the lounge was no longer needed for this purpose, the men’s room was used for storage and the bathroom was used by servants. The large square chamber was found “in somewhat deplorable conditions”, but President Franklin Roosevelt was determined to have his library. Carpenters in the White House used Winslow’s drawings to build cabinets and a fireplace with a mantel. The American Booksellers Association donated books and continued to do so for subsequent administrations.
You can read more in the included brochure!