This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison with the White House Gingerbread House was taken by David Wiegold on November 27, 2023 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden selected "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" as the 2023 holiday theme. The decor was inspired by children and how they embrace and revel in the holiday season. The 2023 White House Gingerbread House, on display in the State Dining Room, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The display featured a sugar cookie replica of the book and Santa’s sleigh soaring over the White House grounds.

This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison with the White House Gingerbread House was taken by David Wiegold on November 27, 2023 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden selected "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" as the 2023 holiday theme. The decor was inspired by children and how they embrace and revel in the holiday season. The 2023 White House Gingerbread House, on display in the State Dining Room, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The display featured a sugar cookie replica of the book and Santa’s sleigh soaring over the White House grounds.

This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison with the White House Gingerbread House was taken by David Wiegold on November 27, 2023 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden selected "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" as the 2023 holiday theme. The decor was inspired by children and how they embrace and revel in the holiday season. The 2023 White House Gingerbread House, on display in the State Dining Room, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The display featured a sugar cookie replica of the book and Santa’s sleigh soaring over the White House grounds.

This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison with the White House Gingerbread House was taken by David Wiegold on November 27, 2023 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden selected "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" as the 2023 holiday theme. The decor was inspired by children and how they embrace and revel in the holiday season. The 2023 White House Gingerbread House, on display in the State Dining Room, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The display featured a sugar cookie replica of the book and Santa’s sleigh soaring over the White House grounds.

This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison with the White House Gingerbread House was taken by David Wiegold on November 27, 2023 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden selected "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" as the 2023 holiday theme. The decor was inspired by children and how they embrace and revel in the holiday season. The 2023 White House Gingerbread House, on display in the State Dining Room, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The display featured a sugar cookie replica of the book and Santa’s sleigh soaring over the White House grounds.

This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison with the White House Gingerbread House was taken by David Wiegold on November 27, 2023 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden selected "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" as the 2023 holiday theme. The decor was inspired by children and how they embrace and revel in the holiday season. The 2023 White House Gingerbread House, on display in the State Dining Room, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The display featured a sugar cookie replica of the book and Santa’s sleigh soaring over the White House grounds.

This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison with the White House Gingerbread House was taken by David Wiegold on November 27, 2023 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden selected "Magic, Wonder, and Joy" as the 2023 holiday theme. The decor was inspired by children and how they embrace and revel in the holiday season. The 2023 White House Gingerbread House, on display in the State Dining Room, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the publication of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. The display featured a sugar cookie replica of the book and Santa’s sleigh soaring over the White House grounds.

This photograph of the table settings for the State Dinner in held honor of Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave of Ireland and his wife, Vera Cosgrave, was taken on March 17, 1976, by Ricardo Thomas. The table settings include the Lyndon B. Johnson State Service, bronze sculptures, and John F. Kennedy glassware. In the background waiters and butlers from the White House staff make preparations.

This photograph of White House Chief Usher Robert B. Downing at the arrival of the 2022 Official White House Christmas tree was taken by Matthew D'Agostino on November 21, 2022 on the North Drive of the White House. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden welcomed the 18.5-foot Concolor Fir from Auburn, Pennsylvania alongside her grandson, Beau Biden, Jr. The tree was presented by Paul and Pam Shealer, the 2022 National Christmas Tree Association's (NCTA) champion growers, and cultivated at the Shealers' Evergreen Acres Tree Farm in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The tree was delivered by horse-drawn carriage and carefully escorted to the Blue Room, where it remained on display for the holiday season. Since 1966, the Christmas tree displayed in the Blue Room has been presented to the White House following a contest run by the National Christmas Tree Association.

In this photograph, Capt. Howard Ker of the United States Army Corp of Engineers accepts the donation of G. P. A. Healy's 1869 portrait of President Abraham Lincoln at the White House on March 22, 1939. Capt. Ker was in charge of the buildings and grounds of the White House at the time. The portrait came into possession of the White House following the death of Mary Harlan Lincoln (wife of President Lincoln's eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln) in 1937 and her daughter, Mary Todd "Mamie" Lincoln Isham, in 1938. According to her will, the portrait of President Lincoln was to be offered to the U.S. government following the death of her daughter as long as it was promised to be placed on display in the White House. To see Healy's portrait of President Lincoln, see asset number 5 in the Digital Library.

This portrait photograph is of White House staff member Jeremiah "Jerry" Smith. Smith started working at the White House during the Ulysses S. Grant administration in the late 1860s, and served as butler, cook, doorman, and footman until his retirement some 35 years later. Shortly before dying at age 69 in 1904, Smith was visited at his home by President Theodore Roosevelt.

In this photograph taken by Warren K. Leffler, First Lady Rosalynn Carter and White House Assistant Executive Chef Hans Raffert view a gingerbread house in the State Dining Room of the White House on December 10, 1979. Chef Raffert created his first German A-frame gingerbread house for the Nixon White House holiday decorations in 1969, where they subsequently became an annual tradition. Even after the A-frame design was no longer used, Raffert's skills were often used to create the Official White House Gingerbread House until his retirement in 1992.

This photograph of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier with the White House gingerbread house was taken in December 1999. Chef Mesnier and his team created gingerbread versions of the White House, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and Mount Vernon. The scene also included the Potomac river winding through the display. The theme chosen for 1999 was "Saving America's Treasures," highlighting Mrs. Clinton's program to help preserve important landmarks and historic artifacts.

This photograph of White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan "Susie" E. Morrison posing by the White House Gingerbread House in the State Dining Room Room was taken by David Wiegold on November 29, 2021 during a press preview of the White House holiday decorations. Constructed by the White House pastry team from baked gingerbread, pastillage, chocolate, and royal icing, the display featured eight community buildings representing the essential workplaces of frontline employees. For their first year in the White House, President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden chose the theme, "Gifts from the Heart." The theme was meant to honor the things we cherish and bring us together despite the obstacles posed by a pandemic, time, and distance.

This photograph of White House Residence staff preparing for a millennium reception in the East Room was taken by William Vasta on December 31, 1999. To mark the final day of the 20th century, President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted a candlelit dinner in the East Room to recognize partner institutions who had supported the Clinton administration's goals of "honoring the past and supporting the future," by leading environmental and community programs over the previous two years. Attendees at the event included representatives from the office of Mayor Anthony Williams and the government of the District of Columbia, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, the National Parks Foundation, and members of Congress.

This photograph of White House Residence staff preparing for a millennium reception in the East Room was taken by William Vasta on December 31, 1999. To mark the final day of the 20th century, President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted a candlelit dinner in the East Room to recognize partner institutions who had supported the Clinton administration's goals of "honoring the past and supporting the future," by leading environmental and community programs over the previous two years. Attendees at the event included representatives from the office of Mayor Anthony Williams and the government of the District of Columbia, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, the National Parks Foundation, and members of Congress.

This list was compiled for First Lady Bess Wallace Truman in 1946, to coordinate Christmas gifts presented to White House staff. It includes the names of White House butlers, kitchen staff, maids, housemen, and doormen. White House employees have long received tokens of appreciation from the president and first lady during the holidays. Gifts for staff members first became commonplace in the late 19th century, and over the proceeding decades included coins, turkeys, and personalized trinkets which varied by administration.

In this photograph, taken by Karl Schumacher on December 10, 1971, White House staff members including social secretary Lucy Winchester (right) examine ornaments for the Blue Room Christmas Tree. The unadorned Christmas tree can be seen in the background. An unidentified woman in the center of the photograph holds a velvet and satin "State Flower" ornament. Following the success of First Lady Pat Nixon's "American Flower" Christmas tree in 1969, similar ornaments were remade for the Blue Room Christmas Tree in 1971, which was also decorated with gold foil angels.

In this photograph, taken by Tina Hager, White House Chief Plumber Gary E. Williams works on a model of Spiegel Grove, the residence of former President Rutherford B. Hayes. For First Lady Laura Welch Bush's "Home for the Holidays" theme, White House residence staff constructed 18 replicas of former president's homes that were displayed throughout the White House and at the White House Visitor's Center. Several of the models are displayed on the shelves in the background of this photograph. Williams served as a plumber at the White House from November 1976 until his retirement in August 2008. Williams applied his artistic talent to many Christmas displays at the White House, including the prince's castle for First Lady Barbara Bush's 1990 "Nutcracker" theme, and Noah's ark in 1991.

In this photograph, taken by Tina Hager in 2001, assistant chief florist Wendy Elsasser carefully examines the cranberry tree in the Red Room. White House florists constructed the tree over the course of four days. Traditionally displayed in the Red Room, cranberry trees have been a feature of the Christmas decorations in the White House since 1975, during the Gerald R. Ford administration.

In this photograph, taken by Tina Hager, White House Chief Floral Designer Nancy Clarke adds the final details to the dress of a caroler doll in the State Dining Room. The dolls were created by Clarke and the White House florists to complement First Lady Laura Welch Bush's "Home for the Holidays" theme in 2001. Clarke served as the White House Chief Floral Designer from 1985 until 2009. She also brought her sense of artistry to many White House holiday decorations, particularly with doll displays. Under her management, the dolls created by the White House florists were dressed as storybook characters and used to decorate the Blue Room Christmas tree in 1989. She also designed the patterns for First Lady Barbara Bush's needlework theme in 1991.

In this photograph, maitre d'hotel John W. Ficklin surprises President Giuseppe Saragat of Italy with a birthday cake during a State Dinner held in his honor on September 19, 1967. The State Dinner was hosted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson on the Italian president's 69th birthday. Prominently displayed on the table is a gilded bronze plateau purchased for the White House during the James Monroe administration. After the dinner in the State Dining Room, guests transitioned to the East Room where they enjoyed selections from the musical "Man of La Mancha" by Richard Kiley, who originated the role of Don Quixote in the Broadway production.

In this photograph, taken by Chuck Kennedy on November 29, 2010, Assistant Pastry Chef Susan E. "Susie" Morrison assembles the official White House gingerbread house in the China Room. Modeled after the White House, the 350-pound creation was made from a foundation of gingerbread with a sculpted white chocolate façade. The elaborate decoration also featured a model of Bo, the Obama family's Portuguese Water Dog. Gingerbread houses have been a beloved annual tradition during the White House holiday celebrations since 1969, when White House Assistant Executive Chef Hans Raffert created a gingerbread house in the German A-Frame style for First Lady Pat Nixon's holiday decorations.

In this photograph, White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier prepares a bûche de Noël or Yule log cake in the White House Kitchen. The traditional holiday cake was a favorite at White House Christmas parties. Here, Chef Mesnier applies a layer of coffee buttercream to give the dessert its distinctive tree bark appearance. Mesnier joined the White House Kitchen in 1979 and retired in 2004.

In this photograph, taken by Shealah Craighead, former White House Executive Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, and the White House pastry team work on the 2006 official White House Gingerbread House in the China Room. Mesnier retired in 2004 but returned at the request of First Lady Laura Welch Bush to create the "Red and White" gingerbread house for the 2006 holiday season, where it was displayed in the State Dining Room. Mesnier and his team decorated the gingerbread White House with more than 850 snowflakes and red bows made from royal icing. Pictured here from left to right: Roland Mesnier, Mark Ramsdell, Marlene Roudebush, and an unknown pastry chef.