45th White House Christmas ornament recalls Reagan state dinners

The annual White House Christmas ornament marks its 45th edition with a nostalgic look back at state dinners during the Reagan era.

The 2025 ornament facade features the gold- and scarlet-rimmed Lenox china that President Reagan commissioned to host a record-high 59 diplomatic fetes from 1981 to 1989. It is trimmed with holly, berries and snowflakes and includes a golden image of the White House.

First lady Nancy Reagan proposed the first Christmas ornament in 1981 as a fundraiser for the nonprofit White House Historical Association, which oversees the Executive Mansion’s historical programs.

“It began with Mrs. Reagan when staff came into her office with the idea of an annual Christmas ornament that would raise money for the White House Historical Association,” said Stewart McLaurin, the association’s president. “It’s still an important part of our finances, but we also look at it as an educational tool, as each one features a booklet by a historian.”

The reverse side features the blue-rimmed bicentennial china that the Clinton administration commissioned in 2000. This year’s ornament is on sale for $24.95.

Mr. McLaurin said a team of historians, marketers and board members picks each year’s theme and design independently of the White House. They evaluate roughly 10 designs from a veteran-owned U.S. company that makes each bauble by hand in a Rhode Island workshop. His office delivers the first completed ornament and a gift note to the first lady’s office each year.

“The ornaments are never about the current presidency but some key moment in White House history,” Mr. McLaurin said.

The association chose this year’s design before President Trump announced construction on a larger White House ballroom for the dinners, making it a coincidence. It honors the first 150 years of state dinners, dating back to President Grant’s welcome of the king of Hawaii at the inaugural event in December 1874.

A video that the White House released on Dec. 1 shows first lady Melania Trump silently hanging this year’s ornament on a tree as she showcases the Executive Mansion’s holiday decorations.

The ornament appears on two Christmas trees flanking the mantle in the White House state dining room.

Made in America

First lady Jacqueline Kennedy founded the White House Historical Association in 1961 to maintain the mansion’s state rooms. It has since expanded to operate a free, interactive People’s House museum that opened near the executive grounds last year.

The association initially raised funds through private donations and the sale of historical books.

The ornament’s popularity gradually led officials to sell White House-themed jewelry, neckties, coasters and other gifts featuring past administrations.

The inaugural White House ornament, introduced in 1981, depicted a golden, winged angel blowing a horn in flight.

The association reported selling more than 20 million Christmas ornaments, generating millions of dollars for historical preservation.

Mr. McLaurin said his group raises $15 million a year from private donations and commemorative gift sales, with roughly half that total coming from ornaments.

ChemArt, which has produced every White House Christmas ornament since 1981, said each one takes roughly 40 hours to create using a patented 17-step ultraviolet light process.

The brass base typically features nickel and silkscreen printing with a 24-carat gold finish. Workers hand-package them into boxes.

“You see a clear progression of more intricacy, color and sophistication as technology improves,” said Hamilton Davison, ChemArt’s CEO.

He said this year’s design “came together pretty quickly” after historians chose the theme of state dinners, which presidents traditionally host to promote their foreign policy goals.

Historical graciousness

Reagan’s guest list included British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He also hosted the first-ever state dinner for a Chinese president, Li Xiannian, in 1985.

“Reagan was an obvious choice because he was so gracious and hosted so many dinners that had a great impact,” Mr. Davison said. “The china made perfect sense because it’s the common element.”

ChemArt’s workshop in the town of Lincoln, a short drive northwest of Providence, Rhode Island, has 120 full-time employees and doubles that number with seasonal workers from July to November.

Production of the White House ornament has grown from roughly 1,400 pieces in 1981 to accommodate the reordering of past models, making it ChemArt’s largest single production run.

Mr. Davison said his small company has worked to offset the “enormous increases” of rising labor, packaging and gold costs. That includes upgrading technology and employing robots to automate some tasks in recent years.

“Ornaments are mostly made in China and overseas, so we’re an unusual company with some legacy benefit from Rhode Island’s jewelry manufacturing past,” Mr. Davison said. “Not a lot of people outside of this area know some of the skills we use.”

Popular past ornaments include a 2019 design honoring President Eisenhower as the first president to travel by helicopter and a 2024 nautical theme honoring President Carter’s service in the Navy. The latter ornament appeared before Carter’s death last Dec. 29.

This year, the White House Historical Association partnered with America 250 to release the 2026 ornament early, a historical first.

The 2026 ornament is selling for $26.95. It marks the 250th anniversary of the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence with a gold-framed image of the document. The reverse side features an eagle and crossed flags.

“It’s a beautiful, textured parchment,” Mr. McLaurin said. “We wanted to get it right.”