Teddy Roosevelt’s Christmas Surprise

President Teddy Roosevelt, his wife Edith, and their six children celebrated their second Christmas morning in the White House. They opened stockings filled with presents. But no presents were tucked underneath a big, sparkling Christmas tree. There were no Christmas trees in the White House, or so the president thought.

The president’s eight-year-old son Archie had other ideas. He brought a small tree into the White House. He decorated it with presents and hid it in a closet. Archie revealed his big surprise on Christmas morning.

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Archie Roosevelt and his pony Algonquin

The president tells the story in a letter to a friend dated December 26, 1902:

“…Yesterday morning at a quarter of seven all the children were up and dressed and began to hammer at the door of their mother’s and my room, in which their six stockings… were hanging from the fireplace. So their mother and I got up, shut the window, lit the fire taking down the stockings of course, put on our wrappers and prepared to admit the children.

But first there was a surprise for me, also for their good mother, for Archie had a little birthday tree of his own which he had rigged up with the help of one of the carpenters in a big closet; and we all had to look at the tree and each of us got a present off of it. There was also one present each for Jack the dog, Tom Quartz the kitten, and Algonquin the pony, whom Archie would no more think of neglecting that I would neglect his brothers and sisters. Then all the children came into our bed and opened their stockings.”

Author Gary Hines imagines the story in full detail in his book,  A Christmas Tree in the White House. Archie enlists his younger brother Quentin’s help and the two raise the tree tied to a bed sheet to the second floor. Does the president know?

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Theodore Roosevelt with Archie and Quentin 

If you like this article, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author

The Teddy Roosevelt Family, https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/the-theodore-roosevelt-family

You may like: Young Teddy Roosevelt, Naturalist https://barbaralowell.com/young-teddy-roosevelt-naturalist

Books For Kids: Teddy Roosevelt https://barbaralowell.com/books-for-kids-teddy-roosevelt

The Christmas Truce of 1914

Remembering the Christmas Truce of 1914, Albert Moran of the 2nd Queen’s Regiment wrote: “It was a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere; and…there were those lights — I don’t know what they were. And then they sang Silent NightStille Nacht. I shall never forget it. It was one of the highlights of my life.”

From: Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub.

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The lights shining on the parapets — the tops of the German trenches — were candles. Up and down the lines of the Western Front, stretching from the shores of Belgium through France, soldiers sang Christmas carols and exchanged Christmas greetings across No Man’s Land. This was the Christmas truce of 1914, four months after the start of World War I.

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German and Allied Soldiers Together

The truce began with the Germans. They lit candles on the parapets and on their Christmas trees. They sang Silent Night. Their Christmas spirit inspired the Allies. The British, French, and Belgian soldiers responded first by shooting flares into the sky and then singing Christmas carols.

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Christmas Day Football

Signs went up. The British wrote “Merry Christmas.” The Germans wrote “Happy Christmas.” Men left the trenches and crossed No Man’s Land to greet each other. They exchanged gifts of chocolate, cakes, and tobacco and played games of football together. For a brief time, the joy of Christmas brought peace again to the men in the trenches on the Western Front.

If you like this article, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author

You may like: Books For Kids Christmas (history) https://barbaralowell.com/books-for-kids-christmas

Books For Kids:

Shooting Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914

By John Hendrix

Christmas in the Trenches

By John McCutcheon, Illustrated by Henri Sorensen

Christmas Truce: A True Story of World War I

By Aaron Shephard, Illustrated by Wendy Edelson

Abraham Lincoln Pardons A Turkey

On October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation making Thanksgiving a national holiday. It would be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. Soon after the tradition of pardoning a turkey began.

According to a November 2012 article on Smithsonian.com, a live turkey was delivered to the White House for Abraham Lincoln’s family Christmas dinner in late 1863.

Abraham Lincoln’s son Tad, named the turkey Jack. Tad taught Jack to follow him closely as he wandered around the White House grounds. When the time came to turn Jack into Christmas dinner, Tad protested, saying, “He’s a good turkey, and I don’t want him killed.”

Tad Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln always a kind father and a great animal lover, gave in and pardoned Jack. Lincoln’s pardon was the first for a White House turkey. The tradition continues today.

If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author

You may like: Books For Kids: Abe Lincoln https://barbaralowell.com/books-for-kids-abe-lincoln

The Smithsonian article can be found at: 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-history-of-pardoning-turkeys-began-with-tad-lincoln-141137570/

Books For Kids:

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Thanksgiving in the White House

By Gary Hines, Illustrated by Alexandra Wallner

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Lincoln and His Boys

By Rosemary Wells, Illustrated by P.J. Lynch

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Mr. Lincoln’s Boys

By Staton Rabin, Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

Kids Tell the Story of the First Thanksgiving: