Wow, twelve days have passed since I last posted. Time surely gets away from a person, huh? Have I mentioned what a killer this school year has been?

However, Thanksgiving break offers a few opportunities to catch my breath ~ and today marks the official beginning of Christmas season. Therefore, I send you holiday greetings. :)

Did you know that in 1882, we had the first string of electric lights for Christmas trees? President Grover Cleveland ordered electric lights to be placed on the White House Christmas tree. Light bulbs were too expensive for average Americans to place on their Christmas trees. Pictured here is Cousin Grover's famous tree. :)

When Cousin Grover first became President in 1885, he hardly stopped working long enough to celebrate anything, let alone the Christmas holidays. Then in 1886, the 50-year-old President married his deceased law partner’s daughter, 22-year-old Frances Folsom, and between terms their first child, “Baby Ruth,” was born.

Although there was no Christmas tree during the first Cleveland administration, when daughters Ruth, Esther, and Marion were born, this oversight was quickly rectified. In 1895, a tree was set up and decorated with electric lights, gold angels with spreading wings, gold and silver sleds, tops of every description, and lots of tinsel. Under the tree was a miniature White House and a doll house for Esther, who was the only daughter of a President to be born in the White House.

Mrs. Cleveland’s main Christmas activity, rather than entertaining and decorating, was her work with the Christmas Club of Washington to provide food, clothing, and toys to poor children in the D.C. area. She took the time to wrap and distribute gifts to the children and sat with them for a Punch and Judy show. Although Christmas Club charities in Washington date back to the 1820’s, no previous first lady had taken as prominent a role in these activities as Frances Cleveland, who helped set a tradition of good works carried on by Lou Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt and many other First Ladies.

I borrowed this information from http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/WHChristmas/Cleveland/ to use in the December issue of my Cleveland Family Chronicles.