Editing Christmas card (section)

===Official Christmas cards===
[[File:Johnson White House Christmas Card.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lyndon B. Johnson|President Johnson]]'s 1967 White House Christmas card]]
"Official" Christmas cards began with [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] in the 1840s. The [[British royal family]]'s cards are generally portraits reflecting significant personal events of the year.

There is a long-standing custom for the American [[President of the United States|President]] and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] to send [[White House]] Christmas Cards each holiday season.<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite web|last1=Greenberg|first1=David|title=Signed, Sealed, Secular|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-dec-18-la-oe-greenberg-xmascards-20111218-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=18 December 2011|access-date=15 June 2015|archive-date=23 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623030616/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/18/opinion/la-oe-greenberg-xmascards-20111218|url-status=live}}</ref> The practice originated with President [[Calvin Coolidge]], who was the first president to issue a written statement of peaceful tidings during the holidays in 1927.<ref name="Los Angeles Times" /><ref name="Business Insider">{{cite web|last1=Storm|first1=Christian|title=Happy Holidays from the White House|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/presidential-holiday-cards-2014-12#calvin-coolidge-1927-1|website=Business Insider|access-date=15 June 2015|archive-date=15 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415103827/http://www.businessinsider.com/presidential-holiday-cards-2014-12#calvin-coolidge-1927-1|url-status=live}}</ref> President [[Herbert Hoover]] was the first to give Christmas notes to the White House staff, and President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] was the first president to utilize the card format (rather than the previously used notes or a written statement) that most closely resembles the Christmas cards of today.<ref name="Los Angeles Times" />

In 1953, U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] issued the first official [[White House Card]]. The cards usually depict White House scenes as rendered by prominent American artists. The number of recipients has snowballed over the decades, from just 2,000 in 1961 to 1.4 million in 2005.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-holiday-cards-cause-stir/ |title=Bush 'Holiday' Cards Cause Stir |author=Melissa McNamara |date=7 December 2005 |work=[[CBS News]] |access-date=22 September 2010 |archive-date=17 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917211642/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/07/politics/main1103160.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>