Celebrate the Holidays at Whitehall

Season's Greetings From the White House
by Mary Seeley

December 2, 2012
2:00 p.m.

Gilded Age President, Calvin Coolidge, lit the first White House Christmas Tree in 1923. As a collector and historian, Mary Seeley has captured the Christmas traditions of nearly every First Family since the start of the Gilded Age. Her book, Season's Greetings From the White House is a collection of official greeting cards, messages, gifts, and traditional holiday celebration.

Mary Evans Seeley is a collector, historian, lecturer, author and publisher of two books about Christmas at the White House. Together with her husband, she owns the most extensive collection of Presidential Christmas memorabilia in the country, part of which, has been on display at the White House and on exhibit at ten Presidential Libraries. An entrepreneur, Mrs. Seeley is President of A Presidential Christmas Corporation. To complement her books, she has created a collection of hand-painted patriotic and presidential ornaments. Mrs. Seeley holds a M.A. degree in American History from the University of Nebraska. She lives in Tampa with her husband.Sponsored by 

Watch Past Christmas Lectures

December 1, 2013
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Free with Museum Admission

For more than four decades the Flagler Museum has observed the tradition of Henry Flagler's youngest descendants lighting the Museum's Christmas Tree on the first Sunday of December.

Schedule of Events

Seasonal refreshments in the West Room - 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Santa Claus in the Pavilion - 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Brief Organ Performances in the Music Room
3:30 p.m., 3:50 p.m., and 4:10 p.m.
Installed in 1902, the J.H. & C.S. Odell pipe organ incorporates 1,249 metal and wood pipes powered by massive bellows. The Flaglers employed an organist to provide music for all their social functions held at the estate throughout the Season.

Brief Piano Performances in the Drawing Room
3:40 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 4:20 p.m.
Holiday music will be performed on the Steinway Piano. Original to Whitehall's Drawing Room, the grand art case piano was custom designed to match the aluminum leaf detailing of the Louis XVI style room.

Holiday Caroling in the Courtyard  - 4:30 p.m.
A choral performance will celebrate the season with holiday carols. Entertaining duringthe Flagler era often centered around musical events. Musicale, concert, and orchestra performances were often held at Whitehall during the winter Season.

Christmas Tree Lighting - 4:55 p.m.
Henry Flagler's youngest descendants will light the 16ft. tall Grand Hall Christmas tree. The Flaglers celebrated Christmas in a traditional Gilded Age fashion, with a tree richly decorated with ornaments, colored electric lights, and gifts for the local children. The Museum continues that tradition and will hand out Animal Crackers, a snack invented in the Gilded Age. The iconic circus box with a string was originally designed to be used as a Christmas Tree ornament.

The Flagler Museum Store offers a variety of specialty gifts, many developed exclusively for the Flagler Museum. Each product is designed to evoke the romance and grandeur of the Gilded Age, as epitomized by the National Historic Landmark Whitehall. All Flagler Members receive a 10% discount on store purchases.

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