Christmas ornament honors gingerbread White House tradition

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and NATHAN ELLGREN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s White House Christmas ornament gives a nod to former first lady Patricia Nixon. It’s in the shape of a gingerbread White House, and Nixon was the first first lady to include a gingerbread house as part of the White House holiday decorations. That tradition now includes construction each year of a hulking gingerbread White House that usually weighs several hundred pounds. The private White House Historical Association sells the annual Christmas ornaments, using the proceeds to help pay for the building’s upkeep. First lady Jacqueline Kennedy created the association in 1961 to help preserve the executive mansion. The association’s popular annual Christmas ornament followed in 1981.