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Description

The New Year that Never Came and Ended the Dream of Camelot

John F. Kennedy Rare 1963 White House Christmas Card Signed by both the President and First Lady. Hallmark bifolium card, 4.5 x 6.5 inches, featuring the White House nativity scene, the crèche, from the East Room. Signed in black ink by the President and in blue ink by the First Lady.

This is the rarest known Christmas format ever signed by a president and first lady. Numerous iterations of multiple messages, some with facsimile signatures and some without, were ordered for the 1963 holiday season. Mary Evans Seeley notes only 50 examples of "With best wishes for a Happy New Year" without signatures were ordered from Hallmark. No more than 30 cards were signed by both the President and First Lady before leaving on that fateful trip to Dallas in November 1963. It is estimated that fewer than half of those 30 are of the present variant, without "Blessed Christmas" and reading only, and in full, "With best wishes for a Happy New Year."

The present variant was unknown, even by the Kennedy Library, until 1985.

Accompanied by a copy of a September 22, 1987 typed letter from the President's former personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, to Robert L. White, explaining the rarity of the card.

Condition: Very fine.

References: Seeley, Season's Greetings from the White House, 1996, pages 96-97.




Auction Info

Auction Dates
July, 2023
8th Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 10
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 565

Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $300,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $300,000 and $3,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $3,000,000 per lot.

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Sold on Jul 8, 2023 for: $13,750.00
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