Scarce vintage matte-finish 9.5 x 7.5 photo of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt relaxing at a patio table with a book and knitting, an image originally taken on the south porch at Hyde Park on July 4, 1941, signed in fountain pen as president, "Franklin D. Roosevelt," and as first lady, "Eleanor Roosevelt," with "Christmas 1941" added in calligraphy as originally produced for the White House and President Roosevelt in 1941. Matted and framed to an overall size of 15 x 12. In fine condition.
This rare format, discussed in Mary Evans Seeley's book Season's Greetings from the White House, marked the first occurrence of the president and first lady taking the time to hand-sign official White House Christmas presents for the executive staff at the White House during Christmastime of 1941, only a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's involvement in World War II. A point of interest is that the vast majority of the small number of surviving examples of these signed presidential White House Christmas gift prints typically show a heavily faded almost non-legible Eleanor signature; the specific ink that she used signing these photos did not hold up well over time. This example is by far one of the nicer of the known dual-signed examples extant.
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