Toy Shopping with the Kennedys, Christmas 1961

(A version of this post was published on our previous blog on 12/21/2015.)

By Laurie Austin, Former Audiovisual Reference Archivist and Stacey Flores Chandler, Textual Reference Archivist

As Reference Archivists, we look through the archives to find answers to reference questions every day – and sometimes, we’re lucky enough to find something that’s new to us! Holiday-themed requests can often send us searching, and one question gave us a particularly fun window into the collections: “How did the First Family do their Christmas shopping?” Until we started digging for an answer, we had no idea – but the first place to look was in the Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers. We hit the archival jackpot when we found this FAO Schwarz toy catalog for Christmas 1961, along with a handwritten note by Mrs. Kennedy about items (and even their page numbers in the catalog) she wanted to order for her children, Caroline and John F. Kennedy, Jr.

Cover of the FAO Schwarz toy catalog from Christmas 1961, featuring a red-and-white checkerboard pattern overlaid with the word "toys" and a cartoon of a child holding a sign that reads "Christmas, 1961."
JBKOPP-SF037-008-p0071. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, Box SF037, Christmas: 1961 (1 of 2 folders).

A look inside the classic toy catalog, which let people browse and order gifts by mail before the era of one-click shopping, shows the attention that went into choosing gifts for the First Children. And luckily for archivists and researchers, Mrs. Kennedy dog-eared several pages and circled specific toys. What a find!

Once we knew about Mrs. Kennedy’s plans for the 1961 Christmas toy roundup, we searched our photo and film collections to find the gifts in action. That horse and hound set circled on page 89?

Page 89 of the 1961 FAO Schwarz toy catalog, featuring descriptions and photographs of items such as dolls, pens and pencils, key chains, music boxes, and the circled item labeled "Hunting figures," with handwritten marks next to the following sub-items: Black Horse; Dapple Grey Horse; Hound; Man Rider; Woman Rider. Listed prices range from $2.00 to $18.00.
JBKOPP-SF037-008-p0082. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, Box SF037, Christmas: 1961 (1 of 2 folders).

We spotted those in photographs of Caroline Kennedy’s White House bedroom, taken by White House Photographer Robert Knudsen. One horse is tucked away behind the playhouse, while the hound got a cozy spot on the bookshelf.

View of Caroline Kennedy's bedroom. White House, Washington, D.C. A red circle added by archivists highlights one of the horse toys listed in the catalog.
Caroline Kennedy’s bedroom, 8 May 1962. JFKWHP-KN-C21446 [crop]. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House Photographs.
View of Caroline Kennedy's bedroom. White House, Washington, D.C. A red circle added by archivists highlights one of the hound toys listed in the catalog.
Caroline Kennedy’s bedroom, 8 May 1962. JFKWHP-KN-C21450 [crop]. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House Photographs.

The “Busy Box” on page 10 featured knobs, buttons, and plenty of other things for a toddler to make noise with. One of Mrs. Kennedy’s chosen gifts, we spotted this one in a White House photograph of John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s crib in the nursery!

Page 10 of the 1961 FAO Schwarz toy catalog, featuring descriptions and photographs of items such as dolls, mobiles, musical toys, and the circled item labeled "Busy Box." Listed price is $5.00.
JBKOPP-SF037-008-p0073. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, Box SF037, Christmas: 1961 (1 of 2 folders).
View of John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s nursery. White House, Washington, D.C. A red circle added by archivists highlights the "busy board" listed in the catalog.
John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s bedroom, 8 May 1962. JFKWHP-KN-C21451 [crop]. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House Photographs.

Admittedly, the very large calf-skin rocking horse from page 13 was pretty easy to spot in 1962 images of Caroline Kennedy’s room.

Page 13 of the 1961 FAO Schwarz toy catalog, featuring descriptions and photographs of horse-themed items, including the checked item labeled "Skin Covered Horse," including a photograph of the calf-skin covered toy ride-on horse. Listed price is $135.00.
JBKOPP-SF037-008-p0075. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, Box SF037, Christmas: 1961 (1 of 2 folders).
View of Caroline Kennedy's bedroom. White House, Washington, D.C. A red circle added by archivists highlights a large ride-on rocking horse listed in the catalog.
Caroline Kennedy’s bedroom, 9 May 1962. JFKWHP-KN-C21505. Photograph by Robert Knudsen, White House Photographs.

We also found a few staff favorites, including the trampoline from page 86; Mrs. Kennedy noted that the mothers of the play group Caroline and John F. Kennedy, Jr. belonged to would buy this gift for the kids to use on the South Lawn.

Page 86 of the 1961 FAO Schwarz toy catalog, featuring descriptions and photographs of items and sports equipment such as roller skates, punching bags, boxing gloves, and the circled item labeled "Romper Trampoline." Listed price is $69.95.
JBKOPP-SF037-008-p0081. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, Box SF037, Christmas: 1961 (1 of 2 folders).

Archivists recognized this item right away, thanks to this photograph of young Caroline jumping on it (with her brave friend Shawn Brittle hanging out underneath), taken by White House Photographer Cecil Stoughton in 1962.

Caroline Kennedy jumps on a trampoline on the South Lawn of the White House as her friend, Shawn Brittle, lies underneath. 17 May 1962. JFKWHP-ST-A19-41-62 [crop]. Photograph by Cecil Stoughton, White House Photographs.

And the trampoline makes another appearance in our film collections; we found an unidentified friend jumping at an April 4, 1963 children’s party on the South Lawn.

TrampolinePPP54. An unidentified child jumps on a trampoline as several others look on, on the South Lawn of the White House.
PPP:54. Footage by Cecil Stoughton. President’s Personal Pictures.

Another favorite is the “festive costume…with peasant designs of brilliant sequins” and matching flower-trimmed headpiece circled on page 76.

Page 76 of the 1961 FAO Schwarz toy catalog, featuring descriptions and photographs of children's costumes, including the circled item labeled "Peasant," described as: "striking, gay, and colorful in the traditional manner, this festive costume has a satin multi-striped skirt over a bouffant petticoat and a black velvet bodice trimmed with peasant designs of brilliant sequins. Full peasant puffed organdy sleeves and a lace-trimmed white organdy apron add to its Old World charm. A flower-trimmed headdress with ribbon streamers completes this lovely costume." Listed price is $20.00.
Figure 3: JBKOPP-SF037-008-p0080. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Personal Papers, Box SF037, Christmas: 1961 (1 of 2 folders).

We were excited to learn about the origin of this outfit, because the costume is featured in one of our most popular sets of images of the Kennedy children as they sat with Mrs. Kennedy in the White House nursery. Other photographs in this series, captured by Cecil Stoughton in 1962, show John F. Kennedy, Jr. playing with his mother’s necklace.

As reference archivists, our work is guided by the questions we are asked, and we get to learn something new about our collections every day. We’re grateful for the best archival gift we could ask for – a question that led to fun discoveries in our collections!

5 comments

  1. The blonde doll with the pink ribbon in her hair, sitting on the two seat sofa in Caroline Kennedy’s White House bedroom is Chatty Cathy. In another view of the bedroom we see that her Chatty Cathy was wearing the red voile dress, and was the 1960 first year version of that doll. I wrote the book Chatty Cathy and her Talking Friends by Schiffer Publishing LTD.
    Sean Carol Kettelkamp

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