Smithsonian Institution

There are two types of people: those who have it together and us last-minute gift wrappers. 🎁 We’re inspired by the vintage wrapping paper at our Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, which is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historical and contemporary design.

Much like Mariah Carey, the Universe has spoken. It’s tiiiiiiime! ✨🎄Chandra X-ray Observatory released a new image of star cluster NGC 2264, also called the "Christmas tree cluster,” which is an array of young stars that are between one and five million years old. We know what you're thinking: young?! For a little comparison, the Sun is a middle-aged star about five billion years old—about 1,000 times older than the stars in this cluster.    This image combines data from Chandra (red, green, and blue) with optical data (green and white) captured by astrophotographer Michael Clow with his telescope in Arizona in November 2024.    X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: Clow, M.;  Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and K. Arcand 

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s kind of, sort of both. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird—the world’s fastest jet-propelled aircraft—flew for the first time 60 years ago today in 1964. 🖤 Amid growing tensions during the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force sought a new supersonic spy plane. The pinnacle of aviation technology at the time, Blackbird was designed to reach high speeds and high altitudes to gather intelligence about Soviet military activities around the world. Its special black paint absorbed radar signals, offset some of the heat generated when flying at high speeds, and camouflaged the aircraft against the dark sky. During its 24 years of active service, our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution’s Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time before landing at its final home at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

Nicknamed the “Six Triple Eight,” the 6888th Central Postal Battalion was the only predominantly Black US. Women's Army Corps unit sent overseas during World War II. Their mission: process millions of pieces of backlogged mail for American military personnel and volunteers in Europe. Deployed to England in 1945, their motto was “No mail, low morale.” Despite facing racism and sexism at home and within the military, the battalion defied expectations. Led by Major Charity Adams, the women worked in three eight-hour shifts, seven days a week, hitting 65,000 processed pieces of mail per shift at their peak. Though many assumed the battalion would need half a year to clear the mountain of undelivered mail, the soldiers of the “Six Triple Eight” completed the task in just three months. By the war’s end, they had labeled, sorted, and cleared 17 million pieces of mail. Upon their return to the U.S. at the end of the war, the women received no public recognition for their service. Finally, nearly eight decades after their deployment, the 6888th Central Postal Battalion was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2022. 📷: Collection of our Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jennifer Cain Bohrnstedt.

Nothing says "happy holidays" like ancient marine reptiles.

Update: there will be no change to our operating status. In the event of a government shutdown, our museums, research centers, and the National Zoo will remain OPEN through at least Thursday, Dec. 26. Please note that we are closed on Dec. 25. Visit si.edu for updates. Image: Richard Lippold’s “Ad Astra” on view outside our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Bah humbug. During the Great Depression, the Pinero family sprinkled a little dark humor into their season’s greetings. Recycling a brown paper bag in 1933, they illustrated themselves in front of a pile of bills with the cheeky message: "Oh, well—in spite of it all—here's a Merry Christmas from the Pineros." In 1933, many people struggled to make ends meet as one in four American workers were unemployed. Though President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched New Deal programs that year, their effects would not be felt by some struggling families until later in the decade. The Pineros continued to poke fun at their circumstances on the back of the card with a witty poem. "In days gone by when we were broke We hated to reveal it. In fact our pride demanded that We struggle to conceal it. But now at last we’re right in style And need not fear confession. We shrug and smile and say 'Oh, well It’s merely this depression.' And so this card which once we'd scorn Now seems within all reason. It’s cheap—and yet it brings to you Best wishes of the season!" The family mailed this card, now in the collection of our Smithsonian National Museum of American History, to friends in Massachusetts, using a one-and-a-half-cent stamp.

Did you know the Christmas gnome has its roots in Scandinavian folklore? In Sweden, the Tomte, a character often donning a gray robe and red hat, is associated with the winter solstice and serves as a guardian of the home and farm. It is said that the Tomte embodies good spirit and goodwill, bestowing gifts to those who honor them during the dark season. Fun fact: The Tomte don’t like to be seen! Much like the gnomes in Smithsonian Gardens Mary Livingston Ripley Garden who take their form from beautiful evergreens, the Tomte likes to blend into its surroundings. What folklore traditions do you incorporate into your holiday celebrations?

Pandas are pickier than you might expect about which bamboo (and parts of bamboo) they chomp each day at our Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. #DCPandas

Think two-day delivery is mind-blowing? You could technically mail *your children* in the early days of the U.S. parcel post service in the 1910s. Mr. and Mrs. Beauge of Ohio were the first parents to mail their child when they paid 15 cents in stamps, plus $50 in insurance, to send their nearly 11-pound baby to his grandmother’s home about a mile away in 1913. Unlike the scene that’s illustrated in this staged photo from our National Postal Museum, children traveled with trusted postal workers, not in mailbags. The U.S. Postmaster General soon barred the practice of mailing all humans, and the last children were “delivered” in 1915. Hear more about parents sending their children in the mail through our podcast Sidedoor. 🎧: https://s.si.edu/3BndD8p