Jason English
A White House Christmas! Starring Nancy Reagan as Herself and Mr. T as Santa
by Jason English - July 11, 2010 - 9:49 PM

In December of 1983, Mr. T went to Washington to help the First Lady unveil the White House Christmas decorations. The A-Team had premiered earlier that year, but why did Mrs. Reagan choose B.A. Baracus for this assignment?

“Nancy Reagan was campaigning to get kids to say no to drugs,” Mr. T told The Independent in 2008. “They heard about me going round schools telling kids to stay away from drugs.”

The First Lady received a Mr. T doll, and Mr. T got a peck on the forehead. “Oh wow, man,” San-T Claus joked. “That’ll start some scandal.”

If you’ve never seen these photos before, consider this our Christmas-in-July present.

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Comments (10)

  1. I pity the fool who doesn’t read Mental Floss!

    posted by Adam on 7-10-2010 at 10:10 pm

  2. if glenn close married mr t would she be glenn closet ?

    posted by dirk alan on 7-10-2010 at 10:10 pm

  3. My mind. It is blown. All of of a sudden I am a third grader again with a bad haircut and crushingly low self-esteem. Is that a crucifix AND a mogen dovid around his neck. Ow…

    posted by Amy on 7-10-2010 at 10:18 pm

  4. @amy- not sure, but theres multiple crucifixes, a star of david. and a few square pieces with images of people on them, as well as a large assortment of chains. I can only imagine the strain all that put on his neck

    posted by Anonymous Kitteh on 7-11-2010 at 6:11 am

  5. Christmas in July?

    posted by Elizabeth W on 7-11-2010 at 8:37 am

  6. it should be christmas in june, not july. people born in january have their half birthday in july. that means christmas in june, not july

    posted by laura on 7-11-2010 at 2:44 pm

  7. But…it’s July. If I’d wanted to get you guys Christmas-in-June presents, I’d be way late!

    Christmas in July is also a movie, a charity, and the name of countless summer sales.

    posted by Jason English on 7-11-2010 at 3:06 pm

  8. Christmas in July started as an American summer camp tradition. According to Wikipedia, citing a Washington Post article, “The earliest known occasion to make the phrase Christmas in July literal was in July 1933 at Camp Keystone, a girl’s summer camp in North Carolina, which celebrated with a Christmas tree, gifts, and a visit by Santa Claus.”

    posted by Topher on 7-11-2010 at 7:18 pm

  9. Mentalfloss just gave me my new desktop picture! Thanks!

    posted by Mavis on 7-12-2010 at 1:16 pm

  10. Too grossed out to comment. Sometimes I’m so embarassed to be an American.

    posted by Rachel on 7-12-2010 at 3:45 pm

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