A Tradition From 1972 — 2021

David Coolidge was honored to have his original watercolor artwork featured on the J.M. Smucker Company’s annual Christmas plate for five full decades.

The Smucker’s Christmas plate was part of a Collector’s series and was included in a yearly holiday gift package containing a variety of Smucker’s jams and jellies. David designed his first plate for Smucker’s in 1972 with the first ten plates featuring Christmastime scenes from all over including Colonial Williamsburg, historic Philadelphia, the Mississippi Valley, and even Switzerland. However, starting in 1982, David’s artwork for the plate series depicted historical buildings and rural settings during the holiday season across the Smucker Company’s home state of Ohio. Over the years, many Christmas plates have captured the authenticity and holiday spirit of the Smucker’s community by featuring locations in and around the city of Orrville, home of the company’s headquarters, and other parts of Wayne County. After fifty years, David completed this series with a final plate produced in 2021.