Behind the Scenes of Christmas at the WH

Here are some great behind-the-scenes images of Christmas 2007 at the WH.

Open post: Holiday wishes

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!

Added a pic of the East Colonnade and the Rose Garden sent by Christopher Tolton and featuring a particularly treasured moment.

Third floor

As promised, I added three photos to the Solarium, or Sun Room, and—since I now have more than one photo of it—created a page for the Linenarium, or Linen Room.

Also, the marvelous vice-presidential ceremonial office in the EEOB suffered a fire the other day. Please try to restrain your impulse to joke about Dick Cheney's smoldering good looks.

Solarium and more

Christina has sent along even more terrific photos dug out of Getty Images. I'll post some of the Solarium and others in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, the WH has pics of the first lady entertaining in her office.

President's Dining Room

Added three new photos to the President's Dining Room page, showing the Carter decor in color and showing the Bush 1 redecoration in 1989.

Getty image trove

Christina has passed along a passel of photos from the Getty archive that I neglected in my searches (I was focused on the new Situation Room at the time). It's a dizzying collection of candid moments thruout the Residence mainly from the Johnson and Ford years. I'll be posting them over the weekend.

In the past, I've scraped the brutally ugly watermark off the handful of Getty images I've used, leaving a blurry smudge that isn't necessarily better (the process involves using parts of the tiny thumbnail version). But I'll post most of these as they are, with links to Getty for proper credit. Hopefully, publishers who can actually afford to pay for images for commercial projects will find them here and jump to the Getty site to buy them and thereby make up for my (credited, noncommercial, educational, public service, fair use) appropriation.

UPDATE: Added several photos from Johnson to Bush 1. I'm not 100% confident about the Ford Beauty Salon photo and I'm baffled by one that I initially thought was the Living Room (formerly president's bedroom). It doesn't seem to match the one I already have from that era and the space under the window is missing the characteristic pattered vent.

To Christina, I award the Jackie Kennedy There's-Got-Be-Some-Decent-Antiques-Here-Somewhere Award. Thanks, Christina!

UPDATE: The votes are in on the Ford sitting room photo; it is surely the Presidential Suite of the Bethesda Naval Hospital after Mrs. Ford's surgery.

Palm Room

At last! A sweet snap of party preparations in the Palm Room from Time.....

Menorah lighting

The president hosted a ceremony to light a menorah the other day, this year in the Entrance Hall. They clearly do these lighting ceremonies in locations with tile floors to minimize the risk of the president a clumsy person burning down the mansion, but you would think the East Room would be a better place. Just put down a fire-resistant rug or something. In preparation for hosting the menorah lighting, they had the Kitchen kosherized again.

Girl power

Visitor Christina pointed out that the Ford Library has posted some additional photos of the Fords, including a great one of the first lady in her dressing room with an ERA banner.

Open post: Lincoln on ice

ABC chose the statue of Lincoln outside the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL to illustrate the nasty weather in the Midwest. I wonder sometimes if George Washington had weather in mind when he chose the site for DC: a nice mix of four seasons without too much snow in the winter. The heat might have been more than he counted on tho, altho it can't be much different at Mount Vernon.

UPDATE: my own photo of an icy branch.

Open post: season's greetings

The president and first lady lit the tree on the Ellipse the other day, and—despite the cold—the president welcomed Santa Claus without mispronouncing his name.

Also, no Hanukkha photo op this year. We got a picture in the Visitors Foyer before, but maybe that will come later with a menorah lighting.

Ground Floor Question

Hi all! Peter here.

To further assist with the building of the 3D models I have a question for you. In the floor plan for the ground floor of the residence, the Vermeil Room and Map Room show some built-in shelves with doors. However my general sense is that some of the shelves are now gone.

Specifically, the south wall of the Map Room. Are those shelves still present? And the Vermeil Room, newer photos don't show shelves along the west wall. While we have compiled many great photos here, perhaps someone knows about the detail not shown.

Thank you. :)

New front page - ornaments

Changed the front page to one of row upon row of castings of the official 2005 ornaments from Design Formations.

Ye olde Front page gallery.

CBS at the White House

CBS has a video interview with Laura Bush about the holiday decor. Hannah Storm: "Now I'm off to a Harper's Bazaar photo shoot -- with cardboard cutouts of the candidates!" How will she tell?

CNN has the best WH holiday pictures I've seen so far.

Christmas 2007

The White House has posted some Christmas decorations facts and received the tree.

UPDATE: Link to the first lady's remarks, with video.

Bear chair

I stumbled across a page with some information about the fantastic grizzly bear chair that Andrew Johnson had in the his library (the Yellow Oval Room).

Made from two grizzly bears captured by Seth [Kinman]. The four legs and claws were those of a huge grizzly and the back and sides ornamented with immense claws. The seat was soft and exceedingly comfortable, but the great feature of the chair was that, by touching a cord, the head of the monster grizzly bear with jaws extended, would dart out in front from under the seat, snapping and gnashing its teeth as natural as life. This chair Seth presented to [President] Johnson, September 8, 1865.

Yes, the head would dart out from underneath... natural as life....

White House audio

I've been visiting LibriVox lately, first as someone interested in free audio books and then as someone interested in recording audio books for free. As one of my first contributions, I recorded a very short 1962 sci-fi story that takes the form of teletype messages between the WH and "Pacific Space Command." The collection isn't done yet, but my part is available. (Don't worry, I didn't try to emulate JFK's accent for the WH end of the communications.)

Of course, everything recorded must be public domain, but so far all I've found that interests me in terms of WH material is TR's letters to his children. I suppose most presidential speeches are public domain, but can anyone think of something more closely related to the White House? Ike Hoover's memoirs would be fun, but I don't think they've fallen out of copyright (everything before 1923 is PD and anything until that wasn't renewed after 28 years is PD; more recent stuff has different protection).

UPDATE: After another quick search, I think I might do Herbert Hoover's wildly-optimistic 1929 State of the Union address, altho it's rather long (they got much shorter later on).

Jackson's White House

Got a question about Jackson's White House from a fiction author, so, in addition to replying with details, I added an 1829 diagram to the Residence second floor page.

Coolidge revisited

Added a couple of Coolidge era pics and also one of the diagram of the Kennedy Vermeil Room in blue and the Ford Library. I still haven't identified the location of those mysterious ones, but these seemed interesting.

I've basically run out of sources that I know of, altho there are a couple of magazine pictorials that I don't have.

The White House is missing! Ogling Dana Perino

WhiteHouse.gov seems to be giving me a 404 - File Not Found error today.... Wait, spoke too soon. I guess I caught them in the middle of a change.

Anyway, the Prime Minister of Japan visited the other day. It's amazing how they sneak these guys in and out. It's like you've got to watch the news to catch it or something. Maybe I get more of my news from The Daily Show than I'd like to admit.

On a side note, there still is no new WH video for the renovated Press Briefing Room, and we're two press secretaries behind now. Nor do we have any new pictures of the press secretary's office, even just during a press gaggle.

Magnolia

The Park Service is planting a magnolia tree in front of the Residence. It seems rather... centered. I hope they aren't obscuring the view of the house from the street. Security is one thing, but Lincoln didn't hide behind any foliage. What next—a presidential ghillie suit?

Cheese it! The fuzz!

The president has been posing with groups again. One is of a delegation of state police in full uniform. I find it interesting in this great union of states how the uniforms of state troopers vary so widely, with inspiration that seems to come from Canadian mounties, the US Army, forest rangers, Old West sheriffs, and beat cops from the 1940s. None of them seem interested in those pointy helmets the British bobbies wear, tho....

And who's for changing the draperies in the State Dining Room? The current ones are so busy they seem to have three small children and a second job.

New front page - column capital

Somehow I got busy and completely forgot to change the front page this month. I've changed it now to a capital from a column on the South Portico. I've forgotten where I got the picture, but it's nice.

Per usual, you can find all the front pages in the gallery.

UPDATE: Fixed the link on the gallery page.

Woody's Lair

I'd seen this 1920 photo of the Wilsons previously, but hadn't been able to place it. The mantel looks most like the president's study in today's Treaty Room, but the desk would need to be facing the window, which is backwards from what is shown in a slightly earlier picture. It's not flopped, or their wedding rings would be on wrong and the window light would be at his back. Perhaps the photographer coaxed them into moving the desk to the other side of the room to take best advantage of the light.

Any other guesses?

Washington visit

George Washington visited the White House to, I'm guessing, register some complaints. Time has a good lopsided pic.

Sarkozy visit

The president of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, has arrived at the White House. With all the French furnishings, let's hope he doesn't ask for any of the furniture "back."

Scwewy Wabbit

Having problems getting Blogger to post and keep edits and updates. Developing....

UPDATE: There's a scheduled outage....

Oval Office

Stumbled across this piece on the Clinton redecoration of the Oval Office. Among other things, it mentions the cost of rug: $28,500.

UPDATE: Got the link working. Blogger has been keeping me from posting at all and still isn't working right. I can't get it to insert the picture directly....

White House budget

Several days ago, visitor John M wrote:

In the Kennedy's time the appropriation for an incoming First Family's redecoration was $50,000. What is it now and what are they entitled to change without a governing groups approval? Does this amount include changes in the Oval Office?

I tried doing some research and didn't get very far. I know the WH budget is about $8 million these days, but I think that's the operating budget and may not include redecoration and repairs.

Halloween at 1OC

The vice-president has some pretty nice porch furniture (pictured here, behind Bark Vader and Superdog) at the Navel Observatory the Naval Observatory.

Rosemary

Today's Time WH Blog pic is one of the sous-chef (the man that's one sugar beet away from being chef) clipping a bit of rosemary from the Kennedy Garden.

Open post: Nothing new

I went looking for new things to add to the site or to blog about and got off track looking at a political blog which distracted me with an old speech by Bill Clinton where he uses the phrase "Yore Kippur," so I went searching for it and found a small number of reliable sources that also used it but no explanation, so I put a note on the talk page of "Yom Kippur" article in Wikipedia.

Sometimes I hate the Internet.

OOPDATE: It's apparently just a typo, altho why it appeared in a presidential speech in multiple places, I don't know. You know who's responsible for this? Some schmendrick, I bet. Possibly a fakakta schmendrick.

Time's photo blog

Time's photo blog is an interesting thing. On occasion, I've gotten some very good WH interior photos from the site, altho they tend to be odd and ambiguous. Today's photo is of a "lower press office," which I assume to mean an office belonging to the press secretary's staff located in the ground floor of the West Wing and not an office shared by press correspondents from The Peoria Thrifty Nickel and Inside Edition.

UPDATE: Anonymous explains that it's actually a press secretary staff office off the briefing room.

A couple of days ago—as was noted in comments by Winnipeg's Mike B—Time labeled a picture of the Diplomatic Reception Room as the "Indian Treaty Room" (which is a big meeting hall in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across from the White House). Anyone who reads the comments on this blog knows that I have no room to criticize anyone for mislabeling WH locations, but that was an odd one.

Generally, the pictures are not of the action of an event but of preparation for it or of figures at the margins, often members of the press themselves. They expanded it to allow for pictures of the "race to the White House" and not just the WH itself, which is a little annoying. Sometimes I think it's really meant as an artsy outlet for the creative tendencies of the WH press photographers, but some of the shots are just boring or newsy.

Wingnut's Workings

Thank you Derek for allowing me to be a guest author in this blog of yours. It's a true honor. Derek's purpose here is to allow me to announce key achievements in the progress of White House 3D modeling. So from time to time once a model is complete, I will let you fine folks know what's new. I just wanted to post this message to clarify the current goal.

The interior model being worked on right now is the West Wing. I won't be giving the West Wing model to Derek until it is totally complete. After that I will begin modeling the entire Main Residence. Once a room is complete, the model will be sent to Derek and made available to you. This way you won't have to wait until the entire house is done to enjoy the progress.

The reason I chose do the West Wing first is that it gives me a chance to practice methods that conserve computer memory thus making it easier for you to navigate the models. If there's any part of the White House I want to get right and as detailed/efficient as possible - it's the Residence. Computers vary in their processing power. If at any time you find the model to be slow, or the textures of the furniture disappear momentarily while you are navigating a model, this can be a memory issue or a video-card issue. I certainly would never expect people to do hardware upgrades just to view my models. I just wouldn't want you to be frustrated over navigation problem without knowing what may be causing it.

My one caveat in this is that detail will be important to me but in some cases it will be impossible to get every detail correct like certain crown moldings, certain fabrics, or certain rugs. Every effort will be made to balance detail with computer-efficiency. If you are hoping to zoom in on the relief-detail of a Monroe chair you may be disappointed, but it will look reasonably accurate.

Again I thank you for the kind comments so far, and as always I appreciate Derek's support and encouragement.

Pete :)

Pete Sharkey: model citizen

Pete has passed along a link to his new blog Wingnut's Workings, where he is documenting his progress on his fantastic White House models. Anyone who has read this blog should be familiar with his Oval Office and White House exterior models, but now he's completing the West Wing interior! It will take months to finish, he warns, but already he has dizzyingly gorgeous pics of the Cabinet Room and others. To Pete, I award the Charles McKim Astonishing Accomplishment Loving Cup (the "Charlie Cup").

I have 13% of all Library of Congress materials

The cat is out of the bag. While I was in Washington, I stopped by the Library of Congress and slipped away with 13% of their materials. I stuffed the 17 million items in my pants and walked out without permission (the trick is, as you waddle past the guard, to mumble "I have got to go on a diet!").

My motive was simply to have materials to start my own library, but I also always wanted to learn something about radial aircraft engines, the Polish monarchy, and Native American weaving. In my defense, I intended to photocopy the materials and then put them all back. Which reminds me: I also took one of those high-speed book photocopiers and 80,000 reams of paper.

WH Visitors Center rarities

I added a couple of photos that I shot in the WH Visitors Center in DC. They were 19th century images of the executive offices that I hadn't seen before. After some clean-up, they turned out quite nice.

Inside the White House

Added several photos I got from Inside the White House by Betty Boyd Caroli.

Big storm knocked out access to the series of tubes that is the Internets. Just got access back after about 28 hours. What did I do in the meantime? Law & Order marathon on USA. And bailing water out of my basement.

White House fall garden tour

From the White House:

The Annual White House Fall Garden Tour will be was held on Saturday, October 13, 2007, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 14, 2007, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Here is a pic of the Kennedy Garden, courtesy of visitor Lafayette.

Miscellany

Added a few various photos, including a couple sent by Stephen B that include the Carter bedroom. Anybody know what issue that came from?

Lincoln Museum photos

I've now posted all my Lincoln Museum photos in a gallery also.

Photo gallery

I've posted the first batch of photos (from day 3, actually) in a gallery on Fotki. I'll post day 1 and day 2 in the next couple of days.

UPDATE: I've posted all the photos now.

Chocolate mystery

During the trip home, I read most of the kitchens issue of WH History (issue 20). In it, former pastry chef Roland Mesnier mentions that, on the morning of September 11, 2001, he was in "what we call the Chocolate Room, which is located near to the exit door on the Ground Floor." A PVC Chocolates page mentions it also, saying it's a "recent addition... the size of a large closet." I'm guessing that this is the space referred to in the HABS photos as the Refrigerator Room, but the picture of Mesnier in the "Chocolate Shop" (p 41) doesn't look like the HABS picture of the Refrigerator Room.

Home again

I got up early and, worried about traffic, took a cab to the airport right after breakfast. It was a quick drive, tho, and the gates are right off security, so I got there with plenty of time to spare. Got home to find Betty Boyd Carroli's Inside the White House waiting for me, along with a DVD of the Kennedy tour.

DC day 3: monumental error

Today I got up late and failed to get to the Washington Monument in time to get a ticket; they were all out by 10:30. So I went to the Natural History Museum, which was my plan anyway while I waited for my time to go the WM. After an exhausting couple of hours there seeing my fill of trilobites and buying the Hope Diamond for my mother, I walked over to the White House and shot it in full sun.

By this time, my back was killing me because, over the past twelve years as a technology consultant, my back muscles have been replaced with Hostess cream filling (I can explain the process and cost benefit with a PowerPoint presentation and Excel spreadsheet).

Nevertheless, I stopped in and toured at the Latrobe-designed Stephen Decatur House (great call, John). It's in the process of being restored to its early-19th-century origins; thankfully, the first thing they restored was Latrobe's kick-ass air-conditioning; you would have thought it was a meat locker. It's an unusual house in that the kitchen is up front, as in a modern house, and the entertaining rooms are upstairs. It has the same in-frame shutters that the White House once had. And, authentic to its period, the front lamps are lit by gas and no photography is allowed inside—altho woodcuts and scrimshaw are presumably okay.

Then I cabbed it over to the Spy Museum, which was way better and more popular than I had imagined. It's built into a storefront and doesn't look like much from the outside but is designed very compactly, so there is a lot to see (but no photography!). The tight space adds to the atmosphere of espionage (as does the rampant, surreptitious camera-phone use), and the exhibits are very well done. Of course, at $16 a head and patrons streaming in and out for the full extended-hour day, they can afford to make it really cool. By the way, if anybody asks, my name is Billy Henderson; I'm a 14-year-old American student here in London on vacation for 9 days, and I have always had a mustache and a limp.

Oh, and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum just opened with—I kid you not—lines around the block. I shot it after it had closed and the lines were only half-way around the block. It's a pretty cool exterior design, with all the glass, altho I think they missed an opportunity to do a Nighthawks/Boulevard of Broken Dreams take with JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and James Dean.

Washington DC

Today I toured the Capitol and the Air & Space Museum and took pictures of the LOC and Supreme Court buildings. I'll upload all my trip photos to a gallery and post a link when I get a chance.

The Capitol was interesting; it was a weird combination of palace and rabbit warren. I took several pictures, but the best is the one everyone takes: the Apotheosis of Washington in the ceiling of the Rotunda. Man, I gotta get a rotunda.

Then I visited the White House Visitor Center, which was a real disappointment. I knew there wasn't much there, but really... I was shocked to find that it was barely more than a rather poor gift shop (altho it's in a beautiful space in the side of the Commerce building). There were a few pieces of White House furniture, a few pieces of old plaster moldings, one nice 1801 model of the WH, and lots of big photographs. In the corner, they had a couple of TVs playing one of the WH documentaries. Not bad, mind you; just disappointing.

It's unseasonably hot and humid this weekend and things are a little more spread out than I thought, so getting around is tiring. I haven't seen too many of the trolleys or tourmobiles, so I didn't get a pass for those. I've taken a few taxis, which are plentiful.

I'm too dumb to have brought a backpack to carry stuff, so I haven't bought much. What else? Umm, sodas are cheap on the street. It's a good-looking city, which frankly surprised me. There are a lot of German tourists. Cops are everywhere, and they seem to be attached to different departments. They all have their own metal barricades that say "Property of the Supreme Court Police" or whatever. Apparently, they're afraid that other cops are going to steal their barricades.

UPDATE: Went out after dark again and snapped the WH (tripods not allowed on the WH side of the PA Ave, by the way), the inside of the Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, and Vietnam memorial. Somehow I missed the Korean Memorial in the dark, but I did see the signpost from MASH in the American History temporary exhibit in the Air & Space Museum, so that's something.

I can't believe how dark it is around the memorials. Half the street lamps are out and the others are so dim you have to use the light from your cellphone to find them. Even at nearly midnight there was a crowd at the Vietnam Memorial; it was so dark that it took several tries before I got a nice pic, and the crowd had emptied out.

In DC

Made it to DC and went down to the White House before sunset and shot some pics (see What's New). For some reason, there were terns flocking all over on the south side. Maybe the chefs ruined a big fish dinner and tossed the evidence out on the tennis court. White-soled shoes only, birds!

I also went around on the south side and shot the new structure there. It looks temporary to me, but certainly very solid. Perhaps it's meant to cover some extensive below-grade expansion about to begin. I also noticed some earth-moving equipment hidden in the trees on the east side, but I think there has been some work going on there for a while.

UPDATE: Went out again after dark and got some great photos of the memorials with a tripod and bracketed exposures. I shot the Lincoln, Washington, WW2, and Jefferson memorials and plan to get the White House and other memorials tomorrow night.

Old stuff

Added a few old exteriors in the last couple of days.

DC trip

Finding myself with still more time on my hands and access to air and hotel points, I've booked a trip to Washington, DC for next Thursday. It's too short of notice to get a ticket to the WH tour, but that's how my business trips to DC have been in the past too. I'll knock around the town for a couple of days and plan a more comprehensive trip with WH tour for a few months from now.

Of course, I had tried to plan a trip with WH tour for sometime in June, but as I researched it, I came to think that I wouldn't be able to get WH tickets. After talking to the local congressman's office, I found that, with advance notice, a small group could be accommodated in a larger group that is already going.

Grounds

Added several photos of the grounds courtesy of vistor Lafayette.

New front page - old Family Dining Room

I've changed the front page for October to the old Family Dining Room around 1900. The gallery of past front pages is available as usual.

Who is WHAT?

Portfolio Art Blog notes that the White House Acquisition Trust bought The Builders (Jacob Lawrence, 1947) for the Green Room for $2.5 mill. Who is WHAT? Wikipedia says its a fund for buying stuff for the WH and is worth $8.5 mill, or was until recently.

Kitchen day

It's kitchen day! Get your kitchen photos. And read all about the kitchens, courtesy of the WH Historical Association.

Idle curiosity

Poking around the WH website, I came across a photo of Barney on the south lawn next to what is described as a "drainage ditch." I recognized this from the HABS collection as almost certainly the Andrew Jackson "milk trough" and felt superior for a moment before realizing that I have no idea what that is either.

West Wing construction

Hmmm. What's going on at the West Wing? Structural steel beam construction? Is the president adding on a rumpus room?

Hodge Podge

Added a few old photos that Jim Hood had posted on Facebook WH Fanatics group. Thanks Jim!

Jefferson's White House and ours

Finally got a chance to read thru WH History #17, which explores Jefferson's White House and includes a few terrific recent photos, which I've added. The part on Jefferson is rather thin on details about the house itself and deals more with servants and dining, but it did provide some interesting tidbits that I added to the 1803 first floor plan. I've also added a separate page for Jefferson's enhancements to the house.

UPDATE: New Green Room from Time.

Green Room makeover

The Green Room has gotten new carpet and some reupholstered chairs, according to the Wa Po.

Coolidge

Added a few Coolidge-era photos from the WH History collection, including state rooms and West Wing.

WH in HD

Stephen M writes:

I have been watching C-Span's Presidential Libraries series. Tonight on the segment from President Truman's library, the moderator and Richard Norton Smith were discussing Mr. Truman's renovation and it was announced that a new White House program will be released in the Spring.

They are supposedly filming in HD at the White House currently, according to the moderator. They also said it would "show the White House like you've never seen before." We'll see about that I guess.

They said to keep watch for future information releases on the video, that it should be sometime after the primaries in the Spring.

White House Museum library

One thing that struck me about the Lincoln Museum is the library attached to it. One section was a small private collection of books about all the presidents ("Someone wrote a book about Millard Fillmore?" Yep.) It has convinced me that any real White House Museum also needs a research library—broader, but not as deep as any of the existing presidential libraries.

Ooh, I just thought of something. The library could be built as a replica of the Taft-Hoover West Wing, with a replica of the original Oval Office as the centerpiece.

Lincoln Museum

I spent a few hours at the Lincoln Museum today, and the experience was terrific. The exhibits consisted of life-like figures, multimedia displays, and lots of giant documents. There wasn't a lot in the way of personal memorabilia, tho; I think I could have fit everything they had that Lincoln actually touched in the trunk of my car. It would have been nice to see, you know, Lincoln's limousine or helicopter or something, like at the Reagan museum. They did have an impressive recreation of his funeral, tho, which is something I guess. You won't find that at the Clinton museum. Also, by the end of it, I really wanted an interactive experience where you get to spank Tad Lincoln.

Some of the multimedia displays were really, really cool. Projectors threw shadows of rain on the wall or images of naysayers in mid-air. There was a gallery of political cartoons that could have been boring, but they were framed in crooked frames and hung on crooked walls, which created a disorienting effect that would be fun to replicate with my own photos. The whole White House part had a funhouse atmosphere that made me half-expect to see ladies' dresses flipped up by a blast of air at the end (accompanied by the disembodied laughter of Tad, naturally).

There was a recreation of the Blue Room, guest bedroom (where Willy lay in a fever), and Lincoln's office, all of which gave me a deeper appreciation of Victorian style.

I would have taken more pictures, but they don't allow photos in the exhibits, because they don't want people stealing all their juicy history or possibly learning anything outside the museum. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was the same way. Hey, if you want to see Roy Orbison's lousy spelling* or Britney Spear's denim-and-leather-flames ensemble, you'll have to go to Cleveland. That kind of knowledge isn't free.

* To be fair, every example of original song lyrics had lousy spelling, even Robbie Robertson's.

Road trip: Lincoln Museum

Finding myself with some time on my hands and access to a fast car and plenty of Mountain Dew, I've decided to take a day trip to Springfield, IL tomorrow to see the Lincoln Museum.

Here is a portrait of Lincoln that I colorized a few weeks ago when I was bored.

Artifacts

Added a few artifacts from White House History collection 1, including a recreation of the second floor around 1801 that I based on the 1801 inventory detailed in the Adams article.

UPDATE: Link to the photo Patrick mentioned regarding the remnants of the original and later grand staircases.

Kennedy revisit

Added several images from the Kennedy era showing some of the renovation. Also included the layout of the West Wing at the time.

Sofas

Joe asks:

Any reason the Monroe era sofa in the Blue Room has been replaced by the McKim, Mead, and White sofa? And if so what happened to the earlier sofa?

I don't know of a reason, so we might put it down to taste. And sometimes furniture is switched so it can be repaired or reupholstered. I don't think the Monroe sofa would be put anywhere else.

Oval Office rug mouse pads

After I mentioned it on the Facebook discussion about WH product wish-lists, I traded a couple of notes with a contact from MouseRug about the possibility of them creating mouse pads of the Oval Office rugs. They're going to look into it.

I've added pics of the Reagan and Bush 2 rugs and improved the Clinton one, but the quality isn't the best (the Bush rug is really Pete's repro). I had inquired with the National Archives a year ago about photos of OO rugs and got an ambivalent response, but no follow-up.

Board of Directors

I've removed the "Board of Directors" list of living presidents from the About page. White House Associate Counsel Kenneth Lee sent a request to remove George W Bush's name as "honorary member."

1970s again

Added more of the 1970s photos and one from 2001. The Carter West Sitting Hall was a real mish-mash of pattern and color. Ugh.

1970s and others

Added several great photos from the Nixon renovation and a few others, sent by Christopher S. Several more coming.

1952 and 1962 second floor

I cleaned up the 1952 and 1962 second floor plans. The 1952 plans came from the Report of the CREM and had every single door numbered and several other extraneous markings. The 1962 plans are a reconstruction based on the 1952 plans. The result is much cleaner and still accurate.

Tribute in Light

My photo, from 2004.

McKim's drawings

The Library of Congress is pile of cheeky monkeys, teasing us with McKim's White House drawings but not making them available online. I'm not sure if that link will even work. There's no proper perma-link listed. If not, I searched for "temporary executive offices".

UPDATE: Changed the link. Maybe that will work better. You can also go to the search page and search for "temporary executive offices".

Ike staff book and Nat'l Geo article

Just stumbled across an amazing page from the Eisenhower Library with scans of the staff book and Nat'l Geo article. There are staff photos and bios, a whole chronology, and then the whole WH article with color pics. Keen, as they said back then.

Unfortunately, the scans are rather... cajun-style; so blackened they've lost all detail in the shadows (they're Monroe Room; my Monroe Room).

I've already added JB West's picture to his Wikipedia article.

White House furniture

John in NOLA sent a note that reminded me that I've never mentioned that reproductions of White House furniture are available from New York First Company, The History Company, and others. You can buy a full-scale reproduction of the Resolute desk, a queen-size reproduction of the Lincoln Bed, and Kittinger chairs of the same models used in the Cabinet Room, Roosevelt Room, and elsewhere (also available direct from Kittinger).

You can also get the desk directly from Victorian Replicas (US, I think), where it's bargain-priced at 6 Gs instead of 12. Over at The President's Desk (Canadian), you'll pay more, but you can have it your way, in oak or mahogany, in three sizes, and with a variety of leather tops. And you can get matching credenzas and bookcases. Similar choices are available from Dominic Gerard (US, but made in Asia).

Rafi Furniture (Indonesia) seems to offers the Resolute and the Lincoln Bed (also queen-size) for far less than the others and claims to be highly accurate. Ryuki Furniture (Indonesia?) makes the desk also. The East Bay Trading Company offers one for a little more, probably imported from Rafi or Ryuki, altho they specify that it features a fold-down front for a keyboard and grommets for monitor wiring.

I'm curious as to whether any readers have ever bought one of these replicas.

Facebook White House Fanatics group

Link to the White House Fanatics group Pete set up on Facebook. I've also made it permanently available on the right.

Where in the world is Calvin Coolidge?

Added a few more strays. But where the heck were these taken?

Coolidge and the ghost of Harding
Coolidge alone
Coolidge outside in antique chair
The Mrs., sittin' and knittin'
Coolidge in mourning

Miscellany

Added a few more images that were left over.

UPDATE: Fixed a couple of mistakes and added a couple of extras that I had gotten from the LOC and never added.

Intereriors

Finally got thru the last of the interiors from the NYPL and the remainder of the good plates from Singleton's Story.... Singleton's book came out shortly after the turn of the century, so there was a good selection of 1890s as well as 1900s photos, which is just what was missing from the NYPL selection.

Faces

North faces. South faces. I've got faces and I've posted them.

And you can post your face too, now that Pete has set up a Facebook group for White House enthusiasts. I can't access Facebook from work, but I can access Wikipedia, so here a link to the Wikipedia entry for Facebook.

UPDATE: Below are the two illustrations I mentioned previously from Singleton's Story.... I haven't added them to the site because they seem too fanciful, with their weird windows and all. They are very similar tho, perhaps so similar that the later one (dated 1800) was based on the earlier one (dated 1799).

Open post: mantelpieces

Feel free to comment on the history of mantels thruout the White House. (And feel free to spell it "mantle" if you like; I obviously thoroly approve of alternative spellings.)

Etchings

Several new additions of the mid-1800s, mostly sent by Christopher S.

Now that I have so many great images from that era, I'm breaking out a new page or two in the history to provide more detail.

It occurs to me that the Bush renovations may warrant a page of their own. The list of rooms they have renovated is substantial: the Family Theater, Press Briefing Room, pool cabana, Sit Room.... And they've redecorated several family rooms and West Wing rooms.

Announcing: The White House in 3D

I have just posted a new page to house the latest addition to the site: Pete Sharkey's incredible 3D White House. Pete has put untold hours into building a complete and highly detailed and accurate Presidential Park with White House extererior and grounds, giving us the opportunity to view it from perspectives we've never had before. Look all around the roof, the grounds, the gardens.... It's amazing.

For those who remember Pete's fantastic Oval Office replica, this one is only the exterior, so you can't peak into Laura Bush's dressing room.

You'll need to load Google's SketchUp or SketchUp Viewer (both free) and download the BIG 20 MB file, or you can just look at the many great images on the page. You can use the tour feature (View>Animation>Play) or click on the page tabs on the top of the opened model to see preset views

Thanks, Pete! For diligence, persistence, and patience in toiling in the basement over a hot oven, I hereby award you the Chef Roland Mesnier Baked Mansion Award (the "Rollie").

Red Room and more

Added several photos to the Red Room page, as well as a couple of strays elsewhere, including a great one of the FDR West Sitting Room from Christopher S.

New front page - Nixon Briefing Room

Changed the front page to that great picture of the Press Briefing Room when it was brand new in 1970. It makes you want to kick back, have a cigarette, leaf thru Look magazine, and wait for Ron Ziegler to come and tell you what statements are inoperative today.

Green Room and more

Added some pictures of the Green Room room and one stray pic of the old main staircase with the Clevelands leaving for their honeymoon, at least as it was imagined by a Harper's Weekly illustrator. Not as much change in the Green Room as in others. The the chandelier globes and ceiling decor are about the only clues in 1880s and 90s. It's possible that I just haven't found a real 1893-1902 photo yet.

The Story of the White House

I just received Esther Singleton's 1907 tour de force two-volume The Story of the White House. I got the two volumes from different sellers, and they are obviously different editions. V1 is inscribed with an elegant hand with a Christmas greeting and dated 1907, so it's a first edition. The other is likely 1960 vintage.

V1 includes a couple of very interesting circa 1800 engravings that seem to be a bit fanciful. V2 has numerous interior photo plates that are just stunning in their sharpness and detail. I'll capture them this weekend and add them after I finish with the NYPL stereographs.

Thanks again to Christina, who pointed me to the copies available (cheap!) on Alibris.

State Dining Room

Added some photos to the State Dining Room page showing the same kind of changes—chandeliers, Johnson's geometric walls being repainted—thru the 1870s and 1880s that are apparent in other rooms.

It's too bad that Johnson didn't have the whole mansion properly photographed before his daughter made it over, so that we'd have a better historical record of the house in Lincoln's time. After all, they knew they were living in an extraordinary time and that Lincoln was destined to be a major historical figure.

UPDATE: Holy crap, I rushed my birthday. When I wrote this post late last night, I post-dated it and skipped a day. Hurray! I'm still only 39! In your face, Jack Benny!

Family rooms

Now available: old photos of the Family Dining Room, Master Bedroom, and Living Room in the 19th century. These were tricky to date, and I might not have them right yet.

UPDATE: I went back in and found a few pictures that offered zoom functionality. This allowed me to get more detailed captures of parts of the image, which was helpful in the case of the stereographs. Still working on the Red and Green, State Dining, Yellow Oval, and north and south face pictures.

East Room

Added several images to the East Room page showing the fascinating changes from the 1860s thru the 1890s and even one of JBK's "portable" theater.

UPDATE: I've made several changes based on an improved understanding of the changes made by Grant/Patterson in 1873 and Arthur/Tiffany in 1882. I think I need to expand my renovations pages.

Junk and stuff

Added some more pictures from the LOC, NYPL, John in NOLA, and other acronyms.

I've been sequencing the NYPL pics of the East, Green, and Red rooms, scanning for all the little details that indicate the date (since almost none of them are dated) and I'm getting a little dizzy. I think it's all the 3D effects from looking at the stereographs.

UPDATE: Link to WHHA PDF where I got the 1918 China Room pic, also containing the pic of Gugler's Oval Office design with different 1934 window treatment.

Blue Room, you saw me standing alone...

Added several images from the NYPL stereographs of the Blue Room from the 1860s, 1870s, and 1890s. You can see the changes in chandelier, sconces, and wall coverings over the decades.

More from the LOC

More from the LOC, including four spectacular color etchings from around 1887.

UPDATE: Had to remove the links to the JBK video, since they had been removed from YouTube.

Third on Reagan's right

Third on Reagan's right in this photo is Otis R Bowen (Wikipedia), secretary of Health & Human Services and former governor of Indiana. 89-year-old Doc Bowen attended the 2nd Annual Bremen Old-Timers Softball game yesterday to throw out the first pitch, and your intrepid reporter is there. Doc pitched men's softball in Bremen in the 1940s. While governor and secretary, he was known to write out prescriptions for cold and flu remedies for colleagues and reporters.

Old West Wing

Went back thru my LOC collection and added some pictures of the Taft-Hoover Oval Office, old Cabinet Room, and old laundry.

UPDATE: I noted the presence of future presidents Coolidge and Hoover in the Harding Cabinet pic and Hoover in the Coolidge Cabinet.

Early etchings

Added some mid-1800s etchings to various rooms in the Residence, most of these from Seale's ...Idea. It's funny how etchings are pretty common in this pre-photography period but not earlier, in the 1800-1840 era.

Something... amazing

Christopher S sent a link to the New York Public Lib'ary site where there is something... amazing. This will require some time to digest. If you're peeking at this post early; do not follow that link.

UPDATE: Great collection of mostly-stereograph, mostly-late 1800s photos. Unfortunately, the New York public lib'arians aren't providing very high-res scans (at least considering what is left when you crop the frame and one 'graph from a stereograph).

The ghost of White House past

Christina R sent a link to Google's scan of Esther Singleton's The Story of the White House, a 1907 two-volume examination of the history of the executive mansion (the link goes to volume 2). The image scans aren't good enough to make use of here, but most are well-known LOC images. Still, it would be nice to get hold of a copy by honest means.

She also mentioned how nice it would be to get color photos of Mamie Eisenhower's bedroom. And it occured to me that, as proud a woman as she was, photos probably do exists. With the release of the new photos on the Eisenhower Library site, maybe we'll eventually see ones of the bedrooms too. Then it occured to me that it would really be something if the WHHA worked with the Ike Library to create a "retro" An Historic Guide, seeing as how the Eisenhowers just missed having one. There are apparently enough good color photos after all. They might even be able to do Truman and FDR eras.

UPDATE: Found a cheap copy on Alibris.

Oval Office history

Posted a few old photos of the original and modern Oval Office at various times, consisting of Taft, Wilson, and Eisenhower. I find it interesting to look over the original Oval Office. It's obvious now, for example, that FDR's eagle valances were practically taken right from Hoover's windows before the office was moved, altho Seale says Gugler designed new ones. They go right back to Taft so were presumably green all along, as Seale says, altho they've always looked blue in pictures I've seen, at least until I saw one from the FDR library.

Also, yesterday, I added a few other historical pics.

White House replicas

Think you love the White House? Did you build your house to look like it? These people (and the Chinese and Lego governments) did....

Atlanta house

West of DC house

West of DC house from opposite angle

Chinese replica museum

Lego White House

And, of course, the Zweifel White House in Miniature

Thanks to Pete for the links.... Stay tuned for Pete's release of his 3D replica built in Google Sketchup. I've seen tantalizing tidbits, and I'm on pins and needles.

New additions of old editions

Just got the June 1992 Town & Country and October 2000 Life from Eric B, and they look fantastic! Thanks, Eric! Also, another edition of An Historic Guide arrived from Ebay, this one the 19th edition, from 1995.

Also, I added four diagrams: 1911 East Wing, 1911 West Wing, 1911 Residence, and the 1992 front door.

White House wedding?

CNN is reporting that Jenna Bush plans to marry Henry Hagar Hager, heir to the Hagar Slacks fortune.* Chances are that the wedding will take place at the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine or maybe the Crawford ranch (especially if Wonkette is right), but there is the outside chance that we could see another wedding in the White House.

* I may have that wrong. Actually, he was Karl Rove's aide.

Happy dollar coin release day

Another dollar coin release day is upon us, and I have only just taken down my garlands and wreaths from the Adams coin release. This one is the Jefferson coin, a stately portrait of the first president to enjoy indoor plumbing. The ones I have all say "In God we trust," but Jefferson's really ought to be more noncommittal.

The "lavish" Mr. Van Buren

I added a quote from Rep. Charles Ogle (W-PA) to the Blue Room from his "Gold Spoon" speech decrying President Van Buren's living habits. It's a notoriously unfair tirade (which I tried to make clear) but points out some interesting things and is nicely indicative of the haranguing that many presidents take over ordinary expenditures. Seale has an article on it in PDF format.

His speech also covered the East Room and State Dining Room and mentions the Green and (at the time) Yellow Parlors. The dining room bit is especially nasty, in that Ogle implies that Van Buren--and not Ogle's fellow Whig, Monroe--bought the great gold "plateau."

National Geographic 1961

Got my hands on a January 1961 National Geographic with the tour of the Eisenhower White House. It has a number of beautiful photographs (candy-coated Kodachrome), so I added some of the Kitchen and Library, a pair of wonderful pics of the Vermeil Room that were badly needed to document the era, and one great one of the Treaty Room as Monroe Room. But—alas!—no look inside Mamie's pink bedroom....

Also added a couple more strays from the Truman library.

Update: Thanks to John in NOLA for tipping me off to the Nat'l Geo issue. I think we should do a list of all the magazines issues with big WH pictorials. I think there's a '93 Arc Dig I need to add to my collection.

Creme de la CREM

Delved back into the Report of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion from 1952 and added floor plans from there. I'm not sure why I hadn't done this before, because I photographed some of the plans months ago so I could draw the modern second and third floor plans.

As a part of this, I saw a diagram I hadn't noticed before. It shows a cross-section of the East Sitting Hall looking west, and shows clearly how the hidden staircase to the third floor is structured.

U of U collection

I posted a few new photos: one of the Palm Room entrance from Time's WH blog and a couple from the University of Utah's Marriott Library collection of Truman photos. These are the same Abbie Rowe photos but larger. However, I can't figure out how to get the full-size source pic; the link to the TIFs are all broken.

Both Truman photos are a little shaky. I'm pretty sure I've put them in the right rooms (today's Beauty Salon and Visitors Foyer), but I'm not certain.

Miscellany

Added some miscellaneous stuff the other day from Truman and Bush 1.

Also, I got a nice note from a retired USSS man (Ike and Johnson eras) and chatted with him by phone about the history of the USSS in the WH. He says the USSS has added an archivist who is gathering history to assemble a better picture of the service over the years.

He described the decision to convert a storage room under the Oval Office into a USSS shift leader office around 1965 (the press was lobbying for that space, but his security detail convinced LBJ that having journalists a few feet directly under his office was a bad idea). That's the only security office I have labeled. I've been very hands-off when it comes to WH security measures, but if the officials in the service see fit to release a comprehensive book, I'll borrow from that to add to the site.

Open post: Abe Lincoln, mystery writer

Stumbled across this story by Abe Lincoln called "The Trailor Murder Mystery," which appeared in The Illinois Whig (the magazine of Whigs, by Whigs, and for Whigs) in 1846. As a murder mystery, it's no "Telltale Heart," but as a case-study of the actual Trailor case, for which Lincoln acted as defending attorney, it's pretty interesting.

Reading between the lines, I find a coerced confession ("They still plied him in every conceivable way...") and some sloppy police work (the search for the dead man did not include the man's own home). But I find it very interesting that in the old days town postmasters played an important role in law enforcement.

Pool party?

A crazy almost-naked guy tried to get into the White House today. The White House denied that it was Henry Kissinger thinking he was late for a pool party.

Steven and Stephen

Added several terrific pictures send by Steven B and Stephen M, including some of the early Blue Room and Oval Office and some of the family quarters in the Reagan and Kennedy eras. Thanks guys!

UPDATE: I hereby award John in NOLA and Dennis the JB West Attention to Detail Award.

More from the Truman Library

Looking over the Truman renovation report again, I noticed that the west side of the third floor, aside from being labeled "pent house," is described in the New Furnishings section as "Servants' Rooms #315-#322."

That led me to search the Truman Library collection again and add a few more pictures, including a new separate page for Bathroom 315 and the Master Bathroom.

New front page: Ike Oval Office

I changed the front page to one of the great new color photos of Eisenhower's Oval Office.

Also: stumbled upon a great photo of Executive Pastry Chef Yosses in the Pastry Kitchen on the ABC News blog.

Miscellaneous additions

Added a couple pics sent by Stephen B and another of the Ike Oval Office pics.

After John in NOLA sent scans of a Jan 1961 Nat'l Geographic article with well-preserved images, I was able to re-color-correct the Ike-era photos (and one Kennedy-era photo) to more accurately reflect the original colors. The gray-green walls and blue-green carpet are very tricky to get right—especially with source images that are in varying stages of fading and deterioration.

UPDATE: Rare photo of President Marlon Brando and First Lady Audrey Hepburn-Brando welcoming former Governor Ronald Reagan to the White House in the Yellow Oval Room in 1981.

Mentions

Hey, super trivia deep background king Ken Jennings mentioned us. He's looking for portraits of presidents suitable for reproduction. (I know, I know: most first ladies found their husbands suitable for reproduction. He already thought of that joke. He has a brain the size of Andrew Jackson's cheese wheel.)

The WaPo also mentioned us, in regard to the movies and TV page.

And the AP references the Queen's Bedroom page.

East Room pre-Lincoln?

Stephen B sent this scan of an etching of the East Room that looks to him and to me to be pre-Lincoln. I'm not sure of where it came from (original had a frame that made it look like probably a postcard) and Stephen didn't give a hint as to its origin or age. Any takers?

I've tentatively added it to the page (with a circa 1858 date) for easy comparison.

Ike-o-rama

Andy send a note tipping me off to some Eisenhower WH photos now available on the Ike Library site. Great mansion interiors and exteriors and color Oval Office snaps! Wow! More here...

Thanks Andy! I'll get right to work on these. The WHM has been light on Ike all along.

UPDATE: Stuck in ORD for three hours, I added 16 Ike-era images, which nicely filled in holes on a dozen pages. Check out the porthole TV in the West Sitting Hall!

Andy's link to the Kennedy before-and-after photos. These are already included in the WHM.

New old photos

Added several more historical photos forwarded by Pete. Thanks, Pete!

Also, I saw The Simpsons Movie and posted my review of its depiction of the White House, which didn't change from seeing it in the trailer.

PS— I still don't have a review of Commander in Chief. Didn't anyone watch that show?

Virtual White House tour: meh

Someone called Henny X has produced a virtual White House for Sim games. I don't know a lot about the Sim universe, but I can see that a lot of work went into creating the replica, but not a lot of research....

UPDATE: John's link to JBK's childhood home

UPDATE: Shane's sim Octagonal Office

Stephen Colbert in the White House

For some reason I haven't figured out, fake pundit Stephen Colbert visited the White House Press Briefing Room the other day. The Hou Chron is there....

Also, I've added Pete's review of seasons 4-6 of The West Wing to the Movies & TV page.

Resolute desk question

Allen L asks about the Resolute desk:

In some photos of the desk througout history there is a plaque on it. In some photos its on the front of the desk and in some its on the back (where someone would be seated) and now it doesn't seem to be there at all. My questions are

1. If the plaque is no longer there..where is it? who had it removed and why?

and

2. Why is the plaque on different sides of the desk depending on the photo?

Open post: Nothing new

Busy weekend and training this week. Nothing new from the White House.

Shane pointed out this YouTube clip of the new Press Briefing Room.

West Wing ground floor

Substantial changes to the WW ground floor based on info from knowledgeable sources, now showing, for example, the fact that the Navy Mess pick-up window was moved.

My eyes! The goggles do nothing!

Just saw a trailer for the new Simpsons movie with "President Schwarzenegger." We'll have to review the accuracy of their depiction of the White House. My first impression:

There are too many windows on the north face. The proportions of the Oval Office are right, but the sofas are too far apart. The blind doors have been turned into normal doors, and the east side doors to the Rose Garden have been switched with the door and book cases on the west side. There is a naval painting over the mantle, which is appropriately Kennedy-esque, but I don't think any previous president has actually had a nameplate on his desk; it seems... unnecessary. The rug is rather Clinton-esque.

Goggles clip....

More mess

The Navy Mess post prompted more input from knowledgable sources. More changes soon....

UPDATE: Changed the ground floor layout and added some new pics provided in kindly fashion by Pete.

What a mess...

Bryan D e-mailed me about a recent minuscule change to the WW ground floor page where I added a label for "Ward Room." I got a tip about the Ward Room some time ago and had only managed to research it enough to feel I understood what and where it was enough to add a reference. On a ship, the ward room is an officers' mess and lounge room, so I think the WH Ward Room is probably a fancier dining room just off the Navy Mess dining room. It seems likely, then, that some of the pictures I have on the Navy Mess page are actually of the Ward Room, so I made mention on the Navy Mess page.

• Rush Limbaugh 2006 (lunch with Rove, "seats about 14 people")
  
• Bob Novak 2005 (policy meetings)
• WSJ 2003 (lunch in "dark, wood-paneled...," quoted half-way down)
  
• Washington Monthly (VIP lunch)
  
• Time 1997 (political strategy session, about 2/3 down)
  
• Time 1996 ("a small, private conference room next to the White House mess," about half-way down)

Open post: PBR

Added a few more pics of the briefing room. Now that we've seen it, what are your reactions?

Another Hou Chron blog entry from Julie Mason.
Mark Silva's The Swamp blog entry.

Lady Bird passes

Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson has passed away at the age of 94, the epitome of southern charm and grace. Condolences and best wishes to her family and friends.

UPDATE: Link to tribute site. Also, changed the front page to that wonderful photo of her swirling around the Central Hall.

Press Briefing Room

Briefing room is due to be unveiled today. Pete points out that around 8:00 AM "people may want to try to tune in to CNN or something like that to see George and Laura host the unveiling ceremony." I'll post updates during the day as better pics become available. I expect Time's WH Photo of the Day to have a good one early.

UPDATES:
WH release
WH fact sheet

ABC/AP story, with gut-wrenching "President Bush is a real cut-up" lede.
Examiner/AP story, same writer, leaving the excrutiating turns of phrase to the president.

FLASH: Hou Chron's Julie Mason rocks the inside scoop--pool pics!

President Bloomberg's White House

Weird article on how Michael Bloomberg might alter the West Wing... if he wanted to make it like his current offices.... if he were to become president... if he were to run....

Press Briefing Room

Still awaiting decent pictures of the new Press Briefing Room and Press Offices.... Here is another article, with images that will make any photographer wince. Why pay professionals handsome salaries if you're only going to display their pictures 274 pixels across?

The article says they haven't enlarged it at all and have even kept the pool—the pool that's been covered and unused for fully half its existence.

UPDATE: Added pics to the Press Briefing Room and Press Offices pages, including a mind-blowing photo of the brand-new Nixon briefing/tea party room from a great article passed along by both Robert and Pete.

Ford auction

Jack M passed along the details of the Guernsey's Gerald R Ford auction being held this weekend. The catalog (PDF) consists of 45 pages of items from the Ford home in Beaver Creek, Colorado, including engraved gives from Lucille Ball, golf memorabilia, and several elephant collectibles.

Thanks, Jack!

Guernsey's is also separately selling a genuine JFK rocking chair.

Happy Independence Day

Today--more or less--marks the first anniversary of the White House Museum grand opening. There was a "soft opening" in June, but that was mainly to make sure the pH balance in the fountain was right and the security system was working. Over time, we've overcome the serious setback of being robbed by Danny Ocean and are ready for what the next year brings.

A dip in the press pool

Julie Mason of the Houston Chronicle has indeed come thru with pics of the new press area! I didn't realize it at first because the Chron bloggers moved to a new site.

I also missed the tee-ball coverage.

New front page: Bush 2 Lincoln Bedroom

I changed the front page to one of the new Lincoln Bedroom. The WHHA seems to be holding off on a new An Historic Guide until the Bush renovations are complete, but that may be January 2009....

Interesting shot of the gold chairs in, I think, the East Room.

Also: congratulations to Mimlog on a, uh, Minilog.

Open post: Press room

Press Briefing Room and offices are apparently nearly finished. Perhaps Julie Mason will get us some pics!

Or maybe not.

Grounds

After a busy family weekend, I've added a couple of photos sent by Steven Brawley from his tour of the gardens. Others are available on his site, PinkPillbox.com.

Mrs. LBJ hospitalized

Lady Bird Johnson has been hospitalized. Best wishes to her and her family.

Mrs. Madison's Oval Saloon

Posted an interesting artist's conception of Mrs. Madison taking down the red curtains in the oval drawing room to spririt them to safety before the British regulars arrived and made coats out of them, or whatever she imagined would happen. I'd love to see more reconstructions of this sort of thing. Heck, they do it for dinosaurs.

...Not that I want to see Dolley Madison with a reptilian snout and feathered arms....

Also, I've switched the second floor layout back to show the spiral stair in place of Margaret Truman's bathroom. I've tried to figure out how to wedge a lavatory in there, but it doesn't seem possible without making the kitchen considerably smaller. Maybe that's correct, but I won't bother without more evidence.

AND, I redid the 1880 second floor layout and added an 1880 first floor layout.

Picture day!

Picture day at the White House! The staff apparently organized several college groups in different rooms around the Residence, and the president ran from one to the next to pose with them. Putting the Berkeley group in the bathroom seems partisan to me, but maybe they requested it.... ;-)

Note: A quick check reveals no flip flops! That's probably a WH photo op rule now, but you gotta know that some showed up in them anyway and had to borrow Laura's pumps.

Kennedy kitchen remodel

Stephen M sent a note about the history of Margaret Truman's bathroom and the kitchen elevator that convinces me that the bathroom still exists in place of the spiral stairs. The basic gist is that, "according to Carl Sferrazza Anthony's book, The Kennedy White House (see page 66) the bathroom was retained." I've changed the floor plan accordingly.

Harrison china

Visitor Rafael passed along photos of a piece of Harrison china he's interested in selling.

I have an original China from Benjamin Harrison, it is a commemorative China, that was given by Harrison to a Cuban Senator. Its made by Limonges, painted by hand.

The imprint may be of help to anyone who's interested.

Oval Office rug replica

Came across this interesting photo of the rug for the Oval Office replica in the Clinton Library being manufactured. The caption reads, "Being made at Scott Group Custom Carpets in Grand Rapids. It is a replica of the one they made for his Oval Office in the White House."

Also, came across a good early pic of Bush 2 in the Oval Office with the Reagan rug.

First Lady's gilded cage, Burma remix

The White House has posted a terrific picture of the first lady in her offices, meeting with Burmese representatives. Comparing this to the recent West Wing corridor pic, I see that the room has the same carpet as the West Wing.