I came across a couple of high-resolution overviews of the White House on a military site and cut them up to provide views of the grounds and exterior in 1984.
Also, John in NOLA sent a great cartoon from the early 20th century poking fun at TR's wildlife-encrusted State Dining Room.
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That cartoon of the Teddy Roosevelt era is a bit fuzzy - my scanner isn't the best in the world - but what's such a hoot about it is that every single thing in the room - every chair/wall/architectural element/vase/dead animal trophy/chandelier/abslolutely everything has a little cartoon of Teddy Roosevlt's face on it! I guess it's a way of saying that the new State Dining room is a monument to TR's ego! Bully!
ReplyDeleteInteresting pics of the White House grounds - It always makes me a bit sad to see Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House closed off - with the world the way it is today, I suppose they don't really have much choice. Still - who among us would have thought that 1987 was "the good old days"! It's nice to see these pics of when it still had traffic and remember it that way.
About that cartoon of Teddy's State Dining Room - I realized that it can be clicked on to enlarge it (duh...)to get the full effect...
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at it again - I suppose the big round guy must be President Taft - exploring the White House - and everywhere he looks (and they do mean everywhere) is "Teddy Roosevelt". If that's the case,(a) it makes it even funnier and (b) it must date from around 1909.
I am ashamed of myself! I had never noticed that it was Taft and not TR, who is one of my favorites.
ReplyDelete(I wish that he had run for a third consecutive term.)
Considering the breakdown in their friendship and TR's run in the Bull Moose party, the cartoon is truly political satire.
Thanks, John for making me look more closely.
Dennis - don't feel too bad - I've had that book for at least 10 years and I just thought it was some guy looking at the room! Then I really looked at it carefully and realized that it had to be Taft. And you're right - considering the fracture in Roosevelt's and Taft's friendship that does make it great political satire!
ReplyDeleteI've just been reading a wonderful biography of Nellie Taft - quite a woman! She was definitely the energy behind that operation! It's pretty much a certainty that Taft would never have been President if not for Nellie's pushing him...
That, and she pretty much willed the Cincinnati Symphony into existence. Facinating woman!