Monday, November 11, 2013

Dining at the White House

Presidential China

Tin ware, enamel ware, pottery, and even wooden utensils were the choice of most homes in the early days and on into the westward movement. Formal entertaining was not on the list of things most colonial and prairie families wanted to do. Formal entertaining required planning, space, and even outside help from servants that those early families didn’t have.

The wealthy of colonial times and later entertained lavishly with all the fine accoutrements available to them. The Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg and the early plantations such as Mount Vernon and the Carter Plantation in Virginia give evidence of those events with their elegant displays of tables set for special dinners. 

When Dolley Madison became First Lady, and moved into the White House, entertaining rose to a new level. She earned the nickname of Madame Hospitality because of her love of social events. One thing that made state dinners at the White House special was and still is the China chosen by each administration to represent that particular regime. Each First Lady chose a pattern for China to be used for special events such as State Dinners and entertaining foreign dignitaries. 


An entire room is dedicated to the China used by the Presidents down through the years. This picture shows how the room looked when the collection was fairly small. The room has undergone many transitions through the year, but is still one of the attractions that draws tourists to the area. When I was in eighth grade, we toured the White House and this one room I remember well. This picture on the right is from 1918.


This is how I remember the China Room in 1948. I lived in D.C. that year.





One interesting note is that a special clause in the appropriation bills, stated that "decayed furnishings" could be sold and the proceeds used to buy replacements. Such "furnishings" included state china, and during the 19th century the cupboards were frequently swept clean and the contents carted off to auction. The money could then be used to order a new china service that better suited the president and his family.

Even into the 20th century White House china was often given away if it was chipped or broken. Later, Congress passed a law that required all presidential china be kept or destroyed if chipped. When new dessert plates for the Johnson administration turned out badly, the White House staff smashed them against a basement wall painted with caricatures of the president's assistants.

Today many of the pieces are replicas of the original, but full services for B Harrison, Wilson, FD Roosevelt, Truman, L Johnson, Reagan, and Clinton are available. The older sets are much smaller than the newer ones and cannot be used for the largest events, but the Clinton set has 300 settings. As pieces become chipped or broken, they are destroyed and replacement pieces are ordered.

Below are a few patterns and the names of Presidents who used them. Can you match the patterns to the President? 
       

                                                                                                                                        
      

                                                                              


Presidents: A-George Washington, B-James Madison, C-James Polk, D-Abraham Lincoln, E-Lyndon Johnson.

Have fun.

Martha Rogers is a free-lance writer and was named Writer of the Year at the Texas Christian Writers Conference in 2009 and writes a weekly devotional for ACFW. Martha and her husband Rex live in Houston where they enjoy spending time with their grandchildren and attending football, baseball, and basketball games when one of the grandchildren is playing or performing. A former Home Economics teacher, Martha loves to cook and experimenting with recipes and loves scrapbooking when she has time. She has written two series as well as several other novels and novellas. The first book in her new series, Love Stays True, releases in May, 2013.





             

18 comments:

  1. Interesting post. I saw the White house from the outside and learnt about Dolly Madison and how she saved some important papers when the British stormed Washington. Also learnt she was a great hostess. I also visited both Mount Vernon and Williamsburg.
    I cant pick the china but have to say dont like any of the 5 designs that much.

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  2. This was very interesting, Martha. Would be something to see the many different kinds. Thanks for this info. don't expect ever to be thee tho. Too many other places I would rather see. But don't get to do much traveling.
    Maxie mac262(at)me(dot)com

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    1. Maxine, if you google White House Museum you'll find the site that shows many of the patterns and different views of the China Room at different times in history.

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  3. okay I'm going to give a stab at this, Martha. Top left, Polk, top right Johnson (its the only one that isn't white and looks the newest), center left Madison (it has the states on it and she was Miss hospitality so I thought maybe...), bottom right Lincoln (although this could go either way because I thought it was very patriotic and I think of Washington too however, I don't think we had the eagle as our national bird the first year). So that leaves the bottom left as Washington. Looking forward to hearing whose was whose.

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    1. Sorry, you missed them. Two of them have clues, but you have to look closely to see them. Even though Washington never got to live there, he did oversee much of the construction of the house itself.

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    2. Okay Martha let's try Washington as first row the plate in the middle. I see the WM but not sure.... So That would mean the bottom left would have to be Madison.

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  4. Hi Martha! Thank you for sharing the history of the Presidential china. How lovely it would be to see the collection on display!

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  5. Great post! My guesses would be:
    Top left - Polk
    Middle left - Madison
    Bottom Left - Washington
    Top right - Lincoln
    Bottom right - Johnson

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    Replies
    1. You have one right. I'll post the matches later this evening.

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  6. Great post, Martha! Thank you for sharing....it was so very interesting.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by. As a Home Economist, I've always been fascinated by things like this.

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  7. Interesting post! It's hard to say which plate goes with which president. I would say:

    Top left: Madison
    Middle left: Washington (based on the fact that there are fifteen states listed, and did I see something regarding the "WM" on them when I visited Mount Vernon this fall?)
    Bottom left: Johnson
    Top right: Lincoln
    Bottom right: Polk

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  8. Hi Martha! Thanks for a really neat post! It fascinating that each president gets their own china pattern, but what a waste and a shame that they just destroy the damaged pieces.
    As far as the patterns go I'd say: top left is Polk, middle left is Madison, bottom left is Lincoln, top right is Washington, and bottom right is Johnson.
    kam110476 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  9. I really enjoyed this blog on White House China! I also have seen the china room in the White House about 50 years ago. Beautiful china pieces shown. sharon, ca wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  10. Okay, here are the right answers and Debbie Lynn did get them all right. On the left: Top is Polk, Middle is Washington. bottom is Madison. On the right top is Lyndon Johnson (note all the wildflowers around the edge and Lady Bird was a wildflower enthusiast) then on the bottom right is Lincoln. To see more you can visit the White House Museum site and follow the links from furnishings to the china collection and also see the China Room and how it changed through the years.

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  11. I am with Jenny none of these designs are all that interesting to me, I feel it is a great waste what each administration goes in and does while they are in the White House. It is a grand place and should be kept maintained but for so much of the things changed, it is wasted monies. your post is interesting, thanks for sharing.

    Paula O

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  12. Woo Hoo! Well, I did get a second chance and had to change 2 of my answers. :o)

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