New front page – West Wing corridor

I’ve changed the front page to a nice photo of Obama walking thru a corridor in the West Wing with a gift-wrapped present. It’s by Pete Souza, of course, from back in October, but seems appropriately Christmasy.

VP office repaint

Visitor “The Subtle Knife” points out that the VP’s office in the West Wing has been repainted blue. Quite a bold choice.

Crashing the White House

Huge tent on the south lawn (Getty)

A couple apparently crashed the White House state dinner the other night, held in a fantastic tent on the south lawn that I think the Bushes used a couple of times. I don’t typically blog about news events, even as they pertain to the White House, but I just wanted to note a couple of things about the coverage.

• It’s a slow news day, so anything of national interest is going to make headlines.
• Even proper party guests don’t get into the White House without being screened for weapons.
• People who represent a serious security risk would not have gotten in.
• That was a beautiful dress.

I regard this as less a breach of security than a breach of state protocol, but the couple will obviously face some serious questioning, and shrugging it off as a harmless prank isn’t going to cut it. I see a public apology and community service in their future.

Turkey pardoning vid

POV vid of the West wing… from a turkey’s eye view.

Thanks to Tinman!

The triumphant return of Peter Sharkey

After taking some time to have a family life earlier this year, Pete Sharkey is hard at work again on 3D models. This time, he is creating a more detailed model of Air Force One than the current one. See it progress on Wingnut’s Workings. Thanks Pete!

Halloween at the White House and more

Navy Mess corridor

There are some great new photos available on the White House Flickr photostream, including shots of the Halloween decor and photos showing the Oval Office corridor and outer office as well as this great one of the corridor in the ground floor leading to the Navy Mess.

New front page – Taft’s study

I’ve changed the front page to one of the Treaty Room in Taft’s time. Oddly, this is the first time the Treaty Room has served as the front page in all of the 3-and-a-half years since I started the site.

Also added a marvelous Halloween photo of the north lawn.

New photos

I’ve added a few new photos based on your suggestions, including some of the vegetable garden groundbreaking and harvest. Thanks!

Early Roosevelt Room, Ushers Room, and more

I did another pass thru the Library of Congress and found a few new photos, including the Roosevelt Room before it was even the Fish Room and the Ushers Room and Linen Room. These happen to feature staff, and it’s nice to see Mr. Crim and Mrs. Nesbitt in what are practically portraits.

I also added a couple of brand new photos of the Tennis Court as basketball court.

Tennis b-ball and more

There are some great new photos available on the White House Flickr photostream, including several of the tennis court as a basketball court and some showing new carpet in the West Wing. Thanks to Colton for pointing this out!

New Flickr pics…wait what the—?

New photos were added to the White House Flickr stream yesterday. There a few nice ones in the White House itself, including one in the Family Theater.

Oh, and, uh, the Treaty Room has been redecorated apparently in burlap.

[The/Fifth] Avenue in the Rain

Have you seen me?

I got a question about the location of Hassam’s The [or Fifth] Avenue in the Rain painting during the second Bush administration. I recall looking for it at one time and not finding it, but does anyone recall seeing it hanging anywhere in one of the White House videos, perhaps?

It hangs now in the Oval Office, next to the desk, as shown in the new photo I’ve posted.

New front page — JBK bedroom

I’ve changed the front page for October to one of my favorites: Jackie Kennedy’s bedroom.

I’ve continued looking for new photos on the Library of Congress site, the Google Life photos site, and the White House Flickr feed, but there isn’t much new. I have some video captures that were sent to me that I’ve been meaning to add, but there’s not a whole lot that’s really new, just slightly different perspectives.

New Flickr feed photos

Painter in the Cross Hall

At last we’ve got some good new photos on the White House Flickr feed. These include some in the West Wing and also a rather nice one of fresh paint in the Cross Hall. Here’s a close up one that one.

New front page – old front page

I changed the front page to a beautiful photo of Mrs.s Ford and Rockefeller in the yellow-clad Solarium that I first used three years ago.

I also added a couple of new photos that I found on the Google-Life magazine site.

New Flickr photos

The White House has released some more new photos over the last several days, but there aren’t many that show interesting details of the mansion or wings. One that show the Resolute desk could have been nice, but the depth of field is so short that the president is in focus but the front of the desk isn’t.

The summer time of the first year of an administration is a natural period of a lot of travel. I suspect the first family will settle down soon as the holidays approach, and we’ll see some more interesting photos come out.

Vice-president’s residence

I’ve just added two new photos of 1 Observatory Circle that Seth B pointed me to. Great pics of the back of the house.

Senator Ted Kennedy

Multi-time White House hopeful, brother to statesmen John and Robert Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy died last night after a lengthy period of poor health. Certainly a polarizing figure in his personal as well as political life, the senator was personally known to be generous and capable of compromise. Condolences to his family.

Your refreshing beverage, Mr. President

Peter Sharkey writes:

I was watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire yesterday and a contestant was able to work all the way up to the Million-dollar question and that question was:

For ordering his favorite beverages on demand, LBJ had four buttons installed in the Oval Office labeled “coffee,” “tea,” “Coke” and what? A. Fresca, B. V8, C. Yoo-hoo, D. A&W” Basin answered Yoo Hoo which was wrong, and lost the $1,000,000 prize money.

I thought it was an interesting tidbit of info.

Oh, man. I totally knew that one.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: LBJ was the crazy uncle of American presidents. Policies aside, I would be just like him. “More water pressure! Shut off those lights! I’ve named my dogs after pronouns! I named by daughter after myself! I don’t trust a man unless I’ve got his @#$%#$ in my pocket!”

ETCetera Magazine

The September issue of the typewriter enthusiast’s ETCetera Magazine is out, and features an article by Peter Weil detailing the creation and operation of the old White House telegraph and communications room. I’m happy to say that WHM was a help to him in the creation of the article, and he graciously acknowledged the site for information, photos, and diagrams. Thanks, Peter!

Lazy days of summer

Just a few months into the new administration, and fresh and interesting photos of the White House have become few and far between. I’ve been spending most of my time on my other websites, but today, I’ve added a few new pictures that freshen up the Entrance Hall, Situation Room, and Elevator Hall. See the What’s New page.

Esquire

Had a short phone interview with an Esquire writer who is working on their answer column. We talked about the front door and the role of the chief usher in handling arrivals of the first family.

New White House stream photos

There are at last some new photos of the White House on the official Flickr photostream. I don’t think there’s anything there that it new to us, but I’ll keep looking.

Also, I’ve been sent some great video captures from recent video tours of the WH. I’ll add some of those soon. And I just got delivery of Reilly of the White House, a 1947 memoir of a Secret Service man that promises to have some interesting tidbits.

New front page – McKinley dining room

I’ve changed the front page for August to a pic of the Family Dining Room around 1900 that I had used a couple of years ago.

Grandpa Truman

Not much has been happening lately that has resulted in photo releases by the White House or other outlets, either of new or historical photos, and I’ve been quite busy with work life, but I continue to monitor the usual sources.

Meanwhile, Jack M sent along a link to a terrific article on Harry Truman from the perspective of his grandson, from the National Archives. This is mostly the post-White House Truman but includes the description of a trip to the Johnson White House. Very amusing.