• Bess Truman's White House Staff Christmas Gift List
    Bess Wallace Truman
    winter holidays
    staff
    lists
    documents
    Residence staff
    Christmas
    accounting
    This list was compiled for First Lady Bess Wallace Truman in 1946, to coordinate Christmas gifts presented to White House staff. It includes the names of White House butlers, kitchen staff, maids, housemen, and doormen. White House employees have long received tokens of appreciation from the president and first lady during the holidays. Gifts for staff members first became commonplace in the late 19th century, and over the proceeding decades included coins, turkeys, and personalized trinkets which varied by administration.
  • White House Social Entertainment Files Pertaining to Luncheon for 1964 Olympic Athletes
    White House Social Entertainment Office
    press releases
    menus
    lists
    letters
    invitations
    documents
    White House Guests
    receptions
    pamphlets
    This set of documents is part of a collection of social files maintained by the White House Social Entertainment Office. The items in this file pertain to a luncheon hosted by President Lyndon B. Johnson for Olympic medal winners. President Johnson hosted the luncheon and reception to congratulate approximately 100 U.S. Olympic medalists for their achievements at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. At the 1964 Tokyo Games, the American team took home 90 medals, including 36 gold medals. This folder includes invitation telegrams; drafts of the luncheon menu; a booklet by the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce about Olympic athlete Don Schollander; a booklet by the American Diary Association and United States Olympic Committee including maps, schedules, rules, former champions, athlete rosters, and administrative selecting committees at the 1964 Olympic Games; guest list drafts and correspondence; and press releases including remarks by the president to be delivered during the luncheon.
  • White House Social Files Pertaining to Luncheon for 1964 Olympic Athletes
    Office of the White House Social Secretary
    Eric F. Goldman
    sports
    receptions
    lists
    letters
    documents
    White House Guests
    This set of documents is part of a collection of White House social files maintained by White House Social Secretary Bess Abell. The documents in this file pertain to a luncheon hosted by President Lyndon B. Johnson for Olympic medal winners. President Johnson hosted the luncheon and reception to congratulate approximately 100 U.S. Olympic medalists for their achievements at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. At the 1964 Tokyo Games, the American team took home 90 medals, including 36 gold medals. This folder includes the copies of the guest list for the luncheon, a memo regarding the luncheon approved by President Johnson, as well as correspondence from Eric F. Goldman, special advisor to the president, directed to United States Olympic Committee President Kenneth L. Wilson regarding the congratulations of Olympic athletes.
  • Grocery Lists, Chef Matthew Wendel
    Bruce White
    lists
    documents
    food & drink
    This photograph of handwritten grocery lists written by chef Matthew Wendel was taken by Bruce White on February 11, 2020. Wendel was the cooked and entertained for President George W. Bush and his family. For efficiency, Wendel based the lists on the store's layout, and he also divided the items into categories so when they were bagged they could quickly be put away at the Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas. Wendel became acquainted with the Bush family in 1995, while working at the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Texas, as a waiter-caterer with the Word of Mouth catering company. After Bush was elected president in 2000, Wendel prepared comforting meals for the first family during their trips to Camp David and during visits home to the Prairie Chapel Ranch.
  • Blue Room Press Preview Schedule Recipient List (Page 2 of 13)
    Office of the First Lady of the United States
    renovation
    refurbishment
    document
    guest list
    This document regarding the press preview for the re-opening of the Blue Room was sent by the Office of the First Lady of the United States on May 12, 1972, during the Richard M. Nixon administration. It lists the recipients who would receive a schedule of the press tour, including White House Social Secretary Lucy Winchester, White House Chief Usher Rex Scouten, White House Curator Clement E. Conger, and Constance ("Connie") Stuart, First Lady Pat Nixon's press secretary. During the renovation, the Blue Room was closed from February 19, 1972, to May 15, 1972. The refurbished Blue Room’s style was inspired by the French Bellangé suite of furniture President James Monroe purchased for the room in 1817. The walls were covered with beige wallpaper, featuring an upper frieze with a flower and bowl design, and a lower border of pink flowers, cupids, and Greek figures. Blue curtains hung the length of the room. The room also included a new oval plaster design in the center of the ceiling completed by Herbert John Millard, a wood carver from Roswell, Georgia. The Blue Room's renovation was part a of larger project initiated by First Lady Pat Nixon to refurbish and renovate the White House's rooms and expand its collection. During her tenure as first lady, Mrs. Nixon acquired 600 paintings and furnishings for the White House Collection, and revamped the Red Room, Green Room, Map Room, and China Room. This document is page 2 of 13 from a compilation of files from the Office of the First Lady of the United States pertaining to the press preview and reception. For the full document, please see 1123254.