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Preface - The White House in Gingerbread
My memories transport me back to a time, just a few years ago and a few days before Christmas, when I was the White House executive pastry chef and the annual White House holiday parties have come to an end. We are busily cleaning the Pastry Shop. This is the time of year we go through everything—every refrigerator, walk-in co
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Scholarship
Steve Vasilakes, the White House's Peanut Man
Nicholas Stefanos “Steve” Vasilakes emigrated from Ligerea, Greece, to the United States in 1910 and soon thereafter set up his hot peanuts and fresh popped popcorn cart on what actually was White House property. He listed his business address as “1732 Pennsylvania Avenue” and reporters observed he came to represent the “little man” in America. He was described as a “burly, fierce mustached Gree
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Scholarship
Our 2015 Ornament Design Inspiration
The Coolidges celebrated their first Christmas in the White House in 1923 quietly with their sons, Calvin Jr. and John, who were both home from Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. In 1923, President Coolidge became the first chief executive to preside over a public celebration of the Christmas holidays. At 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, the president pressed a button and lit strings
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A Coolidge Christmas
In 1923 holiday anticipation grew among Washington residents, especially among the First Family. President Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge awaited the arrival of their sons Calvin, Jr. and John, who were to be home for the holidays returning from school in Pennsylvania on December 18. Mrs. Coolidge had completed her shopping and the Washington Post reported, “just what she bought for Jo
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The Presidential Sweet Tooth
As the holidays approach, thoughts inevitably turn to sugar plums, gingerbread, and all of the other delectable treats that season brings with it. Sweets signal the changing of seasons and the arrival of holidays, from cookies at Christmas to popsicles in the heat of summer. The same is true at the White House, where presidents and their families have enjoyed
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Scholarship
White House Gingerbread: Holiday Traditions
The holiday season at the White House is celebrated with an array of annual traditions, glittering holiday décor, fresh pine, and sugary treats for all to enjoy. One of the sweetest holiday traditions is the official White House gingerbread. Since the late 1960s, pastry chefs have baked, constructed, and decorated a gingerbread house for the enjoyment of the First F
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Wormley Hotel
Lafayette Square in the 19th century was the epicenter of political, social and civic activity in Washington, D.C. Originally the area was known as the President's Square and just a block from the northeast corner of this common stood an establishment known as Wormley's Hotel, probably the most successful private enterprise of its time in that area. From the
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An interview with Allida M. Black
To enhance First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day" newspaper columns, Allida M. Black, Director and Editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers and Research Professor of History & International Affairs at The George Washington University, sat down for an interview covering topics from the Roosevelt's style of entertaining to what the White House was like during World War II.
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“A Place of Peace”
“He is an organizer, a methodizer, a man of decision, a judge of values, and above all he knows the worth of time,” wrote author Elbert Hubbard of George Bruce Cortelyou (1862-1940), whose mastery of many practical administrative matters and his ability to keep up with an enormous stream of paperwork made him the forerunner of today’s White House chiefs
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The Christmas Eve West Wing Fire of 1929
On Christmas Eve 1929 the White House experienced its most powerful fire since the British torched the Executive Mansion 115 years earlier. At approximately 8:00 p.m., White House messenger Charlie Williamson smelled smoke coming from the West Wing executive offices so he alerted White House police officer Richard Trice and Secret Service agent Russell Wood. Trice and Wood ran up a winding
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Scholarship
Presidents' Day at the White House
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves have taken time to celebrate the American presidency. Originating as a public celebration of our first president, George Washington, this holiday’s commemoration has taken various forms over the years. As time passed, additional presidents, most notably Abraham Lincoln, have also
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A History of White House Flowers and Florists
April showers might bring May flowers, but White House florists keep the Executive Mansion in bloom year-round. Today the White House Chief Floral Designer and her staff have a flower shop in the basement of the mansion, beneath the North Portico. They create and maintain arrangements for display in the public and private rooms of the White House and design