The White House and Holidays Past
Even in the 1920s, the economy had quite an effect on the holidays, starting with changes for the president and his family. In 1928 Herbert Hoover and his wife had done their holiday shopping in Rio de Janeiro and celebrated Christmas Day on a battleship traveling back from their good-will tour of Latin America. It was reported that in 1929 they were to celebrate very differently. Here are some of the aspects of the Hoovers’ 1929 celebration:
The White House Christmas dinner featured two turkeys that were killed by one of the President’s secretaries, Lawrence Richey. Richey also gave the White House staff half of his other killings, three pheasants and two mallard ducks. “Mr. Richey is by no means a frail man, but when he entered the White House with all those birds hung over his shoulders, he had some difficulty walking.” (The New York Times, 12-24-29)
