POW Week at the Nixon Library
A sheriff-led motorcade will escort Vietnam POWs to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California at 12:30PM PT. Their arrival at the Library coincides with the 40th anniversary of President Nixon’s POW homecoming dinner at the White House.
An All-American Homecoming is a new exhibit at the Nixon Library about the POWs visit to the White House. The event occurred on May 24, 1973, and it remains the largest dinner ever held at the White House. This week, the Nixon Foundation is hosting a series of events to celebrate the POWs.
Tomorrow evening, on the anniversary of the original White House homecoming, the Foundation will hold a reunion dinner for the POWs in the Nixon Library’s “East Room.” The original menu will be recreated, including American comfort foods like sirloin steak and potatoes.
Learn more about POW Week at the Nixon Library through the Nixon Foundation.
Photo: Entertainers sing “God Bless America” to the returned POW troops at the White House. From L-R: Phyllis Diller, Former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, actress Joey Heatherton, President Nixon, Songwriter Irving Berlin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Pat Nixon and Comedian Bob Hope. 5/24/73.
Space Food, Brownies, Apollo 11
Tomorrow is Space Day at the National Air and Space Museum! The Presidential Libraries of the National Archives will be there hosting a Mission Checklist hunt.
If you are in Washington D.C., come by to accept your mission and search for Apollo items at the National Archives and the Air and Space Museum.
Among your necessities: compressed brownies sealed in 4-ply laminate.
Learn more about space food from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Photo courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum.
More — Nixon and the Apollo Program
My Tuesdays are meatless,
My Wednesdays are wheatless,
I’m getting more eatless each day.
My home — it is heatless,
My bed — it is sheetless,
They’re sent to the Y.M.C.A.
The bar rooms are treatless,
The coffee is sweetless,
To-day I grow poorer and wiser.
My stockings are feetless,
My trousers are seatless,
My God! How I do have the kaiser.
This humorous poem about the United States Food Administration is found in the papers of Ben Allen who served as Chief of the Education Division and who worked many times over the years with his friend Herbert Hoover.
-from the Hoover Library
Ration Coupon for Meat, Fats, Fish, and Cheeses
The rationing of meat, butter, and cheese began during World War II on March 29, 1943.
Before and After: The White House Kitchen
A group of people tour the newly renovated White House kitchen during the Truman administration. 3/23/52.
Part of the money spent on the renovation included making sure that all of the technology and appliances in the White House were top of the line for the time.
Pictured below: East view in kitchen, during White House renovation. The brickwork for the fireplace and the tile partition south wall have been completed. In the foreground is the line of the tile partition wall between kitchen and pantry. 1/24/51.
-from the Truman Library
Source: facebook.com
National Oatmeal Cookie Day was on March 18 and we hope you all celebrated with a nice batch of warm cookies.
If not, here’s a First Family recipe for you to try. There is no date on this recipe, but the handwriting looks like it was written by a very young John Eisenhower.
Source: facebook.com
Archives holdings can contain many different records, including recipes. Here is a personal recipe for the Queen’s drop scones which President Eisenhower requested from her after a visit. This recipe is a staff favorite and invites the addition of chopped candied ginger in the batter to make a special treat to enjoy with a hot cup of tea.
Wonder if Eisenhower really used a teacup to measure flour for the Queen’s scones?
Chef assistants decorate President Nixon’s 1971 birthday cake at the Western White House Kitchen. La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente, California. January 9, 1971.
-from the Nixon Library, Photo ID WHPO 5442-02
Source: archives.gov
Did you resolve to try something new in 2013? Why not start with a recipe from the Republican Congressional Cookbook, circa 1962?
Republicans from all 50 states contributed to a compendium of regional dishes, including Chicken Luau, Maine Lobster Pie, and Scalloped Cabbage, Spaghetti, and Wisconsin Cheese.
Take a look at the cookbook from the Ford Presidential Library.
Source: http
The last meal President Richard Nixon ate at the White House. On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon announced on evening television that he would resign from the Presidency.
Source: research.archives.gov
