![]() ![]() Thus, the few foreign diplomats dispatched to these upstart former-colonies, were welcomed like the visiting royalty they represented.Īmbassadors from Britain, France, Spain and other European countries, accustomed to pomp, ceremony and inviolable etiquette, were usually dismayed at the “democratic” tendencies of US dinner parties.īut mostly, the so-called “state” dinners of early Presidencies honored their own: Governors, Victorious Generals, the Supreme Court Justices, the Congress, and sometimes for former or incoming presidents. The problem was that with 3,000 miles of ocean on one side, and 3,000 miles of unknown frontier on the other, not too many heads of state were coming for dinner. “State” Dinners, however, were formal banquets for the highest level guests, and could be either large or small. ![]() But it was the charming First Lady Dolley Madison who put the White House on the map as a social Mecca, hosting not only intimate luncheons and suppers, but grand weekly soirees, for some 300 people. ![]() Thomas Jefferson, the soul of elegance, preferred the “small” table, perhaps a dozen to twenty guests. John and Abigail Adams were considered gracious hosts. The White House State Dining Room, perhaps around the 1870s. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |