Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[RJNorton]

That is a very logical guess, Gene, but it is not FDR.

[Anita]

I think it's McKinley because of talk of monetary stability and protective tariffs. Also his distinctive accent.

[AussieMick]

Herbert Clark Hoover?

[RJNorton]

Very good thinking, Anita! Yes, it is William McKinley during the 1896 Presidential campaign. I believe he was standing on his front porch during this speech as that is where he conducted the campaign. He beat William Jennings Bryan in the election.

Good try, Michael.

[Anita]

Thanks Roger. I didn't know they had recordings that far back. How did they record on his front porch?

[RJNorton]

Anita, I do not know, but it came from here:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:...h_1896.ogg

I posted the last part of that as an .mp3 file.

[L Verge]

(01-14-2019 06:38 PM)Anita Wrote:  Thanks Roger. I didn't know they had recordings that far back. How did they record on his front porch?

When was the recording of Edwin Booth's voice made?

[Steve]

(01-14-2019 07:34 PM)L Verge Wrote:  When was the recording of Edwin Booth's voice made?

Edwin Booth made two recordings in April 1889 at the Players' Club; one a recording of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy and the other with one of Othello's speeches.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1935/...th-placed/

[L Verge]

Thanks, Steve. His recordings were done on equipment belonging to Thomas Edison, I believe. Also, our own Kathy Canavan has a website at lincolnwonk.com and posted this about five years ago:

Hear Edwin Booth’s performance
24
Wednesday
Apr 2013
There were no voice recording machines around to capture John Wilkes Booth’s performances, but the C. Robert Vincent Voice Library at Michigan State University has a recording of Edwin Booth performing Othello.

The scratchy recording is difficult to access at the Vincent Library site, but it’s been posted on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM82m1MJn_g

The Vincent Voice Library doesn’t include President Lincoln, but go to http://www.lib.msu.edu/cs/branches/vvl/p...index.html to listen to the voices of Presidents Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford or Ronald Reagan.

For detailed (but short) history on the recording and playback of sound, go here: http://time.com/5084599/first-recorded-sound/

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks for the voice link, Laurie - that's cool (and a bit eerie)!

[L Verge]

This should be an easy one: When President and Mrs. Lincoln (likewise when each individually) visited New York City, what was their favorite hotel in which to stay?

[Susan Higginbotham]

I believe it was the Metropolitan.

[Steve]

Astor House, where the Lincolns stayed during their inauguration tour? Although, I agree with Susan that the Metropolitan definitely seems to be Mary's favorite hotel when she traveled to New York without her husband.

[L Verge]

Astor House was what I was looking for, but I am going to accept the Metropolitan Hotel also. My source for this info is my book on The Civil War Lover's Guide to New York City.

First, here's what the author says about the Astor House: ...the most luxurious hotel in the city during the Civil War. It had more than 300 rooms and occupied the entire block. ...the five-story Astor House sported Greek Revival columns that opened onto an opulent lobby off of which were gardens and dining rooms, all exquisitely decorated. It was the preferred hotel for Abraham Lincoln and his wife...whenever they visited the city. Mention is then made of their visit in July of 1857, as tourists; February of 1860, when he put the final touches on his Cooper Union speech; the stop there en route to Washington in 1861, and his ride down Broadway in a open carriage with throngs cheering him (even though the city had voted overwhelmingly against him). ...Mary enjoyed staying there on her shopping trips to the city -- more than a dozen trips over the four years as First Lady. The hotel was also one of the targets of the Confederate conspiracy to burn much of the city on the night of November 25, 1864, but staff quickly brought the fire under control.

About the Metropolitan: It was one of the first-class hotels that clustered along Broadway during the mid-1800s. Its advertisements touted 13,000 square yards of carpet and 12 miles of water and gas lines that supplied the two-acre building with light and running water. It was another Confederate target in November of 1864 - in fact the two saboteurs actually resided in the Metropolitan while they made their plans. "Although Mrs. Lincoln stayed at the Astor House during her visits to the city, she is said to have preferred the meals served at the Metropolitan."

[Susan Higginbotham]

She also stayed at the Fifth Avenue Hotel as First Lady. It was equipped with a "vertical railway"--i.e., an elevator.

http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2012/01...-atop.html