Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[LincolnToddFan]

Wasn't it under President Reagan that the restored Ford's Theater was re-opened as a museum and operational building after being closed for many years?

I am aging myself but I do have very foggy memories of the re-opening.

[RJNorton]

Toia, it was earlier. It re-opened with live performances in 1968.

http://www.fordstheatre.org/home/about-f.../1968-1977

I checked Tom Bogar's excellent American Presidents Attend the Theatre and found that the first President since Lincoln to attend a performance at Ford's was President Ford on April 17, 1975. The production was Give ‘Em Hell Harry! This was a one-man show about the life of Harry Truman. Ford did not sit in the State Box; rather he sat in a historically authentic, straight-back wooden chair located in the front row of the orchestra section.

[LincolnToddFan]

Wonderful info as usual Roger...thank you!

[Eva Elisabeth]

I'll give another set a try (last one, I promise) - whose service was this one?
   

[L Verge]

Madison's?

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Madison's?

I want to change my answer. I'm going by the classic elements of design, and that made me think of the Madison era. However, I think Madison would have been during the early classic period that was more Roman in style. This china reminds me more of Greek Revival, which came later. John Quincy Adams's time in office would have begun right around the Greek Revival period, so I'll start with him.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Kudos, Laurie - Louisa and J.Q.Adams is correct!!! It's actually a French porcelain service which Adams allegedly purchased from the duca di Mondragone when Adams was minister to Russia (1809 - 1814), hence the dragon motif.

Laurie, you win another state dinner, served on the Adams' service. What about these fancy cakes for dessert?
   

[L Verge]

Kudos, Laurie - Louisa and J.Q.Adams is correct!!! It's actually a French porcelain service which Adams allegedly purchased from the duca di Mondragone when Adams was minister to Russia (1809 - 1814), hence the dragon motif.

Laurie, you win another state dinner, served on the Adams' service. What about these fancy cakes for dessert?

Is the dragon motif what appears to be a cameo in pink? Even fitting to the window and enlarging could not make my eyes decipher what that was.

I'll take the white cake as a prize. The other one looks fishy...

[Eva Elisabeth]

Fishy was a good one!!! Yes, this is supposed to be the dragon motif:
   
I've tried to find a photo or more info (this was from the description at the Smithsonian) online, but didn't succeed.

[STS Lincolnite]

Kudos, Laurie. Indeed it was Ronald Reagan.

Reagan recalling his first visit to Ford's Theatre:

"On Saturday March 21, Nancy and I made our first trip to Ford’s Theater in Washington to attend a black-tie gala to raise money for support of this historic building. During the performance, I looked up at the presidential box above the stage where Abe Lincoln had been sitting the night he was shot and felt a curious sensation. As you look up there, you can’t help but run those events of 1865 through your mind: You imagine the figure of John Wilkes Booth bursting through the door at the rear of the box, shooting the president, then leaping onto the stage and running away before a stunned audience.
It occurred to me that until that night probably no one had ever given much thought to the possibility someone might want to kill the president. As I watched the show, I thought about all the security provided for Nancy and me and the children and how different things were now. Looking up at the flag-draped box, though, I thought that even with all the Secret Service protection we now had, it was probably still possible for someone who had enough determination to get close enough to a president to shoot him."

Reagan was shot by Hinckley 9 days later.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Which president wore this attire?
   

[L Verge]

I don't think he wore it, but it reminds me of the uniforms that Richard Nixon wanted his White House staff to wear.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Brilliant, Laurie - and thanks for educating me! I thought he wore it as I seemed to recall reading this on the description when I took the photo at the Smithsonian. Your answer let me cast doubts on my memory, and this is what I found:
http://www.invisiblethemepark.com/2013/0...istration/
(I correct ex post: Whose Secret Service wore this attire?)

[RJNorton]

The manager of a Washington theater once approved the breaking through of the theater's side wall that faced an alley. By doing so he created a special doorway to allow a President to enter the theater without encountering the public. Which President was this?

[Gene C]

Franklin Roosevelt ?

[RJNorton]

Good guess, Gene. But it's not him.

Hint #1: Here is the theater: (Poli's Theater)