Melania Trump announces restoration of Blue Room furniture

I recently read a fascinating book about the Truman restoration. You’re right that White House furniture was routinely sold, given away or dumped. When the Truman’s moved in the residence just had a shabby mish mash. A lot of credit goes to Jackie Kennedy for retrieving a number of historical pieces. Also, many of the interior moldings, paneling, wainscoting, etc were carefully removed to be put back in after the restoration. However, contrary to myth, only three or four rooms were restored in this way. Because of time and logistical constraints, huge amounts of materials ended up being carted to the dump at Fort Meyers

Until some guy realized “Hey! WE run the printing presses!”

Actually the printing presses weren’t used until the Civil War (greenbacks). The U.S. got so badly burned by the Continental Currency during the Revolution that it swore off government-printed money for nearly 90 years. After the Civil War, most of the greenbacks were bought up with real silver/gold. U.S. currency was convertible to silver, at least until the 1960s. Had to pay for that Great Society somehow.

The disposal of those outworn but historic materials was foolish, as the secrecy surrounding it suggested even at the time. Today, if those materials could not be preserved, they would likely be stored for later reuse or cut into pieces and sold or given away as souvenirs. Indeed, that probably would have been done at the time if the public knew and had a say.

Around the same time as the Truman White House restoration, the original railroad built across Panama by the French was upgraded. That railroad was historic and essential to the building of the eventual American canal across Panama, so some of the old rails were sliced up and given away locally as souvenirs. Two such slices sit on one of my bookcases as paperweights. They are inconsequential as objects but I treasure them as pieces of history and tokens of my birth in the Panama Canal Zone.

I can easily imagine that pieces of the original White House floorboards and wall ornamentation would be treasured by a far wider range of people. How typical of the pragmatic and unimaginative Truman though to just have it all buried in secret as useless debris.

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