Posted 7 days ago
Patriotica
(17 items)
In a most unusual White House occurrence, a White House invitation featured a silver presidential eagle instead of the usual gold or blind (no color) raised embossed one, the only time it may have happened.
On the occasion of the 25th silver wedding anniversary of President William Howard Taft, a special White House invitation included the silver eagle along with the dates of 1886 - 1911 in silver, too. Taft married the former Helen Herron, known as Nellie, in 1886 and served as First Lady from 1909 to 1913. The Taft's would be married for 44 years until his death in 1930.
The presidential eagle design was first used by President Rutherford B. Hayes in an official White House invitation for a dinner honoring Russia's Alexis Alexandrovich in April 1877 shortly after assuming office in March, the first time a representation of the presidential eagle was used (there is only speculation on where the design came from).
The lone eagle design would remain on invitations in some form through all future presidential administrations until it was formally updated and codified in its current design (the eagle facing toward its own right as dictated by heraldic custom) by President Harry Truman in October 1945 initially surrounded by 48 stars until it was updated with the addition of one star in 1959 for the new state of Alaska and one for Hawaii in 1960, totaling 50 stars.