A Subject for Consideration: Plates and Politics

Like many conversations, this one took place around the dinner dishes.

In fact, the conversation was about the dishes.

Oh, those dishes.

I sighed and murmured, "So THAT'S the china." A woman next to me, turned and said, "I remember what a big ruckus they caused!" It was July 4th and we were standing in the First Ladies Exhibit in the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the dinnerware in question was from 1981 - what was famously known then as the "Nancy Reagan china."

I was prepared to dislike it. I was wrong. It is beautiful.

Reagan White House china, circa 1981

The sisterhood (and of course there were men too) viewing the encased china chosen by many Presidential wives, filled the room with a buzz of comments and opinions. Entertaining gets us talking. Toss in the presidential seal, and there is no end to our general curiosity about the party dishes.

"I really thought it would be gaudy, but it is so classic," my chinaware companion confessed, adding "I remember being so annoyed at the cost." (which, after all the hubbub, was paid for by private funds.) Lenox was selected to custom design the now infamous pattern and manufacture the set - 220 place settings for the tidy sum of $210,399.

I recall reading about the hullabaloo surrounding Mrs. Reagan's place setting choice - the showy color, the cost and who was paying for it, why it was needed. Her husband was slashing the Federal budget while she commissioned a new china pattern that reportedly required nine separate firings. It was a big deal 31 years ago.

Mrs. Reagan's designer gowns, furs, and then the china, had some Americans shaking their heads, placing a twist on Dorothy's famous line to Toto in The Wizard of Oz, i.e. I don't think we're in the Carter White House anymore.

Lady Bird Johnson White House china, circa 1972

There we were, two women of a certain age, recalling the national news about dinnerware to be used for the Reagan White House State dinners, surprised by our compliments for Mrs. Reagan. It was refreshing to decide for ourselves after all these years. This led us to some talk about other favorites, including one from the 1960s.

Lady Bird Johnson, known for her work on the Highway Beautification Act passed in Congress, sought improve the look of America's major roadways with the planting of wildflowers. Her choice for the White House service, made by Tiffany and Company, appropriately featured delicate wildflowers. She was true in every detail. However, all those touches had to be hand painted, delaying the china's completion until 1972, four years into the Nixon administration. She never ate off that china.

Hayes White House china, circa 1880

One moment, we were rating the best. The next moment, oh you know.

"Oh dear, what was she thinking?" 'She' was Lucy Hayes, wife of the nineteenth President. Her choice of various types of North American flora and fauna boldly painted on the dinner plates made a very strong statement. A little too bold for my taste. The dinner plate on display showed a large ram taking up the a lot of space. While her national pride intention is easy to understand - the execution is, well, hard to swallow as I imagine the food atop it would also be. I could only picture some large slab of meat atop the painted mountain animal. Nothing delicate there.

If I let my politics rule my opinion, I would have appreciated the Clinton china choice and booed for the Bush china. I gave them both thumbs down.

As my fellow critic and I parted ways at the dinnerware, our conversation ended in agreement with the adage that beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Satisfied, I turned to leave, only to find the next room filled with an array of inaugural gowns worn by Presidential wives. Time to call up the fashion police for more conversation, this time next to the dinnerware!

Spending Independence Day in Washington DC was a treat, albeit a boiling one temperature-wise. Seeing the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the Mall as names of loved ones were read throughout the day, witnessing two powerful exhibits at the National Art Gallery and sitting on Constitution Avenue watching an uber patriotic parade gave even this political city a hometown feel. At dusk, the fireworks display amid the national monuments put political wrangling on pause. There, underneath sparkling bursts of light, we soaked up a little bit of the magic that is America.