Today, October 13, is the birthday of the White House! She is 217 years old, as dated from the laying of the cornerstone (that nobody can now find). I called the White House to see how they’re celebrating this date, but they knew nothing about it. Too bad!
In OUR first year at the White House, I was constantly doing research on White House history, and discovered that the previous year, 1992, had been the 200th birthday. That’s an important milestone, and it was honored with an elaborate dinner, speeches, and historic studies. Since the 201st is not an especially memorable date, I decided that we’d mark it the way most people celebrate their own birthdays – with cake! Everyone loves cake!
One of the President’s Navy food specialists, Glen Maes, is a MASTER of creating pictures with icing. He baked and decorated a large presentation cake with an incredible rendering of the South Front of the White House on top. The other Navy food specialists, who work in the White House Staff Mess, baked dozens of sheet cakes, iced them and cut them into squares.
When that morning’s tourists exited the House by the North Door, they walked past our presentation cake and stopped to oooh and aaah and take photos. Then we offered them the cake squares. My whole Visitors Office staff took turns coming up to the Driveway to serve cake, and the Secret Service Uniform Division Officers came by to watch. This was so much fun we repeated it each year that October 13 fell on a tour day, and people loved it so much they planned their visits around it. Every year Glen created a different, spectacular cake, and we invited people to celebrate America’s House with us.
More photos of some of Glen’s cakes, and our “party” are in the album, A Year at the White House. Enjoy!