Today, President John F. Kennedy would be turning 94. A smooth operator as President, I doubt we ever had anyone more polished. And certainly the politics of the early '60s were a bit more civil than those of today.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President.

For more on JFK, click on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy

Walking through the production area, I am always amazed at the precision and dexterity of our skilled decorators. It is tedious, repetitive work and they are very good at it. While there are some similarities in the various jobs they are assigned, it always just a little bit different for each piece or each project. Many of the items they decorate are custom items so the decoration is unique and special to that specific project and customer. Woodmere's White House Collection gives them products that are familiar and go a little quicker.

When you are next in the Washington, DC area, make plans to visit Mount Vernon, home to our first president. It is one of America's most interesting historic sites. The throngs of visitors of all ages attest to the fact that there is something for everyone at Mount Vernon. 

Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is owned and maintained in trust by Mount Vernon Ladies Association and is open every day of the year, including holidays and Christmas.

While Woodmere is largely known for our historic reproductions, we do a large amount of custom china for various clients. Some custom china designs are very complicated, while others can be rather simple and straightforward like this burgundy band, encased in gold we did for a restaurant client recently.

Often, people have concerns that custom china is complicated and expensive. Woodmere's forty years of experience creating special custom designs in both dinnerware and giftware for clients of all types allows us to guide each project individually to meet both budget and creative expectations.

If you come to Washington....make time to visit the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.

It has an exhibit The Price of Freedom. Americas at War that is really terrific. I'll share some add'l photos in the upcoming days, but absolutely add this to your agenda when coming to The Nation's Capitol.

Shhhhh......don't say anything to anyone.....but something new is on its way........

More soon.

 “This plate One of the Lincoln Set made by Haviland & Co. was used by President Garfield when upon his death bed. The plate was broken in bringing it from the President’s room and was given by Wm. Crump to Theo. R. Davis Sept. 1881.”
Written by Theodore R. Davis on the back of a Lincoln dinner plate piece. The plate is now in the collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

You can view Woodmere's entire set of Lincoln China reproduction china by going to:
http://www.woodmerechina.com/whitehouse_items.cfm?item=2

(And, if you use the special promo code LINCOLNTEN at checkout, you will save an add'l 10% on your entire order. this is for a limited time only, so hurry.)

You may not have ever given it much thought, but the of all the Presidential chinas, one of the rarest is that of President James Madison. On August 24th of 1814, the British burned much of Washington, including The Executive Mansion with nearly all of its furnishings. The engraving below is from the Library of Congress and depicts the Capitol City in flames.                                                        

With all this pillaging and burning, most of the Madison china was lost. So, while all Presidential china is rare and valuable....perhaps one of the most rare is that of our 4th President, James Madison.
Another interesting fact is that when the British were done with their carnage on Washington, they headed to do similar destruction in the city of Baltimore.
However, the folks at Fort McHenry would have none of that and from that great defense of the Baltimore harbor came our national anthem, written by Frederick, Maryland lawyer Francis Scott Key as he stood on the decks of a British ship near what is now the the Francis Scott Key bridge. If you ever pass through that area, look for the signs highlighting the Battle of North Point which was one of the land defenses for Baltimore.

Regular visitors here know that An American Source runs on coffee, with Starbucks being one of our favorites. So, a while back, we thought that we should try the Starbucks Via option.    Seemed like a good idea.....handy...always at the ready kind of thing.

Well....we've now tried the Starbucks Via Columbian and Italian Roast. While both are good, they still seem to not quite be the same as the "store bought" and brewed.

The thin, individual single serve package also takes a little getting used to, as well. But, overall....not so bad. Think we need a little more testing.  Oh, I hear you....it's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

Q: Are Woodmere's White House Collection items EXACT replicas?
A: The answer is yes.....and no.

Let me explain.....

The presidential designs that Woodmere reproduces are the most exact reproductions you can get. We go through extensive research, including using the original pieces borrowed from private collectors, to insure that the designs are as authentic as possible. A number of years back, we even initiated a “re-authentication” process to continually check to insure that our existing designs remain true to the origins.  In addition to the designs, we research the colors used in the originals as well as the designs themselves. Since we mix our own color, we often are able to get exact matches with the originals pieces. Keep in mind though that the colors in the original pieces often varied form piece to piece due to the production techniques employed at the time they were made. We take all that into consideration when developing our colors for each design. At Woodmere, our aim is to give our customers the most authentic products possible.

Having said all this....there are sometimes differences in the original designs versus our Woodmere pieces. The biggest challenge we have is to match the handpainted decoration that most of the originals used. While Woodmere handpaints certain parts of it's White House Collection, the majority is done through a hand-applied decal decoration method, with handpainting used to compliment. Each of our reproduction china pieces is hand decorated….just sometimes hand decorated in a slightly different way than the originals were hand decorated.

Another aspect where you may see differences is that there were 'scalloped shaped' pieces used sometimes in the original designs and Woodmere uses round plates on all it's pieces. This is the case in our popular Lincoln china. Additionally, we try to utilize the china design on a different item like a round ornament, for instance. We also use a uniform cup and saucer so that those who collect – and there are many – can have matching cup shapes for all of their designs. We hear many of you tell us how much you enjoy setting your tables with a variety of the presidential designs and matching cup shapes helps to make that work. As you might expect, trying to match the china from various manufacturers made in various eras is very difficult to do, but we appreciate all your positive comments on all that we do.

And while there may other minor or slight differences from the original china owned by our country's presidents, you can be assured that the folks at Woodmere are working very hard to insure that you continue to receive the most accurate historic reproductions possible. Woodmere has been making presidential reproduction china for the past forty years.

And, all the while they continue to made right here in America....in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

You can find all the Woodmere White House Collection items of reproduction china by going to  www.WoodmereChina.com