A look back at White House history

The Nantucket Gazette was a newspaper that existed in the 19th century. This year, someone decided to start it up again. Sort of. It's a free paper with one edition per year. The middle is the usual stuff you'd find in a free paper in tourist season: maps and an events calendar. The first and last few pages, however, are clippings from the original paper. Ads, silly columns, news stories, and other random things the current publishers thought would be interesting.

Someone offered a reward for any part of the piano lost at sea during a recent shipwreck. The paper advises, with great sagacity, a cure for cholera which, if you follow the instructions gives you... plain chicken broth. There's notice of people going around as living traveling exhibits - albinos from Europe touring the US and Native Americans touring Europe. Someone wants to sell a four year old cow "of the finest recommendations." Others are looking for an apprentice or a boy to work in the house. A listing of numbers from Paris claims there were 22,612 births, 8,976 of which were illegitimate. There's the story of a man in Berlin who died of starvation, was estranged from his brother (his only family) because he wouldn't pay for postage to mail him a letter, spent his evenings begging on the street... and was found to have 20,000 crown coins under his floorboards.

The one I found most interesting, however, is this:

DRAWING ROOM VIEWS

The Washington Papers contain a discussion of the Drawing Rooms at the President's house. It appears that Mrs. Munroe has adopted a new arrangement in this business. Mrs. Madison was in the habit of returning all requests of visits of her company. With the great increase to the population of the city Mrs. Munroe cannot follow in the example of her predecessor. She has, therefore, very properly caused it to be announced that she cannot return calls made upon her.

The following arrangements have been arranged at the President's House:

Mrs. Munroe is at home in the morning to receive all those calls the Ladies of the District or strangers.

The President receives, the Head of Departments and Members of Congress &c. at all hours of the day, and strangers and citizens between one and two.

In these receptions there will be no display of unnecessary ceremony or etiquette but everything to prove that the attentions of their fellow citizens are grateful to their feelings and unostentatiously desired.

Nantucket December 27th 1817

So anyone could just wander over to the White House at the appointed time and drop in to chat with the President or First Lady. No formality. Just tell the President what's on your mind, have a little talk in the Drawing Room, and wander off about your day.

This a mere 5 years after the War of 1812 (not to be confused with Napoleon's invasion of Russia, in commemoration of which the cannon-blasting 1812 Overture was written), wherein (in 1814) the British sacked Washington, DC and torched everything, including the White House and the Capitol Building.

Hard to imagine, especially if you've ever waited in line and gone through security for a tour of the public areas of the modern White House.