Early in President Roosevelt’s first term, he held a state dinner for Prince Henry of Prussia. To highlight the different, younger tone, of his administration, President Roosevelt offered his guests champagne compliments of George Kessler, considered to be the “Champagne King” of the early 20th century. In addition to the champagne, Mr. Kessler partnered with two stationers – Dempsey & Carroll and Tiffany & Co. to produce brightly colored, finely detailed menus for this special dinner.
The images below picture the menus produced by Dempsey & Carroll for this occasion.
Images courtesy of: Henry Voight, The American Menu
Little known is the delightful story of getting the newly elected President Teddy Roosevelt to the March 17, 1905 Friendly Sons of St Patrick banquet, just 13 days after his inauguration. It took the acquiescence of his niece Eleanor to accommodate her uncle’s long held desire to attend the annual Friendly Sons of St Patrick banquet. She had to change her wedding date from Easter to St Patrick’s Day. The citizens were thrilled to welcome President Teddy home those 12 hours he was in the City. Dempsey & Carroll was selected by William Penney, of the Friendly Sons, to print the handsome 9-page program for the banquet that night at which he was the ‘honored guest’. This story will be told in the 2020 edition of the New York Irish History journal. S