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"Inaugural Ball. March 4, 1925." And Calvin Coolidge could have danced all night. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
I have been to an event in this room, it is bigger than you think. We had about 55 in our group and the room seemed cavernous. The artwork on the ceiling and walls is beautiful and the balconies are wonderful. The hotel itself is interesting; hallways are almost like a maze amking it hard to find your room. I wonder if some of the attendees got *lost* finding their room after the festivities...
"I make more money than Calvin Coolidge . . . put together!"
Although I'm sure it was in full swing last night, the ballroom looks more staid for meetings these days:
This is an amazing photo -- a surreal phantasmagoria. Like a dream. Or a Fellini movie. If everything was frozen sharp it wouldn't be that way.
[For some reason I keep expecting to see Jack Nicholson staring back at us. - Dave]
This is an interesting space: not really huge, almost intimate. The balconies fit right into the overall scale of the room. I just wish it had been a "faster" film so we could see the attendees better.
By the time this photo was taken (at the Mayflower Hotel), the only truly new guy -- Vice President Charles W. Dawes -- had already worn out his welcome. As soon as he was sworn into office (in the Senate chambers) he read the senators the riot act about all of their traditions he thought they needed to abandon, while delaying the main event - his boss Calvin's inauguration. From that point forward, Coolidge would have little use for him.
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