Friday Smiles 386: A return to the Eisenhower Museum

It's Friday, so let's join Annie (at A Stitch in Time) along with the wonderful ladies at Friday Smiles.  For those of you who don't care for this museum, of all the posts you will see, I think you will like this one the best.  I believe everyone will enjoy today's Smile.

This is where we left off last week.

Ike was home.  However, I want to go back a page and cover what transpired once he was home.

From 1945 through 1948, Ike became the Army Chief of Staff.  In this role, he oversaw the demobilization of the military and the administration of areas no longer under the control of Germany and Japan following their surrender. Ike also revamped the army, bringing it into the Atomic Age.  You might be able to see this in the center of the above photo.

After he became president of Columbia University in 1948 (you can see him in his cap and gown to the center left in the photo above), he and Mamie purchased a farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  It was the first home they had ever owned.

In 1948, Ike retired from active service.  It was at that time, he wrote Crusade in Europe.  While serving as President of Columbia University, in December Ike became a military consultant to the first Secretary of Defense.

In 1949, Ike served informally as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the newly created defense department.

The Korean War started in June, 1950.  In December of that year, and at the request of President Truman and the 12 NATO nations, Ike accepted the position of Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).  Ike's duties as commander of NATO, and Mamie's as his hostess at a villa near Paris, delayed work on their dream home in Gettysburg, which they finally completed in 1955.  You might be able to see him taking command of NATO in the center of the above photo, although there's lots of interference due to the glass walls.

Ike left for NATO headquarters in Paris in January, 1951.  He served there through June, 1952, when, after finally being persuaded, he resigned to return to the United States to campaign for the presidency.

Ike campaign signs, buttons, banners, and memorabilia are shown here.

Ike was a good campaigner because he was so well known on the world stage, but Mamie was the real campaigner.  She got more enjoyment out of it than Ike did.

After Ike won the presidency, he resigned his commission as General of the Army.

Ike championed peace.

He called it waging peace.

A quote by Ike above the globe reads: "Freedom must defend itself with courage, with care, with force, and with fairness."  (that sounds like something I might actually write)

Now it's time to leave the campaign trail and move into the White House.

Once in the White House, Mamie was a gracious host.  She was also quite frugal in her spending.

Mamie had her own style.  She had Toile made for the curtains and bedspread in her Gettysburg home.

It included her favorite color palette of pink and green.  All the important places they had lived were included in the fabric.  At Ike's request, the Denver Doud home where they were married was included in the fabric. She liked the material so much, she even had a dress made from the same fabric.

The "Mamie Look" included a full-skirted dress, charm bracelets, pearls, little hats, and bobbed hair with curly bangs.

Every year she was in the White House, she was one the 12 best-dressed women in the country.

Mamie had a fondness for a specific shade of pink, often called "First Lady" or "Mamie" pink. Now we know why there was all that pink clothing, housewares, and bathrooms that came out of the 1950s.

You can read about how Mamie enhanced the historic collections of the White House, like the china collection shown in the photo.

It's amazing the amount of presidential china she collected.

I really liked the design.

It's amazing the various pieces that were saved and donated.

Jewelry, matching purses,

bangle bracelets,

and matching gloves

were part of Mamie's day to day items she wore.

Imagine being hostess to a nation.  Mamie reinstated the White House Egg Roll and insisted that it be desegregated.

The Eisenhower White House was noted for its elegant, formal entertaining.  They hosted events for more heads of state from all over the world than any presidential couple before them.  An evening at the White House with Ike and Mamie was memorable, marked by high style, lavish entertaining, and warm hospitality.

After she and Ike left the White House, they retired to the farm in Gettysburg, where she lived, even after Ike died.

She is buried next to her husband at the chapel on the museum grounds, along with their son "Icky."

There will be no extra smiles today, because everyone should smile at least once in this post.  My favorite laugh was when I read about the pink bathrooms that sprung up in nearly every mid-century modern home.  I have friends who have one of those pink bathrooms in their own mid-century modern home.  They refuse to update it because they like the Mamie pink color.  I have another friend whose guest bath is mid-century pink with green trim and accents, Mamie's favorite color combination.

Now let's head over to Annie's because she knows how to put a smile on everyone's faces.  And whatever you do, please don't forget to start your weekend off right with a few Friday Smiles of your own.  And remember, if you would like to play along, Annie would love to have you join us.