Happy New Year from C. Forbes, Inc.! We look forward to another year of sharing some of our creations, activities and ongoing projects with you. For those who made New Year’s resolutions, perhaps a home renovation project is on the list. While always a daunting task, some renovations tend to take on a little more importance than others. Some even become a part of history.
Oval Office Floor Renovations
Such was the case in 2005, when the White House Oval Office floor underwent its fourth renovation since 1934. What has been labeled “the President’s floor”, has taken a beating throughout the decades, and one can only imagine the pacing back and forth that has no doubt occurred by all of its occupants. President Franklin Roosevelt was in office in 1934 when the construction of the current oval office took place. Interestingly, the original floor was made of cork. When President Dwight Eisenhower took up residence in 1953, his love of golf and wearing golf spikes in the office, quickly destroyed the floor, prompting President Lyndon Johnson to replace it with wood-grain linoleum. Linoleum? Really? How mid-1960’s.
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan had the floor completely replaced by the same contractors who had installed the flooring in his California ranch. The new material, walnut and quartered white oak, remained until August 2005, when President George W. Bush had it replaced in the same chevron pattern as the Reagan floor. When the floor was renovated in 2005, C. Forbes, Inc. was approached by White House staff and tasked with preserving and presenting pieces of history.
Preserving Pieces of History
The flooring was fabricated into 1 ½” squares of both materials that were in turn embedded in lucite. The gifts were presented to senior White House staff during the George W. Bush administration. When designing and producing the pieces, C. Forbes added stars encircling the embedment of the wood squares, which were inspired by the stars that surround the American Bald Eagle in the U.S. Presidential Seal.
Throughout the years, C. Forbes, Inc. has also been privileged to preserve and present other artifacts from White House renovations. Limestone from the West Wing exterior during the 100th Anniversary of the West Wing in 2002 and moulding from the 2007 Situation Room renovation have also been embedded in lucite, and framed in shadowboxes, respectively.
For the recipients, they represent pieces of history from one of our nation’s most recognized symbols of democracy. The old saying “if these walls could talk” (and maybe “if these floors could walk”) takes on an even greater meaning in the context of these events.
2017 U.S. Presidential Inaugural
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office January 20, 2017, his own individual sense of style will likely be displayed in some capacity. In recognition of next week’s inaugural ceremony, which our country uniquely experiences every four years, C. Forbes, Inc. has made available an exclusive Commemorative Inaugural Collection that can be viewed and purchased in our
Products Section.
Please contact us for more information on our products and customization process. Our mission is to design, produce and present quality, custom items that tell your story. We welcome the opportunity to combine your goals with our expertise to properly commemorate your unique anniversary, event or organization.