Opinion
State of plate
By: Jeff Dufour
Editor at Large/Columnist, "Yeas & Nays"
01/08/09 12:05 AM EST
China Grove
None too soon, first lady Laura Bush unveiled President Bush's White House china service on Wednesday. She said the first couple may even get a chance to use it before they move out in under two weeks.The state china service is green, white and gold, a color palette that Mrs. Bush said "worked with any flowers, and it worked, really, in any season. It's great in the fall with fall colors. It's pretty with orange, as you can see. It works with Christmas."
She also debuted a smaller china set for the official residence, adorned with magnolia flowers, in a similar color scheme.
So in selecting the patterns, she stayed away from any pesky reds and blues (and their political overtones) although she did point out that they have used the red Reagan china in the residence extensively.
The price tag? Nearly $500,000 for 320 of the state place settings, and $74,000 for 75 of the residence settings.
Why so many? "Every once in a while we've had a really bad accident where we've lost more than one piece at once when the tray fell, or something else like that happened," said the first lady.
Not to worry; they were paid for with private money.
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