Bowling at the Whitehouse - Bowling series #12 Traditional Cache

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Richard Nixon bowling in what was then called the Old Executive Office Building

In 1948, bowling lanes were first built in the ground floor of the West Wing of the U.S. Presidential residence, the White House, as a birthday gift for then President Harry S. Truman, in the location of the 2010s White House Situation Room. The lanes were moved to the Old Executive Office Building in 1955 to make way for a mimeograph room.

In 1969, friends of then U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, said to be an avid bowler, had a new one-lane alley built in an underground space below the building's North Portico.

"The bowling alley is a recreational facility that has been used since the 1950s by Secret Service, blue collar staff and their families to build camaraderie and make them feel part of the House," said Bill Bushong, a staff historian with the White House Historical Association. "It's essentially tradition."

Among the recent registered bowlers are some familiar names, including the families of White House staffers Cecilia Munoz and Nancy-Ann Deparle and FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. Other guests include local Democratic policy analysts, campaign volunteers and staff from foreign embassies.

Several former staffers from the George W. Bush administration said the 10-pin alleys were regularly used between 2001 and 2008 by guests, staff and their families and friends, describing a fun atmosphere where shoes and balls are provided.

"But they're not very glamorous facilities," said presidential historian Richard Norton Smith. "If you didn't know you were in the White House, you probably wouldn't realize it from the space."

Smith said the president has three bowling facilities available for his use. One two-lane alley installed in the basement of the office building adjacent to the West Wing; a single-lane in the basement beneath the North Portico; and a lane at Camp David.

http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor0/bowling-alley.htm

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