WHITE HOUSE NIXES WINDOW CANDLES ON CHRISTMAS EVE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 21, 1921, President Warren G. Harding decided that the windows of the Executive Mansion would not be illuminated with candles on Christmas Eve.
The President reached the decision after receiving a telegram from George P. Maldaur, general agent for the Safety Underwriter's Laboratories*.
The telegram states that the use of lighted candles at the White House...
"would turn Christmas Day into one of mourning...and add to the country's appalling fire loss."
The telegram also informed the President that last year 15,000 lives and $500,000,000 worth of property were lost as a result of fires.
A reply to the telegram from the White House states...
"The President would not approve an example you believe so fraught with danger."
*Underwriter's Laboratories, founded in 1894, works for a safer world.
SOURCE
"White House Candles Vetoed by Safety First," The New York Tribune, December 22, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
