It was common a century ago for chairs in a waiting room of an office, or the entry hall of private houses so equipped, to be relatively uncomfortable, ranging from annoying to excruciating. (Think of Frank Lloyd Wright's straight-backed chairs.) The explanantion is that the visitor would settle-in only when invited to the inner office, library, living room or the like by the host.

Does anybody know what the name of the object is mounted on the wall directly behind the doorman's head? It looks like a drop-shutter servant's call box from the period.

In this case, a "call box" was an inconspicuous way to summon servants. If one was needed in a particular room, an electrically operated red disk would appear under the name of the room requesting attendance. It was the "modern" version of the old Victorian rope pull for the parlor maid.

If this wasn't just "circa 1908," but 1908, Teddy Roosevelt would be in his final full year as president. This shot matches the north end of the "lobby" area in this map of the first true West Wing, built only six years earlier.

The ordinariness and wear suggests why his successor, William Howard Taft, would overhaul the West Wing almost immediately upon taking office.

Note how tattered the rug in the vestibule is. Gives a sense of the White House as a working government building, less of the symbol it is now.

It's a cinch that President Taft never sat in any of those chairs.

Seems like Uncle Sam could've at least sprung for some matching chairs.

An Inspector Calls.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Coolidge, you're much too early."