White House Easter Egg Roll: Twelve Things You Didn't Know, and a Slideshow Through Time

Easter is a perfect holiday. It brings together many of my favorite things: candy, exercise (of the lighter variety), flowers, cute animals and politics. Yes, politics! The White House Easter egg roll is one of the most colorful, funny and young events at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And this year the Obamas are also applying a little "change" to the event by putting the tickets online for the first time. As expected, these tickets sold out in less time than it takes to lay an egg, chase it down the lawn, hide it, find it, peck at it... enough with the eggaphors (metaphors, for those who didn't get the pun).

Since only a lucky few will be at the event on Monday, April 13, I've put together a list of little know facts about the event. And to add some visual flavor, there's a slide show chronicling the Easter party through history at the bottom of this list.

1. The White House Easter egg roll was originally in front of Capitol Hill. That site was closed off after President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill in 1876 banning egg-rolling because it caused too much wear and tear to the lawns. The law was so strictly enforced that the Capitol Police had to eject some die-hard rollers.

2. President Rutherford B. Hayes' wife, Lucy, was the first person to bring the egg roll to the White House. In 1878, she let in a group of rollers who were waiting at the gates, hoping to take advantage of the White House's sloping lawn. She made sure liquor and wine were banned, but not the eggs!

3. Dolly Madison is said to have started the egg roll in front of the Capitol in 1814.
She's also considered the first to have served ice cream at the White House. That, along with her love for egg rolling, makes her quite the farm products queen.

4. Grover Cleveland was the first President to join the egg roll. In 1885 a group of kids demanded a personal audience with the president after walking into the East Room of the White House (security clearly wasn't as tight then). After that, the rollers were allowed indoors.

5. Music was added to the party in 1889. The United States Marine Band, conducted by John Philip Sousa, was asked to play for the children. Sousa's "Easter Monday on the White House Lawn" was composed in honor of the tradition. The Jonas Brothers, a favorite band of First Daughters Malia and Sasha Obama, played for the rollers in 2008.

6. The White House instituted a one adult per child rule in the 1930s. The crowd got so sneaky about circumventing the rule that the Secret Service had to regulate at the gates. Crafty children would even charge adults to come in with them.

7. Folk Dancing was introduced as a replacement to the egg roll in 1929. President Hoover's wife, Lou, was so grossed out by the egg stench that she tried to encourage diversions that didn't involve cracking eggs.

8. The egg roll was canceled during the two World Wars. Renovations during the Truman administration also stopped the event from 1948 through 1952.

9. The first and only Easter egg hunt was introduced during the Nixon administration. Unlike other things discovered in the Nixon White House, some bad eggs remained hidden and a stench ensued. The Nixons were also the the first family to introduce egg roll races, using spoons from the White House kitchen.

10. A member of First Lady Pat Nixon's staff dressed up as the first human-sized bunny. Since then, life-sized bunnies and other animals have strolled the White House lawns during the event.

11. The Obama administration allocated tickets for gay and lesbian families for the first time this year. In 2006, Conservative groups accused gay and lesbian parents attending the event of "crashing."

12. The Obamas chose a green egg as their souvenir. Recent administrations have chosen to give out keepsakes of the event. In the spirit of a greener White House, kids will get an egg designed to be "the greenest egg in White House Easter Egg Roll History" this year.

Check out a slideshow of the White House Easter egg roll through the ages:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

This undated file portrait drawing shows Lucy Hayes. As first lady, 1877-81, Hayes enforced a ban on wine and liquor at White House functions, and also started the custom of inviting children for egg rolling at Easter on the White House lawn. (AP Photo/File)

Special thanks to the White House Historical Association for image guidance and historical information

Comments

[Imhotep40]

Interesting . . . . of all the photos only two (2) contained pictures of children of color; I hope this doesn't reflect actual inclusion/participation over the years.

[enilorac]

Katharine looks like the perfect spokesperson for the Egg Roll and the rollers, as she call them...
She has a lovely, fresh hopeful, self confident, egg like quality. Roll on Katharine. And Lord Love those rollers and our First Family.

[AZBunny]

I have no small children nor any grandchildren. How about an Egg Roll for senior citizens???
How about it Obama?

[BobDobbs757]

It's hard to take Secret Service serious with bunny ears..

[HC4BO]

A Secret Service agent gets into the theme.
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Did he lose a bet ... ?

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White House chefs prepare the eggs.
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Looks REAL messy ...

[DaBluAce]

Just got back home from the White House Egg Roll and my 6 year old said Mommy this is the best day of my life and tomorrow will be too cause I get to ride the bus to school cause I'm six now! It was a great Egg roll and it was a very diverse group of Americans from all over the country...It was nice to see that not just the Metro area families being able to take part!! Fergie rocked the crowd and the Movers rocked for my daughter and she asked where were the President's daughters signatures...she wasn't too happy that they didn't sign the wooden eggs! She thought that the Pres and first lady should sign the adult eggs and the girls should sign the eggs for the children....I told her that was a good idea and she should write the Pres.

[Middleclassvotingbloc]

Maybe this year we will see a more diverse group children taking part in the fun. Just like the eggs the more colors the better.

[MakersMark]

I'm so glad that some diversity has finally come to the white house. It is so sad to see all of these pictures with so many left completely out.

[gladys46]

President Obama will speak live shortly on highlights of the stimulus working for Dept. of Trans.!! This is indeed a working president ... one I have envisioned having for years !

Hopefully many children of color will see a totally changed government and a "leader" who includes all of our precious children even in a White House Easter egg roll !!

Bravo Mr. President, Sir !

[PDXTransplant]

I bet that's Karl_Rove in the bunny suit hugging old G.W. Heh...Heh

[PDXTransplant]

What I noticed about those pictures is - all the ones with the Clinton's - they say different years, but they are all from the same Easter, which year is anyone's guess. Bill has on the same tie for 1996, 1999, and 2000? Ha! I don't think so.

[kendraro]

I think it is his Easter tie - you can see Hillary in two different outfits

[liminal67]

Interesting article...

http://pitchbendpost.blogspot.com/

[TheGuide]

I just saw the Easter Egg show at the whitehouse and it was so darling. The president wasn't wearing a suit and tie, though. I wonder which republican leader will be the first to complain about it?

[waitforme]

I have never seen an 'Easter egg roll'. What is it? What do you do? Where do you roll the eggs to? Why roll them at all? What happened to Easter egg hunts? (I read here that eggs didn't get found and then stank; that makes sense; I remember that from my childhood.) But what is a 'roll'?

[rockyb26]

they could eliminate the smell issue by using fake eggs. i see the Obamas had 30,000 wooden eggs made. i've never been to an egg roll, so i'm not sure what goes on, but either way it sounds like a ton of fun

[tonewheel]

It's how the resurrection of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated...with big rabbits and colored eggs.

[MochasMom]

I think its a race... you roll the egg down the lawn with a spoon.

[DaBluAce]

Kids race rolling eggs down lawn using big spoons and eggs....too cute....my daughter kind of tossed her egg down the lawn today....but it was much fun !!

[Peaceisnecessary]

Did you noticed that in the picture where Barbara Bush is reading to the kids there aren't any African-American or Latino children and only 2 Asian little girls? That is diversity according to the Republicans.

[rockyb26]

yep

[Aabby]

noticed.