The DC Traveler

Join members of the Victorian Dance Ensemble, dressed in period costumes and familiar with the customs of the times as they recreate the style, grace and grandeur of Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 Inaugural Ball. Learn a few steps and join in the party.

 The ball was held at a large hall at the US Patent Office at 8th and F Streets, NW. Tickets to the event were $10 with the proceeds going to support the Union was effort.
A brass band played music in the foyer, welcoming the 4,000 guests, while upstairs, a string ensemble played popular dance music from …read more

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This week in Washington, DC, the Smithsonian turned 162 years old.
The Smithsonian Institution was based on a gift of James Smithson, a British scientist, who left his entire estate to the United States of America in 1827.  His gift of over 100,000 gold sovereigns, or $500,000, (just under $9.5 million in today’s dollars) required the government to establish the Smithsonian Institution, to “increase and diffusion of knowledge."

An act of Congress in 1846 expanded the growth of collection into the world’s largest museum complex (16 museums) with over 140 million objects and the National Zoo in Washington, DC. …read more

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By definition, the word ballyhoo means flamboyant or sensational advertising or promotion. Today’s infomercial might fall into that category, or perhaps anything promoted by Donald Trump.
Around the same time as the word was coined, in the late 1800s, the walls of Paris streets began to be plastered with colorful art nouveau advertising posters.  Since then, the promotional poster has become as mainstream as the 30-second TV spot.
Examples of how these posters have influenced society as part of the collection on exhibit in Ballyhoo! Posters As Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
The 61 classic posters were created …read more

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