Grace Coolidge in “First Ladies: Influence and Image”
C-Span’s informative feature on Mrs. Coolidge and the Coolidge White House. Well worth checking out!
humor
On Ten Gallon Hats
The origin of the ten gallon hat came not from improvised liquid measurements out on the range but from the Spanish galon, meaning “braid.” The ten-braid hat, a signature of the talented cowboy-star Tom Mix, became especially popular during the Coolidge 20s.
Here President Coolidge, trying on his own hats (a stetson below, with ten-gallons further down – thank you, readers!), wears them with style. Devoid of pretentiousness, Calvin Coolidge knew it was good for people to be able to laugh, even at their leaders. Consequently, Americans across the country came to love and respect this wise man’s humor, humble confidence and ability.
On Hunting By Proxy
“I think the idea that I might go hunting in Kentucky arose from the fact that the bird dog that was given me in Superior I had Colonel Starling send down to a friend of his in Kentucky, who is a very fine trainer of dogs. I presume that all the hunting I will do in Kentucky will be done by proxy through this dog” — Calvin Coolidge, September 14, 1928, cited in The Talkative President, p. 18.
The dog, named Palo, was a black and white English setter. While this is not Palo, it is a handsome example of the kind of dog Coolidge appointed hunter by proxy.
The Importance of the Obvious 