The centerpiece of this room is the dining table, which once graced the dining room at Springwood. Eleanor brought the table to Val-Kill sometime after 1950. Meals were generous at Val-Kill. During the years that Val-Kill Farms were in operation, Eleanor could boast that all ingredients of the meal were from the farm—meat, vegetables, fruit, and honey. Though breakfast and lunch were served on Tommy's porch, dinner was usually in this room, at 7:00 or 7:30 pm. Meals usually included a soup, salad, entree, and dessert. Despite Eleanor's uneasy opinion of alcohol (her father and brother were both alcoholics), she was reputed to have a fine wine cellar and did serve wine with lunch and dinner. Sunday suppers were casual—fried potatoes with onions, scrambled eggs, and leftover meat from the midday meal. Furnishings of Note
Cup & SaucerThis original cup and saucer is from Eleanor Roosevelt's extensive table service of Franciscan Ware. The Apple embossed and painted pattern was introduced in 1940. The only original piece known from her large set, Eleanor Roosevelt had about twenty-eight place settings that included dinner, luncheon, salad, bread and butter plates, desert dishes, soup bowls, and cups and saucers. Photographs of family meals at Val-Kill often show the table set with this popular American china pattern. 
TeapotTheodore B. Starr, New York, ca. 1905. A George III-style oval teapot with wood handle, engraved with monogram AER (for Anna Eleanor Roosevelt) and date 1905, the year of her marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The teapot is part of a three-piece tea service that also includes a cream jug and sugar bowl. This was a wedding gift on the occasion of Eleanor's marriage to FDR on March 17, 1905. |
Last updated: January 4, 2023