Description:

Nixon Patricia


First Lady Patricia Nixon 3x Signed Checks to Personal Shopper

 

Three personal checks signed by First Lady Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon as "Patricia R. Nixon" on payee line. The checks were drawn on Key Biscayne Bank of Biscayne, Florida during the first weeks of Nixon's first presidential term: on January 31, 1969, February 8, 1969, and February 18, 1969. Two of the three checks were for substantial amounts made payable to the First Lady's personal shopper, Clara Treyz. The checks have patterned green backgrounds with "Patricia Nixon" letterhead. Bearing typical bank stamps and endorsed verso. In near fine condition. Each measures 6" x 2.75".

 

1. Check #175 dated January 31, 1969 paying Clara Treyz $3,147.75. There is no memo section of the check, but we can assume that this enormous payment ($21,626.50 in 2018 currency!) signed just two weeks after the inauguration was for outfitting the First Lady's new White House closet.

 

2. Check #216 dated February 8, 1969 requesting $100 to be paid to "Cash."

 

3. Check #177 dated February 18, 1969 paying Clara Treyz $206.75 ($1,420.47 in 2018 currency.) Could this have been for additional clothing, or possibly for tailoring services?

 

Two of these checks were made payable to Clara Treyz, who endorsed both verso. Who was she? In the words of a January 12, 1970 New York Times article, Clara Treyz was "Mrs. Nixon's personal fashion scout, Commissioner of Coats & Suits, Wardrobe Mistress to the First Lady of the Land." The personal shopper not only acquired the First Lady's clothing, she influenced her taste and choice of designers.

 

Pat Nixon was a handsome and statuesque woman. She typically favored--for very political reasons--ready-made clothing by American designers and of American manufacture. Her traditional wardrobe choices were not especially popular in the 1970s, nor have they survived twenty first century scrutiny. Yet the First Lady's subdued clothing was an appropriate symbol of the Nixon White House: it embodied stability, conservatism, and continuity.

 

Pat Nixon served as Second Lady between 1953-1961, and as First Lady between 1969-1974. Pat was a self-driven working woman when she married lawyer and aspiring politician Richard Nixon (1913-1994) in 1940. She took an active part in her husband's state and national political campaigns. Pat expanded the role of Second Lady to incorporate more public relations events. She traveled extensively as First Lady, representing U.S. interests on solo missions and even venturing into active combat zones. She died in 1993 at age 81.

 


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