In November 2023, staff at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park asked the Historic Furnishings Division of the National Park Service's Harpers Ferry Center for help choosing period-appropriate wallpaper for three rooms of the Texas White House, north of San Antonio.
The Texas White House. NPS
Which period?
The house is interpreted for 1963–1972: from the start of Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency (1963–1969) to shortly before his death in January 1973. But Lady Bird Johnson — Claudia Alta Johnson — lived there until her death in 2007, and between 1973 and 2007 she redecorated extensively. Much of the decoration from the Johnson presidency is gone.
How the search works
- Photographs. The first step is to study pictures of the rooms from the period.
- Hidden evidence. If there are none, look for original paper that survives under later layers of paper or paint, or in hard-to-reach spots — behind radiators, in closets, under trim.
- Informed guesswork. If the paper still can't be pinned down, use what's known about the room and when it was decorated, and comb through department store catalogs of the day — JC Penney, Sears, Montgomery Ward — for what would likely have hung there.
The den, from the park's virtual tour. NPS
Where to get it
| Source | Pros and cons |
|---|---|
| Commercial reproductions | several companies reprint wallpaper from original patterns, and rolls are easy to buy online |
| Custom printing | costlier, but gets exactly what's needed — especially useful when a surviving piece of the original can be photographed and reprinted, which removes guesswork altogether |
| New-old stock | paper made during the period but never hung. Scan it in high quality before installing, so more can be printed if there isn't enough or repairs are needed later |
Mid-20th-century papers can be harder to find than much older patterns, but these routes make it possible to finish a room so it looks right for its time.
Sources
Based on "LYJO Wallpaper," by Patrick Fuller, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Rewritten in hubnx's own words.
In these publicationsLyndon B Johnson National Historical Park
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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