Lid of Humidor Presented to President Hoover

This illustration is etched onto the top of a silver humidor, or cigar box, which was presented to President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1933. Presented to Hoover during the final days of his administration, the humidor was given to the president by men who frequently joined him for Hoover Ball. Made by silversmiths Bailey, Banks and Biddle, the design for the lid of the case features a Hoover Ball court on the South Lawn, two of the president's dogs, and a southern view of the White House in the distance. Elsewhere on the silver case are the engraved names of the regular Hoover Ball players, including Dr. Joel Thompson Boone, Arthur A. Ballantine, Roy D. Chapin, Arthur Mastick Hyde, Ernest Lee Jahncke, William D. Mitchell, Walter H. Newton, Lawrence Richey, Harlan Fiske Stone, and Ray L. Wilbur. Incorporating aspects of volleyball, tennis, and medicine ball, Hoover Ball was a sport created especially for the president following a recommendation by White House physician Dr. Joel Thompson Boone that the president increase his physical activity.