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History of the Kennedy Rocker
Dr. Travell had first purchased rockers from the company in 1953. When requesting the chairs for her patients, she referred to the rocker as the “Carolina Rocker”. This name was adopted by the company and is now a registered trademark. When President Kennedy moved from the Senate Office Building into the White House, his Carolina Rocker went with him. Pictures appeared showing him in the Oval Office comfortably rocking while discussing national and international affairs. Dr. Travell, who had been appointed White House physician, told reporters of the high-backed rocker in his office. She said that the rocker was made in North Carolina but did not think it proper to mention the name. However, she said she would be glad to tell anyone, who wrote to her. As a result of this statement, the White House was deluged by mail, so Dr. Travell then revealed public ally P & P Chair Company of Asheboro, North Carolina, as the manufacturer. The response of the media and public was overwhelming. CBS filmed an interview the owner for the evening news. Life magazine ran an article. Time, Newsweek, and Popular Science also ran articles on the rocker. The volume of mail to the factory was tremendous, the majority from individuals asking where they could get a Kennedy Rocker. Songs, poems, pictures, all from the people - many praising the small North Carolina family business for not yielding to the temptation of mass production but sticking to the old-fashioned approach in making a truly comfortable rocking chair. President Kennedy bought additional rockers for Camp David and the various Kennedy estates. He gave dozens of the rockers as gifts to friends and heads of state. At the request of the White House, Kennedy Rockers were shipped to several hotels throughout the country and placed in their Presidential suites. This eliminated the burden of transporting the rocker when President Kennedy traveled. The rocker used by President Kennedy in the White House is now on permanent display in the Kennedy Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts. It was reported that a bidder at a recent Sotheby’s auction paid $442,500 for one of JKF’s rockers.
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kennedy-rocker.125west.com Telephone 888-921-9378 or 410-295-3917
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President John F. Kennedy acquired his first rocker from the P & P Chair Company in 1955 when he was Senator from Massachusetts. His personal physician, Dr. Janet Travell, had one of the rockers in her New York office. While at Dr. Travell’s office for treatment of his ailing back from his war injury, Mr. Kennedy found the southern porch rocking chair exceedingly comfortable and asked her to get him one.
