The elevator lobby in this photo makes apparent why the House's 1932 New House Office Building (now the Longworth House Office Building) drew comparisons to an elegant hotel. Bronze chandeliers with gilded eagles hung above lavender and green marble floors. The elevators—seen through the decorative arches—boasted gold-toned elevator doors with polished walnut interiors and were described in press accounts as the building’s “jeweled boxes.” Not everything was fancy, though—the pair of tobacco spittoons on the floor look appropriately humble.
