A Season of Splendor

Greg King

Description

Journey through the splendor and the excesses of the Gilded Age

"Every aspect of life in the Gilded Age took on deeper, transcendent meaning intended to prove the greatness of America: residences beautified their surroundings; works of art uplifted and were shared with the public; clothing exhibited evidence of breeding; jewelry testified to cultured taste and wealth; dinners demonstrated sophisticated palates; and balls rivaled those of European courts in their refinement. The message was unmistakable: the United States had arrived culturally, and Caroline Astor and her circle were intent on leading the nation to unimagined heights of glory."—From A Season of Splendor

Take a dazzling journey through the Gilded Age, the period from roughly the 1870s to 1914, when bluebloods from older, established families met the nouveau riche headlong—railway barons, steel magnates, and Wall Street speculators—and forged an uneasy and glittering new society in New York City. The best of the best were Caroline Astor's 400 families, and she shaped and ruled this high society with steel.

A Season of Splendor is a panoramic sweep across this sumptuous landscape, presenting the families, the wealth, the balls, the clothing, and the mansions in vivid detail—as well as the shocking end of the era with the sinking of the Titanic.

Sujets

• Middle Atlantic
• Histoire
• Nueva York
• Greg King
• New York City
• Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor
• State
• United States
• Gilded Age
• History
• Local
• New York

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781620458839
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A SEASON OF SPLENDOR
Also by Greg King
Twilight of Splendor: The Court of Queen Victoria during Her Diamond Jubilee Year
The Court of the Last Tsar: Pomp, Power, and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II
With Penny Wilson
The Fate of the Romanovs
A SEASON OF SPLENDOR
The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York
Greg King
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2009 by Greg King. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
Photo Credits Page 20: The Museum of the City of New York, The Byron Collection; page 106: The Newport Historical Society; pages 42, 44, 50, 57, 58, 80, 109, 123, 214, 307, 310, 324, 330, 387: Courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County; page 408: Courtesy of Tracey DeMartini, great-niece of Colonel Mann
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
King, Greg, date. A season of splendor : the court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York / Greg King. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-18569-8 (cloth) 1. New York (N.Y.)-Social life and customs-19th century. 2. New York (N.Y.)-Social life and customs-20th century. 3. Astor, Caroline Schermerhorn, 1830-1908. 4. Astor, Caroline Schermerhorn, 1830-1908-Friends and associates. 5. Elite (Social sciences)-New York (State)-New York-History. 6. Socialites-New York (State)-New York-History. 7. Rich people-New York (State)-New York-Biography. 8. New York (N.Y.)-Biography. 9. New York (N.Y.)-Description and travel. I. Title. F124.K56 2008 974.7 041041-dc22
2008009570
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
With the kind permission of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, this book is dedicated to the memory of his sister Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill, Alva Vanderbilt s great-grandaughter, an infinite source of knowledge, and a greatly missed friend.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
A Note on Currency

Introduction
Prologue: New York City, 1903
1. Mrs. Astor Holds Court
2. The Vainglorious Vanderbilts
3. Enter the Challenger
4. The Society Lady
5. The Society Gentleman
6. The Court Jester
7. The Arrivistes
8. The Edifice Complex
9. Palaces on Fifth Avenue
10. Mrs. Astor Joins the Race
11. Building for Eternity
12. The Unseen Armies
13. Clothing
14. Jewelry
15. Transportation
16. Masters of the Hudson
17. The Inland Newport
18. Monarch of the Smoky Mountains
19. The Kingdom by the Sea
20. Swells in Newport
21. The Social Season
22. The Society Dinner Party
23. Society Balls
24. The Dollar Princesses
25. A Breath of Scandal
26. Sailing to Oblivion
Epilogue

Notes
Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book grew from a long-standing interest in the Gilded Age. I vividly recall repeatedly leafing through numerous books at age six or seven that covered Gilded Age American palaces and their owners. The volumes by Merrill Folsom and Henry and Ottalie Williams, listed in the bibliography, had a profound effect on me, and as soon as I developed a vocabulary equal to the task, I eagerly began to read memoirs and family histories of the Vanderbilts and the Astors, eventually collecting books and materials to assuage my curiosity. Some ten years ago, the idea of actually writing a book about the Gilded Age took hold, and personal interest transformed into a more dedicated pursuit.
Given the wealth of personalities and possibilities involved, my initial ideas encompassed a wide variety of approaches, and I must thank Dorie Simmonds, my agent, and Stephen S. Power, my editor at John Wiley Sons, for helping to refine my vision and channel it into a more coherent narrative form. In the end, it was Dorie who strongly supported a stylistic change midstream to echo my previous book The Court of the Last Tsar , while Stephen s insistence that I concentrate on Caroline Astor and New York society gave the narrative a central focus around which the story could be told. Their continued encouragement and enthusiasm for this project have helped keep it on track, and the end result owes a great deal to many months of frank discussions among us. Ellen Wright, Editorial Assistant at Wiley, has been a model of patience throughout, and I thank John Simko, Senior Production Editor at Wiley, for his careful attention to the manuscript.
In researching and writing this book, I have drawn on the advice and support of many people who over the years have provided both information and suggestions that have played a part in shaping these pages. I would like to acknowledge David Adams; Jason Adams; Betty Aronson; Lee Atweiler; Lucia Bequaert; David Bloom; George Bobrick; Thomas and Mary Botford; Erna Bringe; Lorraine Butterfield; Jill Camps; Vincent Cartwright; Harry Cernan; Luke Connor; Ben Curry; Cyndi Darling; Louise David; Lisa Davidson; Mona and Gerald Dennings; Elizabeth Densmuire; Sam Dettlemore; Anne Dillard; Greg Dunmassy; Keith Eaton; Brian Ebford; Fred Ernest; Cecilia Eton; Edward Fine; Beth Fry; Michelle Fumkin; Andrei Gaddis; Julia Gelardi; Kathryn George; Nick Gorman; Dan Gretsky; Roger Gringle; Larry Gross; Linda Grundvald; Sebastian Hanson; Mike Harris; John Harrison; Marina Hart; Candice Hearst; William Hemple; Bill Hennings; Steve Hervet; DeeAnn Hoff; Craig Hohman; Brien Horan; Elizabeth Hoss; Allison Hume; Francine Imford; Nagori Iskaguchi; Max Jacobs; Irving Jadschmidt; Hans Jergin; Adrian Johns, Terry and Michael Jorgenson; Greg Julia; the late Ingrid Kane; Kerry Karnet; Natasha Kennet; Will Kevin; Harvey Kew; Scott Laforce; Brandon Lamont; Ian Lanoge; Gabrielle Lasher; Jack Lazov; Anne Little; Julia Loman; Peter Longford; Mike Lumis; Justin Maris; Thomas Matt; Edgar McNeil; Grant Menzies; Irina Mishop; Ian Morris; Roger Morris; Jay Moss; Christopher Mowlens; Sue Nardin; Claudia Nervin; Felix Norris; Rick Owens; Bill Partridge; Bob Perricault; Hank Pettigrew; Marsha and Ashton Porman; Ron Questen; George Ransome; Linda and Phil Rascul; Viki Sams; William Samuels; John Sandford; Rachel Sattle; Matt Selford; Tim Simmons; Nicola Simms; John Simon; Corey Sommers; Cynthia Sulden; Ryan Tager; Josh Tanner; Eleanor Tibbie; Diana Totesmore; Michael Townsend; Fanny Ulman; Eugene Unwin; Mona and Philip Usher; Anna Victor; Michel Vusgek; Henry Walters; Burt Washington; Curtis Welborne; Zora and Peter Welcome; Dale Wilmington; Allen Wilson; Nadine Womack; Cathy Wycliff; Shiguro Yukihama; Gleb Yuvenshky; and Mark Zendor.
Friends have been a constant source of support and especially understanding of the demands placed on my life as I struggled to bring this book to fruition. Past and present, they have been sounding boards for ideas, and often were the first to offer encouragement. They also were the people who have seen the least of me over the past few years, never complaining about my temporary absences from their lives. I would like to thank Sharlene Aadland; Dominic Albanese; Janet Ashton; Jacqui Axelson; Anne Barrett; Arturo Beeche; Daniel Briere; Dan Brite; Carrie Carlson; Sally Dick; Liz and Andy Eaton; Laura Enstone; Pablo Fonseca; Jake Gariepy; Ella Gaumer; Coryne Hall; Sally Hampton; Nils Hanson; Barbara and Paul Harper; Gretchen Haskin; Louise Hayes; Kathy Hoefler; Lise Everett Holden; Diane Huntley; Chuck and Eileen Knaus; Marlene Eilers Koenig; Peter Kurth; Angela Manning; Cecelia Manning; Mark Manning; Gigi McDonald; Nancy Mellon; Ilana Miller; Russ and Deb Minugh; Jennifer Mottershaw; Annette Nason-Waters; Pepsi Nunes; Steve O Donnell; Lisa Palmer; Anne Shawyer; Mary Silzel; Debra Tate; Katrina Warne; Sue Woolmans; and Marion Wynn.
As always, I thank my parents, Roger and Helena King, for their unfailing support.
I would like to thank Brad Swenson of Buy and Sell Videos for offering a steady stream of diverting entertainment as I wrote, allowing some relief when the pressure of deadlines was crowding around me. Antonio Perez Caballero supplied me not only with continued encouragement but also books, illustrative materials, and important information on Count Boni de Castellane and his fabled Palais Rose in Paris. Janet Whitcomb generously read through sections of the manuscript and shared her