Weird Things You Didn't Know About Mrs. Astor's Parties - The Gilded Age Season 1

at the beginning of the Gilded Age New York's Elite Society was comprised of what were known as the 400 or the Patriarchs a list of people also referred to as the Knickerbockers by the likes of Washington Irving though it was said that they didn't like that name essentially they were considered old New York because they came from the Dutch and English settlers of the city whose families brought their wealth and aristocratic Heritage to the new world they later became known as old money when a new class of wealth-bearing individuals began showing up in New York at the end of the 1800s into the new 20th century and the queen of old New York Society was Mrs Caroline Astor commonly known as the Mrs Astor she and her High Society parties were equally famous and they were taking place long before the HBO series introduces us to the newly wealthy industrialist family the Russells who were actually the Vanderbilts of the time and who became known as the new money moving into town I did another video on Alva Vanderbilt and her thirst for acceptance and Power in the battle between old money and new money in the Gilded Age please check it out and be sure to leave comments so here are some weird things you might not have known about Mrs Astor and her parties of the Gilded Age 1. Mrs Astor's calling card was the only one that truly mattered during the Gilded Age calling cards were used as both an entry into someone's home as well as a badge that a certain someone had graced the doorstep of your home dropping into a person's house was permissible and encouraged during the Gilded Age as long as it followed a set of social rules in short upon arrival at the house the card was presented to the head Butler at the front door and then forwarded to the lady of the house who would decide whether or not to receive you as a reply specific corners of the card would be folded down to indicate the lady's wishes or her absence in the case of Mrs Astor her calling card was most certainly a badge of honor since hers was the only name on a calling card that gave you guaranteed entry to any and all socially Elite events happening in the neighborhood 2. Mrs Aster wasn't the most beautiful socialite of the Gilded Age much to her Chagrin the Elder Mrs Caroline Aster was not considered a beauty she had strong features a pudgy and short figure and dark hair which she apparently died and because Mrs Astor did not like photographs of herself not many images of her exist there is of course the one portrait of her by carolus Duran painted in Paris in 1890 and now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Mrs Astor made sure that this painting was placed prominently in her New York house where she would stand in front of it when receiving guests for receptions 3. she had two mansions on Fifth Avenue for most of her adult life Mrs Astor lived in a mansion-sized brownstone on the corner of 34th Street and 5th Avenue in what is now Herald Square in this location the Asters owned the two lots that covered the block along the Avenue Mrs Astor shared the block with William Waldorf Aster the son of her husband's brother John Jacob Astor II it was a dull looking large brown five-story box were for years she had hosted her annual ball for the 400 Elite of New York Society later this same location would become the second half of the Waldorf Astoria which was later torn down to build the Empire State Building but as times changed prominent New Yorkers began moving farther up the Avenue toward the new Central Park now known as Upper East Side which had opened in 1859 during her Reign Mrs Astor was forced to keep up with the Joneses so she followed suit her second home was a veritable Mansion built on Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan New York City as was her other home it spanned two city blocks and was located at 840 and 841 Fifth Avenue on the northeast corner of 65th Street it was completed in 1896 and demolished around 1926. the Mansion was designed by Richard Morris hunt who used the early French Renaissance architecture and imitation of a Chateau in the French Louis XII Style the house was the setting for many parties and was a New York City attraction this new Ballroom could hold 1200 people compared with only 400 at Mrs Astor's previous home at 350 Fifth Avenue and 34th Street now about those parties from the 1870s until the 1900s Mrs Astor presided over thousands of parties and balls at her opulent mansions on Fifth Avenue including her annual ball which was the most highly anticipated event of the season in the beginning it was always held on a Monday night in January at her Fifth Avenue Brownstone and then moved later to her new mansion on the east side here are some weird and crazy things you might not have known about the parties and balls that Mrs Astor hosted during the Gilded Age of New York one only the elite of the elite could attend the earlier parties held at the old Brownstone were elitist to say the least these soirees were frequented only by those on the 400 list but as the new money moved into town and finally found favor with Mrs Astor that number increased to fill her 1200 capacity Ballroom in her new mansion 2. Mrs Astor had a thing for nude ladies in the ballroom at the new mansion that was also her Art Gallery prominently displayed you'd find a large portrait of a female nude it seems that Mr William K Vanderbilt found this distasteful but then she was the Mrs astroso who was he to say she also had a nude statue of Venus in her formal dining room there were report of even more nude female statues around the house 3. Mrs Astor would wear a diamond tiara to her parties it was reported that at one party thrown at her Upper East Side Mansion Mrs Astor was said to have donned an elaborate Diamond Tiara along with a diamond necklace enhancing a black velvet off-the-shoulder gown 4. the common goal at each party was marriage the patriarch balls also known as marriage Marts were the start of it all Mrs Astor arranged a series of subscription balls in order to find appropriate husbands for her four daughters to maintain society's exclusivity only 25 carefully chosen gentlemen were invited and they were then asked to bring nine additional guests for debutantes and five eligible bachelors these balls lasted long hours with a late dinner at 1 30 a.m and more drinking dancing and matchmaking until Daybreak 5. polkas were not allowed ladies of that time simply did not show their ankles or calves during a dance so dances like the polka were banned because they had a tendency to show what was considered vulgar parts of a woman's body sit if you attended you couldn't talk about body parts Mrs Astor placed a high value on decorum which was largely upheld by women at the time at her Gatherings there could be no mention of legs or any other body parts for that matter and of course a lady was expected to never be alone with a man at any time that was specifically prohibited seven Mrs Astor couldn't compete with the Vanderbilts as it would come to pass Mrs Astor's annual ball was soon to be eclipsed by a flashier fancier party down the street at 350 Fifth Avenue this was the newly built Mansion of the Vanderbilts who eventually made their way into the 400 club and essentially abolished it in 1883. having never been invited to either the patriarch balls and certainly not Mrs Astor's annual ball the newly arrived Mrs Alva Vanderbilt wife of William kissim Vanderbilt sought to do one better when she held her legendary masquerade ball on March 26 1883 to celebrate the completion of her new Fifth Avenue residence Petit chateau suddenly it was the Talk of the Town and sent prospective attendees scurrying to Jewelers cobblers and dressmakers in search of the perfect costume the wealthiest families in New York were whipped into a frenzy for months as they obsessively planned for this big new wonderful event happening on the east side on the big night the stuffy Knickerbockers and the opulent Nouveau riche mingled Under One Roof in an Entourage of crazy costumes including Little Bo Peep Daniel Boone Mozart and a slew of Louis XVI queens and Joan of arcs even Alva's mother Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt II herself appeared dressed in an electric light outfit complete with a torch that she lit with a button hidden in her pocket here's Alva in her own costume which she dubbed a Venetian Renaissance lady birds and all and here is all the sister-in-law wearing a diamond-studded beehive hat and dressed as a hornet lastly no one could forget when Kate strong a socialite with the hilarious nickname of puss wore a taxidermied cat on her head with half a dozen Cattails glued to her gown it wasn't long after all this highly successful costume ball that Mrs Aster had to accept the Vanderbilts and all the other Nouveau Rich into her Social Circle she spent her last several years suffering from periodic dementia and died at age 78 on October 30th 1908. she was interred in the Trinity Church Cemetery in Northern Manhattan thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe for more videos on the many fabulous fears and feisty women in history

Channel: Fabulous, Fierce & Feisty Women In History

Views: 503,691

Keywords: who is mrs astor, astor family, mrs astor, the mrs astor, astors, the astors, the gilded age, hbo the gilded age, HBO gilded age, the gilded age hbo, vanderbilts, the vanderbilts, Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, Carrie Astor, Alva Vanderbilt, gilded age history, gilded age new york city, gilded age, new york city history, new york history, hbo tv shows, hbo tv series, hbo original

Id: fcZ_A2o17UY

Length: 11min 51sec (711 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 06 2022