The Gilded Gentleman

It’s nearly the end of the summer but there's still time for one more visit to the seashore and, in particular, one place that was so very popular in the Gilded Age -- Coney Island.  

Join Carl and guest Esther Crain for an encore presentation of “In the Good Old Summertime: Where the Gilded Age Played.” 

And coming soon -- Esther will be joining Carl this fall for a brand new episode – “Children of the Gilded Age: Seen and Not Heard (Until Now).”  

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As New York continued its march up the island of Manhattan, there were few places where New Yorkers that couldn’t escape to Newport could find somewhere to relax, play, stroll, and find some shade. The development of the great Central Park provided some much-needed relief but it took some time for it to become a place that was accessible and viable for all of New York’s social classes. 

Out on the far coast of Brooklyn, the resort of Coney Island developed rapidly and became a truly great escape with its famous amusement parks where one could find adventure and perhaps a bit of romance. Esther takes us on a journey to visit these spots and spaces where Gilded Age New Yorkers could cool off, forget the realities of life for just a bit and have a really good time.  

More about Carl's special guest:  

— Esther Crain, an author, historian, and native New Yorker. In 2008 she launched the website Ephemeral New York, where she writes and publishes stories every week that chronicle Gotham’s past through old photos, newspaper archives, vintage artwork, and other artifacts.

In this special episode created in partnership with English Heritage, Carl is joined by curator Christopher Warleigh-Lack for a look at the once royal residence of Osborne House on England's Isle of Wight.   

Christopher guides us through inside the grand estate where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent summer and Christmas holidays.  Following Albert's sudden death, Victoria continued to come to Osborne and even spent her final days here by the sea. 

A visit to Osborne House today reveals an intimate view of the private life of Queen Victoria and her family. 

For more information on the American Friends of English Heritage, click here. 

Carl is joined by Cornelia Brooke Gilder, noted Berkshire historian, author and Lenox native, for this special show which delves into the artistic and literary life of the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts as well as its role as a Gilded Age summer enclave. 

From the early 19th century the lush, green landscape of the Berkshire mountain inspired writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and artists such as Daniel Chester French. By the Gilded Age, the vast expanse of land was dotted with the sprawling estates of Vanderbilts, Morgans and Sloans, built by architects well known in Newport circles such as Richard Morris Hunt and Charles McKim. Throughout the 19th century, the Berkshires attracted a British artistic elite as well, from acclaimed actress Fanny Kemble to Henry James. 

In this episode, Carl and "Nini" (as she is known to all) discuss Berkshire history as well as three particular estates one can still see today - Ventfort Hall, the great Jacobean inspired manor owned by JP Morgan's sister, Edith Wharton's grand estate The Mount and the "cottage" Pine Acre, once owned by the family of Wharton's husband Teddy's. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more information and images

Historian and scholar Connor Williams joins Carl for this look at the Gilded Age retreat of the Adirondacks.  A number of Gilded Age families came to this leafy paradise despite the dusty two day journey in an attempt to escape the city and recharge in nature.  

The Gilded Age saw the rise of the "great camps" -- extensive properties owned by families such as the Vanderbilts and the Morgans. While certainly not as lavish as their Newport cottages, these escapes still had elegant meals, fully stocked bars and dozens of domestic help to keep it all running.  

Great Camp Sagamore, once a Vanderbilt property, still welcomes visitors today on the shores of Raquette lake as it has for over 125 years. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for a full list of episodes

Carl is joined by curator Frank Futral for a special on-location visit to the Vanderbilt Mansion in New York's Hudson Valley.  

Built for Frederick Vanderbil tand his wife Lousie by legendary firm  McKim, Mead and White, the mansion is a work of art itself combining classic Beaux Arts style with unique and rare architectural elements brought from Europe.  

Frank takes Carl on a room by room tour of the mansion to explain just how this magnificent house was built and just how it is very different from the great mansions of Newport. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more information

To celebrate a month of diversity, courage and pride, we are rereleasing this episode which continues to be one of the most talked about shows on The Gilded Gentleman so far. 

The story of Murray Hall -- a Gilded Age bail bondsman, Tammany Hall representative and loving and devoted father -- is one that few know. It's a story that leaves you inspired and one that is impossible to forget and one that when you first hear it, takes you by surprise.  

Murray's story, like countless others nearly forgotten, is one that is deeply relevant in our modern world long after his own death in 1901. Murray Hall lived an extraordinary life in a small nondescript house in New York's Greenwich Village that still remains  as a testament to his story  today. 

Carl is joined by veteran journalist, writer and tour guide Michael Morgenthal for a journey through the pages of 19th century newspapers.  

Michael traces the history of several of our most well known newspapers today including the New York Post and the New York Times as well as how Gilded Age journalists and readers had - in their way - the (nearly) 24 hour news cycle that we are so accustomed to today. 

By the end of the Gilded Age there were over 20 daily newspapers published in New York City alone. Each has a slightly different focus, much as our papers do today, and they scooped their news in a variety of ways.  This episode takes a look at New York's newspaper history and just what it was like in the Gilded Age. Michael shares the story behind several influential figures including Alexander Hamilton  and famed poet and publisher William Cullen Bryant, leading up to the great wars for sensational journalism fought by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. 

In addition, you'll discover when newspapers adopted the popular tabloid size, and when actual advertising began to be used to create income.  

Carl visits the Museum of the City of New York where he's joined by Collections Manager for Costumes and Textiles, Elizabeth Randolph, to discuss the famous dress Alice Vanderbilt wore to her sister-in-law Alva'a ball, while inspecting the original dress itself. 

On the evening of March 26, 1883, Alva Vanderbilt threw her famous costume ball to officially open her new "Petit Chateau" on Fifth Avenue and to secure her place in Gilded Age society.  Her sister-in-law, Alice, not to be outdone, arrived at the ball and created  one of the most talked about fashion statements from the Gilded Age to today.  

Alice had the famed British-born Parisian couturier Charles Frederick Worth design a gown that represented "electric light" - a new idea in 1883.  Encrusted with gold and silver threads, Alice's gown caught the attention of not only the guests at the ball, but the press whose reports of her dress ranged from the credible to the outrageous. Jose Mora, the noted society photographer of the era, captured Alice in a famous photograph in which Alice, wearing the dress, holds a torch high above her head.  

Myths about the dress have circulated for years - that there was a concealed battery back in the bodice, that the dress itself somehow "lit up", and on and on.  Miraculously, the original dress survives today and is in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York. With deep gratitude and thanks to the Museum, I was allowed to see the actual dress and record this interview with Elizabeth Randolph. With the dress laid out before us, we explored the story of what's true, what's not, and just what effect (both visual and social) Alice would have made wearing the dress on the night of Alva's ball. 

Renowned historian and author Richard Jones delves deeply into one of the world's most fascinating unsolved series of murders.  True crime fans may think they know the major elements of the grisly set of Jack the Ripper murders and the resulting investigation, but this show uncovers some angles and aspects that shine a wider light into these horrors of late Victorian London. 

Carl and guest Richard Jones delve into all aspects of the crimes themselves - from what happened, to what clues were and weren't at each murder site, to how the police attempted to quickly find the killer, and to how the press manipulated and were responsible for giving us the impressions of the case we have today.   

Richard shares his insights and analysis on possible suspects, why these murders were unlike any others up to this point, and most importantly, offers deeply human insight into just who the victims were themselves - which may surprise you.  Don't miss this insightful look into a set of crimes that still grips the public nearly 150 years after they occurred.

Royal historian and author Tracy Borman returns to The Gilded Gentleman following her appearance on Crown & Scepter: The Coronation Show last year.  

Tracy is a noted historian and a frequent guest and commentator on the BBC as well as many documentaries and programs internationally.   Tracy's most recent book "Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter That Changed History" serves as the basis for this episode, along with Tracy's insights on the mother daughter relationships in the lives of two modern monarchs - Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.  

Mother daughter relationships can be loving, supportive and at times challenging.  In this episode, Tracy Borman discusses several royal mother/daughter relationships that may have changed history.   Elizabeth I was barely three years old when her father Henry VIII ordered her mother's execution for failing to provide a royal male heir.  Tracy's revelatory new research and insight explains just how Elizabeth honored, and even emulated her mother throughout her own long reign and how she continued to dispel myths that had been created by a malicious court. 

Like Elizabeth I, neither Queen Victoria nor Queen Elizabeth II ever thought that they would be queens themselves and Tracy offers additional in-depth insight as to how these women - along with their own mothers influenced the throne. 

Just over a year ago, as Broadway opened a revival of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd, The Gilded Gentleman was honored to sit down with one of the stars of the original 1979 Broadway production.

Sarah Rice, who went on to a distinguished career in opera as well as leading roles in musical theatre, originated the role of Johanna playing opposite such Broadway legends as Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou. 

Sarah covered how she got started in theatre, came to New York with two cats and a piano to join the cast of the original The Fantasticks, and then was cast in her career changing role as Broadway's first Johanna.  Perhaps most fascinating in Sarah's chat with Carl were her reminiscences and recollections of being directed and prepared for the role by the great masters Hal Prince and Stephen Sondhiem themselves.  Sarah ultimately became one of today's most important interpreters of Stephen  Sondheim's music.  

Sarah passed away suddenly earlier this winter and her loss is a profound one for those who knew her personally and those who were touched by her beautiful voice and many appearances on stage.   

As a tribute to her memory and her artistry, The Gilded Gentleman is revisiting the interview portion of last Spring's show as a tribute to her memory. 

Join Carl and  British country house historian Curt DiCamillo for a look into the world of the Edwardian country house.  Audiences became fascinated in these houses through the blockbuster Julian Fellowes series "Downton Abbey" and his earlier film "Gosford Park",  with their colliding worlds of upstairs and downstairs and interlocking social dramas. 

Curt discusses this fascinating period in British history and how the country house in Edwardian times brought society closer to a modern age. Curt explains how country houses as estates for the British aristocracy evolved over centuries and how they reached their height in the reign of King Edward VII, who took the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. 

The country house greatly expanded during this time and some interiors reflected influences from Britain's growing empire.  Grand dinners, shooting parties, and elegant tea parties were all backdrops to great social intrigue and sometimes scandal.  

In this show, Curt shares several examples of great Edwardian country houses (including one current royal estate), what they looked like, how they operated, and how they can be visited today.  The Edwardian period was a glittering one, much like America's Gilded Age, but a short one, which vanished from view as Britain and Western Europe entered a world-changing war.  

Related show with Curt DiCamillo:  The British Crown Jewels: History and Mystery

Fashion historian and author, Dr. Elizabeth L. Block returns to The Gilded Gentleman for a truly "undercover" investigation.  This time, Liz joins Carl to discuss the world of corsets, bustles, straps and stockings, all of which comprised the undergarment engineering that helped make the glorious gowns by Worth and other designers appear as glamorous as they did. 

In addition to the architecture and the food, it is the fashion of the Gilded Age that always elicits comments and sighs at the very beauty and craftsmanship of the great gowns that swept by on ballroom floors.  But the stunning and costly gowns, whether for a ball or for wear during the day, required a complex combination of undergarments to not only make the wearer feel comfortable, but also to give the outer clothing its required shape.  

Dr. Elizabeth Block joins Carl for a discussion that includes insight into not only what garments were required, but also just how they were made and how they were worn.  You may be surprised at just how comfortable and wearable some undergarments actually were.  Liz and Carl's discussion includes a look at such curious accessories as the "lobster bustle" and even a corset for men. 

Related episode:  

• Gilded Age French Fashion: The House of Worth and Beyond  

Links

Elizabeth Block - 

 The small two acre square known since the 1830's as Gramercy Park has also been called "America's Bloomsbury". Taking the reference from London's famous neighborhood once home to many great writers and artists, New York's Gramercy Park has similarly included noted cultural icons from architect Stanford White to actor Edwin Booth to the great politician Samual  Tilden.  

Wandering along the park today it's easy to gain a view back into the past - many of the original Greek Revival brick townhouses and brownstone mansions remain, some still in private hands.

The park in the center is one of the most unique in America - it is a private park, not a city property and it's upkeep has been managed since its inception in the early 19th century by the property owners around the park itself.  Writer and historian Keith Taillon joins Carl for this episode to look back into  this hidden pocket of New York City's past and unlock its history. 

The Gilded Gentleman website

Carl is joined by noted architect, interior designer and author Phillip James Dodd for an in-depth discussion of the "look" of the Gilded Age  - a style known as American Beaux-Arts.  

Architecture constructed during the height of America's Gilded Age most certainly had a distinctive look.  It was a uniquely American combination of stylistic elements of classical antiquity, the Renaissance palaces of the Medici, as well as the more flamboyant styles of France's Belle Epoque.  

But just how does one define the eclectic style that came to be known as American Beaux-Arts and who were its most famous and influential practitioners?  In this episode Carl and Phillip James Dodd discuss these concepts in general to arrive at a definition and understanding, but also take a look at major examples, such as the facade and Great Hall or the Metropolitan Museum of Art,  the New York Public Library and the Morgan Library, as well as the architects who created them:  Richard Morris Hunt, Charles Follen McKim, and the architectural team of Carrè re and Hastings.  

After having listened to this unique episode, you'll look at the Gilded Age and New York City with whole new eyes. 

In the previous episode "Dandies: Gentleman of Style from the 19th Century to Today", Carl was joined by cultural historian and maker of fine custom clothing, Nathaniel Lee Adams for a look at this most interesting breed of society's tastemaking men.  In this new episode, Carl and Natty take the discussion further and focus on the early 20th century, when a new brand of dandy was emerging  - one with style perhaps, but also often tinged by scandal. 

Being a "dandy" is generally thought to be more than just being a stylish dresser.  There is attitude, perspective and perhaps even a sense of the revolutionary that ties many of history's so-called dandies together.  In this episode, Carl and Natty start with the world of the dandy immediately following the death of Oscar Wilde and begin with a discussion of the British author and caricaturist Max Beerbohm and the  American self-proclaimed inventor of the tuxedo, Evander Berry Wall.  

They then discuss the fascinating, complex black American boxer Jack Johnson, who in order to fight not only his opponents but the pervasive prejudice of his time,  created a boundary-breaking persona of style laced with scandal.  Returning to Europe the discussion continues Oscar Wilde's own nephew and writer (and also boxer),  Arthur Cravan, the War Poets including Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon, the minimalist Austrian architect Adolf Loos and finally one of the most polarizing personalities of them all, the flamboyant Italian poet and would be revolutionary, Gabriele D'Anunzio.  

In this episode, journalist and biographer Maria Teresa Cometto joins The Gilded Gentleman for a look into the life of New York-born 19th-century sculptor Emma Stebbins.   Emma Stebbins is most noted for her iconic bronze statue, The Angel of the Waters, which was placed on Central Park's Bethesda Terrace in 1873.  Maria Teresa Cometto is the author of the recently published "Emma and the Angel of Central Park", the first extensive biographical look at Stebbins' life. 

Many locals and visitors may be aware of parts of the story of Emma Stebbins - that her Angel was the first public statue in New York produced by a woman and that her life included a domestic partnership with another woman.  But there is much more in the story.  This is the story of a creative artistic woman whose life, which began in early 19th-century New York, expanded and flourished in a community of fellow artists and sculptors in mid-century Rome.  

This is a very Italian story in many ways, set against the backdrop of the ruins, museums, and palaces of classical Rome.  Emma's story includes love, betrayal, inspiration, tragedy, and even a bit of mystery.  Her most well known creation, the famed Angel of the Waters, while perhaps her most significant work, is indeed only part of the story. 

Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, known to all as just Mamie, was another of the larger-than-life personalities during the Gilded Age. For this episode, Carl is joined by historian and writer Keith Taillon and actor Ashlie Atkinson, who portrays Mamie Fish in HBO's The Gilded Age, for a look at just who this complicated and fascinating woman really was. 

If you received an invitation to a party at Mamie Fish's - you went.  Mamie Fish, who had an iron clad family pedigree and enough money to compete with other Gilded Age hostesses, was known as a "fun maker".  While at Mrs. Astor's you may have cemented your role in society, at Mamie's, you just had a really good time.  

Her parties bordered on the outrageous, from inviting an elephant as a guest to co-hosting the famous dinner for dogs, some of them adorned with diamond collars.  

But who was Mamie Fish and why do we find her fascinating today?  Historian Keith Taillon and actor Ashlie Atkinson offer deeply insightful perspectives on this woman who perhaps sought to break out of the role prescribed to her and shake up society.  

Mamie Fish, when looked at through a modern lens, was challenging, complicated, conflicted and certainly controversial. But given the Gilded Age's restrictions and gender rules, it's interesting to consider how much she could also be considered a rebel and revolutionary for her time. 

Edith Wharton published The Age of Innocence at a very important moment in her life.  When the novel came out in 1920, she had been living in France full-time for nearly 10 years and had seen the devastating effects of World War I up close.  

Her response was to look back with a sense of nostalgia to the time of her childhood to recreate that staid, restrictive world of New York in the 1870s that, despite its often social cruelty and harsh judgements, seemed to have some kind of moral center.  It was a world in which Wharton as a creative woman, however, could not live and work, and thus, she transferred her life in stages to France.  

In this episode, Dr. Emily Orlando, a noted Wharton scholar, joins Carl to delve into the background of this novel, take a deep dive into the personalities of the major characters, and discuss what Wharton wanted to say in her masterpiece.  

Related Episodes: 

• A Sprig of Witch Hazel:  Edith Wharon's Secret Affair
• Edith Wharton's Paris

It's ball season! Time to call the carriage for your visit to the Gilded Age's greatest parties.

Balls were the most lavish entertainment one could attend in the Gilded Age -- from Mrs. Astor's annual Opera Ball for around 400 guests to smaller affairs for only 200 or 300 hundred. 

But that ball was far more than an elegant night out. Being invited signaled that you were "in" society. Who you saw there often determined how you navigated society, and whom you could introduce your daughter to indicated possible prospects for the marriage market. Your every move was being watched, cataloged, and judged.  

Venture back to the Gilded Age to revisit ball season in this classic Gilded Gentleman episode - find out what you had to wear, how you had to behave, what you had to eat, and even how to interpret the secret language of a lady's fan. 

Visit the website for more images and information

Viewers were introduced to Emily Roebling on the second season of The Gilded Age. Now learn the entire story of the Roebling family -- father, son, wife -- the engineers responsible for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. 

As a special bonus episode to end the year, enjoy this 2023 show from the Bowery Boys podcast archives, looking at the extraordinary individuals responsible for this 19th century marvel. Greg and Tom walk through the history, then chat with Kriss Roebling, Washington and Emily Roebling's great-great grandson, who leads specialty tours of the bridge today. 

The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was a technological wonder when it opened in 1883.  The story of its construction, which took over 14 years, is an odyssey of passion, ingenuity and tragedy.   

In the end, it was Emily Roebling, wife of Washington Roebling who, in the face of her husband's debilitating illness, dedicated herself to completing the project in the male dominated world of engineers and contractors. 

Visit the Bowery Boys website for images and other information

Delmonico's began as the dream of two Swiss immigrants in the 1820's and grew to be a social center of the Gilded Age.  Prohibition shuttered Delmonico's along with other great New York restaurants. Italian immigrant Oscar Tucci looked at the closed great brownstone former restaurant at 56 Beaver St and decided to reopen it - first as a speakeasy, then as a full continental restaurant that went on to welcome the famous, not-so-famous, and never famous to dine side by side and celebrate tradition and connection. 

Max Tucci, Oscar Tucci's grandson, has returned as part of the team to reopen Delmonico's and carry on his family's traditions.  Max's story, which he shares in today's show recorded at Delmonico's, is about great food, but also about something more: It's about honoring tradition and one's ancestors.  

Related episode:  

• The Delmonico Way: A Conversation with Max Tucci

Carl is joined by actor Simon Jones, whose distinguished career has included King George V on "Downton Abbey", stage productions on Broadway and the West End,  and his current role as Bannister on HBO's "The Gilded Age".

Simon takes us backstage as he discusses his career from his earliest roles, including in the radio drama version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and film version, his role as Brideshead in the iconic 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited", and his work with John Cleese and "the Pythons" among others.  

Simon also discusses his experiences with his many well-known co-stars and colleagues over the years, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame Maggie Smith,  Lauren Bacall, Penelope Keith and Angela Lansbury.  In addition, Simon takes us behind the cameras and shares some fascinating insight on creating the role of Bannister on HBO's "The Gilded Age". 

Ulysses Dietz, noted curator, author, and historian is the great-great grandson of President Ulysses S. Grant.  In this unique and very special show, Ulysses takes us behind the doors of several of Newport's great mansions to understand how architecture, design and decorative arts all combine to tell the story of how this social community came to be and grew during the Gilded Age.  

Ulysses shares insight into some of the famous personalities of the Gilded Age, including Alva Vanderbilt, and the architects Richard Morris Hunt and Ogden Codman, Jr., as well offering a look at several mansions, including Chateau-sur-Mer, the Breakers and Marble House.  

Ulysses also discusses several objects he included in an exhibition he curated in Newport last year that tell the behind-the-scenes tale of aspects of the Gilded Age and its personalities that we perhaps never knew. 

Related shows:

• Architect of the Gilded Age: The Triumphant Tale of Richard Morris Hunt  
• Social Climber: The Iron Will and Determined Rise of Alva Vanderbilt  

Christmas traditions evolved over the 19th century, combining influences from the days of the Dutch settlers with British practices inspired by the work of Dickens, and along the way, they became something truly American.  In this special holiday episode,  the Gilded Gentleman visits with Ann Haddad, House Historian of New York's 1832 Merchant's House Museum, and takes a look at how the well-to-do Tredwell family and their servants would have celebrated the holiday around mid-century.  

We then travel outside the city up to the Hudson Valley for a visit with Maria Reynolds, curator of the Mills Mansion in Staatsburgh, New York,  a grand Stanford White designed country house right out of the Gilded Age. For the Mills family, the holidays of 1899 and 1900 in the country included many outdoor winter activities, including sledding and skating and even, with a great greenhouse on the estate, some special items served on holiday tables.  And through some unique archival material, we'll even get a sense of just who may have come to visit for a holiday dinner. 

Financier Jay Gould was one of the most famous — and infamous — of the Gilded Age robber barons. He was ruthless in his business dealings, tangled with the Vanderbilts for control of the railroads and fought battle after battle on Wall Street. 

But there was a less contentious side to him as well. Gould sought respite from New York City with his family at his country home, Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, a rolling estate where instead of Wall St. warrior he could be father and husband. 

Lyndhurst may be familiar to viewers of the HBO series The Gilded Age since a number of its rooms served as filming locations in the show.  The mansion and estate are owned and managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and visitors are welcomed year-round. 

In this unique episode, The Gilded Gentleman travels to Lyndhurst for a look inside both the Mansion and the life of Jay Gould. Howard Zar, executive director of Lyndhurst, joins Carl for a fascinating interview recorded in the picture gallery in Jay Gould's own mansion. 

Surrounded by Gould's precious hand-chosen art collection (still hung as Gould intended), Howard and Carl delve into what life was like at the Mansion and what visitors can see today. 

As a special treat, follow along with Howard and Carl on a tour through the Mansion visiting Gould's reception room, library, private office and dining room. 

The Gilded Age was a period of rapid industrialization and innovation - and that was abundantly true in terms of what was happening in the kitchen.  New marvels like refrigeration, the availability of ingredients like baking powder, and new tools from egg beaters to meat slicers, all made creating over-the-top meals much easier than ever before.  

Becky Libourel Diamond, food historian and author of the just published Gilded Age Cookbook, shares some rich insights into a number of these kitchen innovations, along with stories of recipes and dishes that defined grand Gilded Age dining.  

In this season of holiday entertaining, Becky even shares some ideas from her book on how to create your own Gilded Age-inspired holiday dinner. 

One of the most fascinating story lines in Season One of the HBO series "The Gilded Age" was that of the young black writer Peggy Scott and her Brooklyn family.  Elements of Peggy's father's character were based on scholar Dr. Carla Peterson's own ancestral family.   

In her groundbreaking book, Black Gotham: A Family History of African-Americans in Nineteenth Century New York City, Dr. Peterson sheds light on how this community grew, how diverse the community actually was, and she provides insight into leading figures and their contributions often missing in standard accounts of the period.   

In this episode Dr. Peterson discusses the path of her own research, which ultimately revealed a richer, deeper sense of community and identity than many realized. 

Celebrate the opening of the opera season Gilded Age style!  In this encore episode, Carl delves into how the Metropolitan Opera came to be and what it meant to those bejewelled Gilded Age audiences.  Most of the drama took place in the audience - and not so much on the stage. 

On the night of October 22, 1883, the brand new Metropolitan Opera House opened its doors.  The new theater was able to accommodate many more prime seats than the old Academy of Music, and as a result, "new money" socialites like Alva Vanderbuilt could finally get their dream - a private box at the opera.  

But most of these opera goers weren't there for the music. They were there to jockey for social position, play the game of "see and be seen" and hopefully get one's daughter married off to an appropriate fortune.  

This episode goes in to the drama -- on stage and off -- that accompanied that first opera season at the net Met - so put on your favorite gown from Paris, don your top hat and cane and join The Gilded Gentleman for a Gilded Age night at the opera. 

Visit the website for images related to this subject. And check out the whole list of episodes from the Gilded Gentleman here.

In this truly spooky episode. Greg and Tom from the Bowery Boys podcast travel to Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island to delve into four tales of the unexplained, the perhaps unforgotten and definitely the unsettling.  

Our stories include a massive elegant mansion that once graced the Hunts Point neighborhood in the Bronx. Built by merchant and trader Benjamin Whitlock in 1850 and later owned by Cuban sugar importer Inocencio Casanova, the mansion is the site of numerous unexplained mysteries including an extensive system of vaults and secret rooms hidden well beneath the mansion's main floors. 

A stop on Manhattan's East 27th Street (near the Gilded Age's fashionable Madison Square) uncovers reports of a curious and very active poltergeist and a trip out to Queens explores two mysterious deaths at the location of a remote farmhouse, the site now part of Calvary Cemetery.  

Greg and Tom conclude their visits with a few of the ghosts of the Gilded Age with a stop at the Vanderbilt Mausoleum in Staten Island, the final resting place of Cornelius Vanderbilt as well as his son William H. Vanderbilt and grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II.  

And as with any visit with the Vanderbilts, one discovers a few secrets that may lurk beneath the surface. 

Visit the Bowery Boys website for images related to this show.

John Jacob Astor is considered to have been New York's first great real estate mogul, and indeed the Astor family has been said to have been "New York's landlords" for much of the 19th century.  

But other developers and builders were responsible for establishing desirable areas in which to build as well.  

In this episode guest historian Keith Taillon takes a look at five particular properties and mansions  - all except for one can still be found today.  With locations as diverse as today's midtown Manhattan to the Upper West Side and up into Harlem, Keith weaves the tales of how each area became fashionable, how desirability rose and fell,  what styles of architecture prevailed, and just who some of the owners were.  

Our journey will include the homes of JP Morgan Jr and Andrew Carnegie as well as other lesser well-known Gilded Age luminaries such as Robert Davis and James Bailey, all with equally intriguing and drama filled stories to tell. 

If you liked this show, listen to Carl and Keith's last podcast together -- Chasing the Gold: A Gilded Age Tour Up Manhattan

Join Carl and historian and professional musician Dr. Christopher Brellochs for a tour through the musical influences of the Gilded Age. 

Music in the Gilded Age incorporated many different styles and influences from the classical symphonies and operas brought to American concert halls and stages from Europe to more home grown music that included military influenced music as well as music that reflected the fusion of cultural influences like ragtime.   

Dr. Brellochs shares insight into just what Gilded Age audiences were tapping their feet to and where they were going to hear music from the brand new Carnegie Hall in 1891 to the opening of the Metropolitan Opera in 1883.   

This episode covers some American composers that you might not know including John Knowles Paine who was tremendously influential in the Gilded Age and nearly forgotten today.  And just to give some special perspective Dr. Brellochs played the role of John Knowles Paine in an episode of HBO's first season of "The Gilded Age".   

We also discuss the popularization of a new instrument - the saxophone - which Dr. Brellochs has called a Gilded Age "coming of age story".  

In the latter part of 19th-century America, over 200 young women married into British and European noble families.  Some Gilded Age families wanted their daughters to gain titles to secure their social standing, and many willing aristocrats needed the significant marriage settlements to repair crumbling estates and fill up their bank accounts.  From the marriage in 1874 of Jenny Jerome to Lord Randolph Churchill, many mothers and daughters went in search of eligible nobles to marry. 

This episode looks into the marriage of Jenny Jerome, mother of Winston Churchill, as well as perhaps the most famous aristocratic match - Consuelo Vanderbilt's marriage to Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, in 1895, to see what motivated these matches and what they were like in reality.  

Venice by the end of the 19th century had lost much of the glory it once had known. Crumbling palazzi, a bad economy and an overall sense of decay permeated the city. 

New writings published on the long-forgotten Venetian Renaissance painters and artists brought a new stream of visitors to the city including Henry James, John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler among others. American expatriate art connoisseurs such as Daniel and Ariana Curtis and the great Isabella Stewart Gardner all made Venice home for a time. 

Much of the activity centered around the majestic Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal which the Curtises bought, becoming the scene of much entertaining and socializing among artists. 

This episode takes a look at what the city meant to James on his many visits since his first in 1869 to his last in 1907. In addition, the show considers what it meant to other artists and how they interpreted it amidst a fascinating, eccentric, educated community of people flowing into the city. 

We will also take a look at the two great works in which James captured the city and this community, The Aspern Papers (1888) and The Wings of the Dove (1902).  

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more episodes 

As we continue our visit to the Riviera in the Belle Epoque, The Gilded Gentleman revisits the little-known story of an American-born European princess. 

Many people think that Grace Kelly became the first American princess of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier in 1956. The truth however is that decades before in the glittering years of the Belle Epoque, another American-born woman married a Monegasque prince and claimed that honor.  

Alice Heine was born in New Orleans to a French father and a mother with European as well as Southern roots. Moving to Europe with her family when she was a child, she married a French duke at a young age. His untimely death left her a widow, but she caught the eye of Prince Albert I of Monaco who despite his family's objections married her in 1889 making her his princess. 

The story of Alice's life as Princess of Monaco is a fascinating one which includes many famous names of the era such as the Prince of Wales the future King Edward VII.  

Among other efforts to modernize the principality, Alice devoted much of her time to raising the cultural prestige of Monaco and Monte Carlo. Her marriage faltered due to infidelity on both sides and following a dramatic incident discussed in the show, Alice abruptly left Monaco in 1901 never to return. 

A glittering, glamorous look at the history of the French Riviera and its height in the years of the Belle Epoque - where not everything was always quite as it seemed. 

Originally popular as a warm weather destination for convalescing British aristocrats, the rocky, dramatically beautiful eastern coastline of southern France, the Riviera and its resorts of Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo,  have been populated with the rich and the royal.  

It was also a good place if one just wanted to hide out.  In many ways, it was a place where anyone could be anyone they wanted to be - as long as they looked the part.  Queen Victoria discovered Nice and its neighboring region beginning in 1882 and made it her winter home for many years. 

Wealthy aristocratic families such as the great Rothschild banking family found it too and in this episode we spend time with two unique Rothschild ladies. 

For many movie fans, the Riviera will always remain as it appeared in Hitchcock's 1955 film To Catch a Thief and indeed this episode includes the story of one particular real-life jewel thief with a surprising identity who preyed upon the wealthy in the Belle Epoque.

Visit the website for more information

As New York continued its march up the island of Manhattan, there were few places where people that couldn't escape to Newport could find somewhere to relax, play, stroll and find some shade.  

The development of Central Park  provided some much needed relief but it took some time for it to become a place that was accessible and viable for all of New York's social classes.     

Out on the far coast of Brooklyn, the resort of Coney Island developed rapidly and became a truly great escape with its famous amusement parks where one could find adventure and perhaps a bit of romance.  In this episode, returning guest Esther Crain, author and creator of Ephemeral New York, takes us on a journey to visit these spots and spaces where Gilded Age New Yorkers could cool off, forget the realities of life for just a bit, and have a really good time. 

As a special summer bonus, join Carl for an encore of this classic Gilded Gentleman episode. Be sure to wear your best hat and dust off your gold topped cane for this very gilded shopping trip. 

Carl is joined by Emma Guest-Consales, PhD art historian and master New York City tour guide. for this special look at the evolution of shopping in 19th century New York and just how revolutionary some retailers were in the Gilded Age.   

Emma takes us on a virtual visit to Ladies MIle, the elegant shopping thoroughfare along Broadway as well as for a look at several of the great cast iron shopping emporiums such as Siegel Cooper and Stern Brothers. Many of the standard elements of a retail experience such as end of season sales, good customer service, merchandise displays and even everyone's favorite pastime, window shopping were revelations in the 19th century and this episode will delve into just how it all came to be. 

For more information, you can also listen to the Bowery Boys Podcast episode on Ladies Mile. 

More on this week's guest Emma Guest-Consales. You can book her Gilded Age tours here.

There is nothing like a finely crafted cocktail to celebrate a special occasion (even if it's just a typical Tuesday). While many think that classic cocktail history began during the Jazz Age and the 1920s (even though America was in the middle of Prohibition), the truth is that much happened about fifty years before -- in the Gilded Age.  

Vintage beverage specialist Don Spiro takes listeners through the history that includes the moment mixed drinks began to be called "cocktails", what the very first cocktail actually was, and most importantly, how  great Gilded Age hotels like New York's Waldorf Hotel and the Hoffman House contributed to cocktail history.  

Don shares some of his favorite vintage cocktails, cocktail books and stories of some of the most famous and influential celebrity bartenders. You'll hear the histories of the Manhattan, the Martini, the Daiquiri and  - as a special bonus - Don even has created a brand new cocktail - The Gilded Gentleman. Join us to find out just what's in it and how you can make it at home!

Visit the website for more information

When Oscar Wilde arrived in New York in January 1882, one of his most important intentions was to meet the great Walt Whitman, who was more than 30 years older than Wilde, and whom he had idolized since his youth.  The two poets met, and in this show, we expand on what that meeting would have been like, how each writer influenced the other, and what perhaps did and didn't happen at their encounter.  

But the story is larger than that. This special show, with noted Wilde scholar and expert John Cooper, takes a look at the New York Wilde met upon his arrival and just why and how this 27 year-old Irish poet charmed them and began to develop his own unique brand of celebrity.  

In today's show, John guides listeners on a journey to discover just who Oscar Wilde was at this point in his life and career, how he and the city of New York interacted with each other, and just how Oscar would likely have defined and described his own much debated sexual identity. 

The New York world that Walt Whitman knew as a young man in the 1850's was really two cities - that of New York (which was only today's Manhattan) and the growing city of Brooklyn across the East River.  These two cities in the midst of pre-Civil War and pre-Gilded Age development inspired the young Whitman to give voice to a new America and new experience.  

In this first episode of a two-part series, writer and historian Hugh Ryan ("When Brooklyn Was Queer") talks about just how revolutionary Whtman's "Leaves of Grass" was, and just how Whitman would have defined his same-sex attractions, which had not yet evolved into the concepts of sexuality and gender identification that we know today.   

This unique episode includes a look at the New York and Brooklyn that Whitman knew. Hugh contributes his own perspective and insight into just what that famous meeting between the older Whitman and the younger Oscar Wilde years later might have been like. 

A special bonus episode from the  Bowery Boys archives!  Join Tom and Greg for an in-depth look at the architect that, as some have said,  gave the Gilded Age its look. 

In the years before the great firm of McKim, Mead and White with its star architect Stanford White, another American born and Paris trained architect was translating European style with uniquely American taste. Richard Morris Hunt was one of the very first to establish architecture as an art form and his work included such iconic structures as the base of the Statue of Liberty, the grand facade and entrance hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as mansions for Mrs. Astor and the Vanderbilts. 

Join Tom and Greg for this uniquely fascinating look at Hunt's life and influence and how he brought a refinement and sense of art into American architecture. 

For more images, visit the Bowery Boys website.

A look at New York's theater scene during the Gilded Age. Tim Dolan, theater historian and theater district tour guide (owner of Broadway UpClose) helps us take a look at the era's theater, including its shows, stars and theaters, some of which are still around. 

Through most of the 19th century New Yorkers thought of "Broadway" as a street, not a term that meant great theater or even a theater district.  This episode takes a look at what theater was like in the late 1800's and early 1900s just as Times Square was developing. 

This was the era of shows like Floradora and the Ziegfeld Follies. Tim discusses some famous performers, like the star Lillian Russell and the fascinating Julian Eltinge.   We look at a few theaters still playing to full houses from that time - the Hudson, the Lyceum, the New Amsterdam and the Belasco. (And a couple of those may contain a few ghosts that continue to wander their halls!) 

Take a fascinating journey back in time to visit a few British royal rulers with an intimate look at their reigns as well as at their majestic coronations.  British author and historian Tracy Borman joins The Gilded Gentleman for this unique look at history based on her book "Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy from William the Conqueror to King Charles III". 

In this second part of our coronation celebration, historian and author Tracy Borman, joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, takes us into the world of  the Tudors to discuss just what Henry VIII and his chief minister Thomas Cromwell were really like.  We move on to the glorious rule of Elizabeth I whom Tracy says "makes us fall in love with queens".  Entering the 19th century, we look at the world of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales who became Edward VII.  Tracy gives us a look at each of these monarch's coronations and surprisingly how they compare to that of King Charles III. 

If you are a royal watcher or lover of British history, don't miss this show - we end the episode with a discussion of just how the current monarchy fits into the long line of history.  

Join Carl and historian and curator, Curt DiCamillo for a fascinating look into the history of the British Crown Jewels.  Curt shares the history of the crowns and jewels, including a discussion of the oldest (and newest) pieces in the collection.  

The show includes an intriguing look at how crowns likely first came to be in royal history and how they have evolved in shape and decoration from medieval times to the present day. The crowns we see today feature an extraordinary array of precious gemstones which contains stories both light and dark of how they entered the collection.   

The world of couture designers during the Gilded Age and the Belle Epoque went far beyond just the designers themselves.  Houses such as Worth, Doucet and Paquin and many others created the stunning gowns and dresses worn by both Europe's and America's moneyed elite.  

But the network of milliners, hairdressers, perfumers, and even shippers and tax agents all made up the larger network that created this uniquely interdependent world.  

Author Dr. Elizabeth Block (Dressing Up: The Women Who Influenced French Fashion, MIT Press) takes us deep into the Parisian fashion world of the late-19th century for a fascinating look at how these fashions were made, how much they really cost, how they were sold, and how they were shipped back to mansions on Fifth Avenue.  

Discover why the House of Worth is the most well-known today, as well as some of the contributions of houses lesser known today, such as Maison Felix.  

Some tour guides and historians have said that to understand the early history of New York, just follow the population's migration up the island of Manhattan during the 19th century.  

On today's show, historian and tour guide Keith Taillon takes us on a virtual tour and discusses how wealthy neighborhoods like Washington Square, Gramercy Park, Madison Square and of course the "gold coast" of Fifth Avenue developed, and what factors contributed to how it grew the way it did.  

Along the way, Keith discusses many well known figures such as Astors and Vanderbilts as well as some lesser known but important trendsetters, such as the outrageous Mamie Fish and  groundbreaking (literally) Mary Mason Jones.  

After this show, you'll never look at Manhattan or the Gilded Age in quite the same way again.

While the Gilded Age's rich and powerful ruled from their mansions on Fifth Avenue, the poor and immigrant communities downtown struggled simply to survive.  Arriving in New York in the early 20th century, journalist and novelist Zoe Anderson Norris devoted her talents to covering the world of the Lower East Side and do what she could to bring about acknowledgement of living conditions and to effect social change.  

Zoe wrote countless newspaper and journal articles and even launched her own literary magazine to further her mission - "I fight for the poor with my pen."  Known as the "Queen of Bohemia", for solidarity, Norris created the "The Ragged Edge Klub" which met at local restaurants for cheap meals and passion-fueled conversation. 

Former New York Times columnist, author and independent scholar, Eve M. Kahn joins the Gilded Gentleman to share her insights and research into the life and work of this extraordinary crusader for human rights whose voice seems just as relevant and powerful today. 

XXXIX. As the famed "demon barber of Fleet Street" gets ready to flash his razor and do his deeds once again in a new Broadway production, The Gilded Gentleman goes back in time to the early years of London's Victoria era to look at just how Sweeney Todd and his tale came to be.  

Born in the world of the sensational and gruesome stories of the "penny dreadfuls", Sweeney Todd and his story were quite different from what theater audiences know today.  

The episode features a very special treat - an interview with Sarah Rice who created the role of Johanna, Sweeney Todd's daughter in the original 1979 Broadway production of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street".  Sarah shares what it was like to get the role, how she went about creating the character, and most of all, what it was like to work with extraordinary colleagues such as Angela Lansbury, Len Cariou, and of course Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince themselves.  

In the interview, Sarah shares the most important lessons she learned from Stephen Sondheim and Angela Lansbury in particular. 

They were beautiful, elegant stylemakers.  They were also savvy, shrewd businesswomen who, in one way or another, practiced the world's oldest profession.  They were the courtesans of 19th century Paris.  

In this show we take a look truly "behind the glitter and the gold" to see what lives lay behind the opulence, elegance and sophisticated style that courtesans showed to the world.  For many of these women, their exuberant public images hid lives of pain, sadness and abuse.  

In addition to a look at just what a courtesan's world was like, we delve into the lives of three of the most famous in 19th century Paris: Marie Duplessis, who went on to be immortalized in literature, opera, theatre and film; Cora Pearl, an English beauty who counted royalty among her lovers; and Liane de Pougy, a performer at the Folies Bergeres who left the world of the courtesans for an unexpected new chapter later in her life. 

From the boxes at the Opera to the gambling halls of Monte Carlo, this episode takes you into a world where much more of the story lay far beneath the surface. 

Related episode on The Gilded Gentleman: 

•  "Edith Wharton's Paris" Episode #35  

XXXVIII. Silver from the 18th century days of Paul Revere through the glittering Gilded Age was a coveted and valued luxury.  In this show, Ben Miller, antique silver specialist and host of the podcast "Curious Objects",  discusses how American silver craftsmanship changed throughout the 19th century. 

Ben and Carl talk about some of the most important pieces made by Tiffany & Company, as well as Providence's Gorham Manufacturing Company.  Ben discusses the role of the great 19th century European world expositions where America joined the world stage with its innovative silver manufacturing and design.  

In addition, Ben shares stories of two of the Gilded Age's most famous and fascinating silver collectors.

XXXVII. Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) was a member of Boston's Brahmin society during the Gilded Age. A philanthropist and passionate art collector, she created her very own museum she called Fenway Court which opened to the public in 1903.  Her museum, now called the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,  resembles a Venetian-style palazzo and rises above Boston's Fens, and showcases objects and art from the classical world to the 20th century, all displayed today just as she laid them out herself. 

Gardner was considered eccentric in her public behavior and the press eagerly reported on her latest moves, but what we do know of her inner life and love of art -- and her deep desire that the public could see it, too -- is the focus of this episode. 

Diana Seave Greenwald, interim curator of the collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum joins The Gilded Gentleman for a talk about "Isabella Stewart Gardner: A Life", the new biography that she co-wrote. We take a look at just who this deeply fascinating woman of the Gilded Age really was, and how she built her museum that was left, as she wished, for us all to see today.  

XXXVI.  The night of February 10, 1897 was a snowy one in New York City, but the weather did not deter those lucky enough to have received an invitation to the grand ball at the Waldorf held by the Bradley Martins.  It was a costume ball and guests arrived dressed as nobility and historical figures from centuries past.  Drinking fine vintage champagne and dining on lobster and canvasback duck, New York's elite danced until dawn.  However, some social opinion held that it was an extravagant show of wealth alone and the efforts of the Martins came under some criticism. 

The Gilded Gentleman's guest for this special episode is Richard Jay Hutto, the great-grandson-in-law of the Bradley-Martins and he shares the story of the Bradley Martins, how the ball came to be and what really happened the morning after.  

XXXV. It's an undisputed fact that the Gilded Age was an era (to some) of unbridled excess - provided that one had the money of course. Those with a place in society and those that wanted it were locked in a battle to see who could climb higher up the social ladder and exert a greater influence on just what made up a new emerging "American aristocracy".   

The grand ball was in many ways the battlefield upon which these social skirmishes were enacted.  In this show, we'll take a look at just what going to the ball meant in the Gilded Age (whether you were invited or not) and just what it was like once you got there.  

The show delves into several of the Gilded Age's most famous balls, from Alva Vanderbilt's costume ball of 1883 to Mrs. Astor's annual Opera Ball to the ultimately disastrous ball thrown by James Hazen Hyde in 1905.  We'll look at the fashion and the jewels and share some examples of what happened when it all went careening off the rails. 

XXXIV. Just what is - or was - a dandy? Many recall that the early 19th-century tastemaker Beau Brummell was thought of a dandy with his meticulous style, and certainly many think of Oscar Wilde as a dandy.  But there were others, including the French poet Charles Baudelaire, who was thought of as the "dark dandy".  

In this episode, Carl is joined by Natty Adams, author, journalist, maker of fine custom clothing and a self-described "modern dandy", to take a look at just how dandyism evolved through the 19th century and created a revolution in not only fashion, but as a broader philosophy as well. 

This episode looks at what criteria can be used to define a dandy, whether in the past or the present, using the classic examples of Brummell and Wilde and more modern gentlemen who challenge style and society's expectations. 

XXXIII: In celebration of Edith Wharton's birthday on January 24, The Gilded Gentleman takes a look at a very special part of Wharton's life - her life in Paris.  

Wharton knew Paris from her childhood and made many trips there as a young married adult. But in her early 40's, the city became something more for her - it became a place where she finally felt connected and grounded as a creative and artistic woman. And to her surprise, it was a place where she found romantic love with a man (not her husband) at a most unexpected time in her life. 

This episode takes a look at where and how Wharton lived in her years in Paris - and why and how she ultimately transferred her life to France, leaving her American life behind -- except in her most famous fiction. 

We'll take a look at Paris the city as well, how it was evolving in the early years of the 20th century and just who some of the most artistic spirits were at the time, including Marcel Proust and Andre Gide and which became Wharton's most influential mentors and friends. 

Produced by Bowery Boys Media, edited by Kieran Gannon.

FURTHER LISTENING:
A Sprig of Witch Hazel: Edith Wharton's Secret Love Affair
Edith Wharton's New York 

XXXII: In celebration of his new book "The Delmonico Way: Sublime Entertaining and Legendary Recipes From The Restaurant That Made New York," author Max Tucci joins The Gilded Gentleman for a talk about food, family history and the real meaning of hospitality. 

Delmonico's! Just the name was legendary. Edith Wharton mentioned it in her fiction set in the Gilded Age. The dining room hosted royalty and heads of state along with, in later years, Hollywood's most famous stars. And then there was the equally legendary food. 

Max Tucci is the grandson of Oscar Tucci who reopened the legendary restaurant in the 1920s after the original - in business since 1827 - had been closed due to Prohibition. 

Oscar and his family built an empire that established Delmonico's as the gold standard of American fine dining and hospitality from the 1920s through the 1980's.  Max, who holds the largest collection of Delmonico's memorabilia of his family's famous establishment, shares his memories, family history and anecdotes about the incomparable hospitality, fine dishes and famous clientele of America's first truly grand restaurant. 

Follow Max Tucci on Instagram

Back in 2008 (!) the Bowery Boys did a podcast about the history of Delmonico's. A little rudimentary but good background information for when you've finished with this show. 

XXX!. Champagne is unquestionably the world's most glamorous drink and has been used for centuries to celebrate everything from weddings and birthdays to royal coronations.  It was the drink of choice for formal gatherings in the Gilded Age, the Belle Epoque and Victorian England.   

But there's so much more to understanding champagne than just enjoying the bubbles and the fizz.  Champagne has a long and often misrepresented history that combines serendipity, ingenuity and sheer marketing brilliance. (Hint: The monk Dom Perignon didn't invent it.)

Join Carl and guest Don Spiro (whom listeners will remember from their recent show on absinthe) as they take a look at the full story. They correct some misconceptions about champagne's history, examine just what exactly it is, and discuss how it's been made and enjoyed over the centuries. 

XXX. Christmas and the holiday season is always extra special in New York City.  From all the lights and the traditional treats of the Radio City Rockettes to the tree at Rockefeller Center and performances around the city of The Nutcracker, it's hard not to feel festive.  

In this episode, professional New York City tour guide and speaker, Jeff Dobbins joins Carl for a look at the city's holiday traditions dating back to the early Dutch days of New Amsterdam up the the Gilded Age and the early 20th century.   Jeff shares how New Yorkers helped create the image of Santa Claus that we think of today, as well as how Hanukkah was celebrated and the influence of the waves of immigration on the city's traditions. 

In the second half of the show, actor John Kevin Jones joins Carl. Kevin has been performing an annual one man adaptation of Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" at the Merchant's House Museum, now in its 10th season. Kevin discusses the origins of Dickens's famous story, why he wrote it when he did and how he adapted it for the stage.  Put on a woolly sweater, pour a glass of eggnog, and join The Gilded Gentleman to launch the holiday season.  

XXIX. As a special bonus, enjoy this episode from the Bowery Boys Archives in which Greg Young and Tom Meyers tell the truly fascinating story of Jenny Lind, a 19th century soprano known as "the Swedish nightingale".  

Jenny came to America and made her concert debut in 1851 under the management of master showman PT Barnum. Barnum's relentless marketing and Jenny Lind, whose appearances caused enormous sold out crowds, a publicity frenzy and even the creation of merchandise with her name and image, may have prompted America's fascination with celebrity. 

And after you're done with this show, listen to the Gilded Gentleman's two-part tale on another opera star of the 19th century -- Lillian Nordica. Part 1 explores the making of this Gilded Age soprano superstar. Part 2 features an interview with Kate Aldrich, acclaimed Mezzo-Soprano, whose career has taken her around the world from New York's Metropolitan Opera to Milan's La Scala and the Opera Bastille in Paris.

And visit the Bowery Boys website for more images regarding Miss Lind's incredible American tour. 

XXVIII. International mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich has a career that has included performances around the world from New York's Metropolitan Opera to Milan's La Scala and the Opera Bastille in Paris.  In today's interview she shares some perspective on the life and career of Lillian Nordica as well as the excitement and realities for a modern singer on the international stage.  

Kate has been called "the Carmen of this generation" (San Francisco Sentinel) and in this conversation she shares insights on performing one of opera's most iconic roles - one that Lillian Nordica performed herself.  A unique aspect of this interview is that Carl, Kate and Lillian all share Maine roots and Kate talks a bit about how her Maine and New England background has contributed to her career. 

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• Be sure to also listen to Part One in our series on Lillian Nordica (episode #27).
• Love the show? Support the Gilded Gentleman on Patreon! We'll thank you with exclusive audio extras, VIP invites, and more. 

XXVII. The glamour of the Gilded Age was found not only at dinner parties and balls but in theatres and opera houses as well.   Lillian Nordica, originally from the small town of Farmington, Maine, rose to the heights of operatic stardom both in Europe and here in America in the last years of the Gilded Age and the early years of the 20th century.  

Her unlikely story, little known today, combines a hardworking background of near poverty with the audiences and applause, the  diamonds and gowns of an international superstar.  Unlike some divas, Lillian used her fame to support human rights and became an outspoken advocate for women's right to vote and equality in the workplace - whether a factory or opera stage.  Her fame had even entered popular culture  - she was one of the first models in ads for Coca Cola .  

Join Carl on this week's episode for  Lilian's story which takes us to Paris, St. Petersburg, Milan and around the world.  We'll take a look onstage and offstage at just how a star in the Gilded Age was really made. 

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Love the show? Support the Gilded Gentleman on Patreon! We'll thank you with exclusive audio extras, VIP invites, and more. 

XXVI.  Jessica Fellowes is known to listeners as the best-selling author of the five companion books to the Downton Abbey television series, which was created by her uncle, Julian Fellowes. 

An accomplished journalist, novelist and public speaker, Jessica went on to write a unique and tremendously popular mystery series using the world of the famed Mitford family in the 1920's and 1930's as a backdrop.   Most recently, Jessica has published a stunning new novel on the subject of life-long friendship, The Best Friend.  

This episode of "The Gilded Page" delves deeply into the writing life of Jessica Fellowes and reveals some unique and fascinating aspects of the creative process. 

XXVI. In July 1922 an unassuming book with a rich blue cover landed on bookstore shelves.  Titled simply "Etiquette" by a moderately successful writer named Emily Post, the book went on to become a cornerstone of America's social fabric.  

Now, 100 years later, Emily's original book has been entirely rewritten by her great-great grandchildren for a new generation while maintaining the spirit and philosophy of Emily Post's original intentions.  Join The Gilded Gentleman for this unique look at just who Emily Post was, why she chose to write the book at all and how it has evolved - and yet in some ways - stayed the same since it was first published.   

Carl is joined by Lizzie Post, Emily Post's great-great granddaughter, podcast host, and co-author of the new edition, to take a look at Emily and etiquette, then and now. 

XXV. The Merchant's House Museum is one of New York City's most important and cherished historic house museums.  Built in 1832 and still intact to this day, the house was home to patriarch Seabury Tredwell and his family for just about 100 years before opening to the public as a museum in 1933.  

Nowhere can one see the antebellum world of Old New York quite as clearly one can see here with much of the family's original furniture and belongings still in place. Hidden in the Tredwell family tree is Effingham Nichols, the husband of Seabury's eldest daughter.  Born into old Knickerbocker New York, Effingham rose in wealth and stature to become a true player in the Gilded Age that ended the century brushing up against Astors and Vanderbilts.  

Join me and my guest, Merchant's House historian Anne Haddad for a look at his life, what he did and where he was, to gather a very personal and extraordinary picture of the life of a long forgotten, but very real, gilded gentleman and just how that life and the life of others like him,  came to be. 

Credits: The Gilded Gentleman is produced by Kieran Gannon and is a production of Bowery Boys Media.

Bertha Palmer was the wife of Potter Palmer whose famous Chicago hotel, the Palmer House, was one of the grandest of the Gilded Age.  Bertha has been compared to the queen of New York society, Mrs. Astor. However, as my guest, historian Tom Miller shares in this week's show, that comparison minimizes who Bertha Palmer truly was.  

While both women ran and ruled society in their respective cities, Bertha was in many ways the more complex and deeper character. Among her many accomplishments, she was an astute businesswomen, cared deeply about charity work, rolled up her sleeves to do what needed to be done, assembled a major collection of French Impressionist art, and became one of the first real estate developers of Florida.  Join Tom Miller of "Daytonian in Manhattan" and me for a look at this fascinating woman and a look at Chicago's Gilded Age. 

Beatrix Farrand, Edith Wharton's niece, was born during New York's Gilded Age and went on to become the first successful female landscape designer of the early 20th century. 

Her path was not easy, since any career for a woman held challenges at the time and landscape design was at that point a man's domain.  But her perseverance, determination, business acumen and exceptional talent led her to create some of America's most beautiful gardens, including Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington, DC and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden on Mount Desert, Maine.  

Join me for a look into the extraordinary life of Beatrix Farrand to celebrate her pioneering vision and style.  

XXII.Julian Fellowes' new series on HBO "The Gilded Age" fascinated viewers with its complex plotlines and endlessly entertaining characters, some of whom were based on actual historical figures.  The show depicted the enormity of the age in so many of its social, political and cultural layers.  

It also raised so many new insights and new viewpoints on this (not always glittering) age.  Tom Meyers of The Bowery Boys joins me for this show to take an even deeper look at the Gilded Age -- both the historical period and the HBO TV show. 

Tom was co-host along with TCM's Alicia Malone of HBO's "Official Gilded Age Podcast" and he had the unique opportunity to delve further into the history behind what we saw on screen and hear insights from members of the cast and creative team.  

Join us for a unique look behind the glitter and the gold! 

XXI. While the sumptuous dinner parties and grand country house weekends of years past may have vanished, the secrets of elegant entertaining and hospitality live on.  

Nancy Lancaster and Nancy Astor, two American born women, entered upper class British society in the early 20th century and brought the traditions of great Southern American hospitality to some of England's greatest estates including the renowned Cliveden. 

In recent years, Emily Astor and Jane Churchill, descendants of Nancy Lancaster and Nancy Astor, have continued the tradition and share its elements with today's hosts and hostesses in Entertaining in Style (Rizzoli), their book of history, memories and recipes.

Join the Gilded Gentleman and both Emily and Jane for a look back at the tables of the two Nancys and particularly Nancy Lancaster's vision, which led to what we think of as great English Country House look and style. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website.

XX. Absinthe was one of the most popular and most mysterious drinks that fueled Paris and London's cafe society and artistic circles in the Belle Epoque and late Victorian and Edwardian worlds. 

Artists and writers from Henri Toulouse-Lautrec to Marcel Proust and Oscar Wilde were proponents along with members of the upper classes as well as everyday workers. Myths sprang up that the elixir created dramatic hallucinations and even provoked ghastly crimes. It became banned throughout most of Europe and even in the United States by the early 20th century. 

Join me and my guest Don Spiro, creator of New York's Green Fairy Society to discuss and demystify the myths and legends of this most evocative of spirits. 

XIX. Edith Wharton's novels were full of drama of course but so were moments from her own actual life. 

Jennie Jerome -- Lady Randolph Churchill,  the mother of Winston Churchill -- also had a life of high drama, public scrutiny and moments of happiness as well as tragedy.  

Join Carl and his guest, playwright and actor, Anne Undeland as they discuss how she dramatized the characters of Edith Wharton and Jennie Jerome -- as well as Henry James -- in Undeland's plays "Mr. Fullerton Between the Sheets" and "Lady Randy". 

They'll discuss how Anne brought these complex characters to the stage as well as take a look at how some of Wharton's own work has been dramatized.  

XVIII. The enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa has captured the attention of the public for centuries. But even today, few people actually realize that on a warm summer morning in Paris in 1911, the painting was actually stolen.  

Press hysteria surrounding this unusual theft made the masterwork of DaVinci's quite simply the most famous painting in the world.  But much is still murky in the story of its theft and recovery. Join The Gilded Gentleman as he takes a look at this case and and attempts to piece it together. 

XVII. Gazing up at the dramatic gilded statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman being led into battle by the allegorical figure of Victory in New York's Grand Army Plaza or staring at the mythological figures that are painted on the Rotunda ceiling of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, one can't help but be struck by the beauty, majesty and power of elements in these works.

Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens' model for the image of Victory on the Sherman monument was a mixed race woman named Hettie Anderson and John Singer Sargent used the Black model Thomas McKeller as the principal model for his depictions of the Greek deities in his Boston paintings.   

Recent scholarship and discoveries have shed light into the lives and work of both of these models. This episode tells the story of what is known about the worlds of these exceptional artists models and the great art that they inspired.

XVI. Independent scholar and author Eve Kahn, today's guest on The Gilded Gentleman, calls Mary Rogers Williams "the Mary Cassatt you never heard of". 

While Cassatt and Rogers lives differed and they likely never met, the rediscovered life of Gilded Age painter Mary Rogers Williams is a fascinating tale of late 19th century artistic circles. Originally from the farmlands of Connecticut, Williams lived and painted among famous artists in New York, London and Paris, and her studies included time with artists such as William Merritt Chase and James McNeill Whistler. 

A mysterious painting and an extraordinary discovery in 2012 led Kahn to reconstruct the life and world of a unique, innovative -- yet little known until now -- female artist of the Gilded Age. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more information.

XVI. Outrageous stories of Gilded Age dinners served on plates of gold, live swans swimming in a lake in the center of your table and yes, even dinners served on horseback are all true. 

In this show, find out what some of the actual dishes served really were made and served along with stories of the restaurateurs, chefs and hostesses that created these lavish events. 

We'll take a look at some actual balls and dinners given my Mrs. Astor among others and even on the fictional table of Bertha Russell in the recent HBO series The Gilded Age.

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more information.

XV. For fans of the great period television and film dramas Downton Abbey and Brideshead Revisited (among many others), one of the great pleasures is seeing the grand, sumptuous, imposing interiors of some of England's greatest homes used as stage sets in the drama.  

This week's episode features Nick Dawes, master specialist and appraiser seen regularly on "Antiques Roadshow" who shares some insight into the decorative arts collections of some of these fictitious as well as some very real families.  

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more information.

XIV. As writer Edith Wharton began to spend more and more time in Paris during the early years of the 1900s, she made the acquaintance of the American journalist Morton Fullerton.  Their meeting grew into a passionate and complicated love affair combining joy and emotional pain. 

Still, the affair led Wharton to some of her greatest creative moments and it wasn't until the 1980's when a long thought lost trove of letters brought the full story of the affair to light.  This week's episode brings you to the Paris of the Belle Epoque and into the story of this surprising romance.

For more stories of Edith Wharton from Carl Raymond, the Gilded Gentleman, tune into his appearance on the Bowery Boys episode Edith Wharton's New York.

XIII. To viewers of the first season of HBO's The Gilded Age, New York City itself became one of the show's most fascinating characters. In this episode, join master tour guides Emma Guest-Consales, PhD. and Jeff Dobbins for a unique look at the architecture, neighborhoods and landmarks that we see portrayed in the show.   Tune in for a look deep inside the Gilded Age metropolis with a perspective that only a tour guide can give.  

Explore upcoming tours with Emma, Jeff and Carl at Bowery Boys Walks 

Find more Jeff Dobbins here:

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Find more Emma Guest-Consales here:

My NYC Tours Facebook

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Guides Association of New York

XII. The fight for social dominance and acceptance was a battle fought by many Gilded Age wives along with their financial warrior husbands.  One of the most famous was Alva Vanderbilt who rose to finally make it through the golden portals into Mrs. Astor's social circle.  

Her iron determination resulted in her daughter Consuelo's seemingly fairytale marriage to a British aristocrat in 1895 - but none of it was a fairytale.  

Join The Gilded Gentleman for a look inside the story of who Alva really was as a social climber but also as a 19th century woman. 

Visit The Gilded Gentleman website for more information on Carl Raymond and the podcast.

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XI. The New York restaurant Delmonico's became famous for bringing elegant, luxurious dining and sophisticated French dishes to American tables. 

The culinary genius behind these dramatic dishes was Delmonico's celebrity chef -- the Frenchman Charles Ranhofer -- who guided their kitchens from 1862 to 1896. Ranhofer left us with his extraordinary cookbook published at the height of the Gilded Age in the 1890's, called The Epicurean, detailing the ingredients and preparations of Delmonico's classic dishes.   

Join Carl and his guest, creative director and food stylist Victoria Granof, take a look at this extraordinary chef and some of the most outrageous dishes from Delmonico's tables - including a peacock. 

Visit The Gilded Gentleman website for more information on Carl Raymond and the podcast.

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X. Join The Gilded Gentleman for a look below stairs!  Carl is joined by Esther Crain, author of The Gilded Age in New York 1870-1914, to look at the various roles and responsibilities of domestic staff in grand mansions and even in more modest homes.  

Carl and Esther explore what servants did and most importantly who they really were.  This show pays tribute to the vast numbers of "invisible magicians" without whom the dinners, balls and  daily workings of households of the Gilded Age would never have been possible. 

Visit The Gilded Gentleman website for more information on Carl Raymond and the podcast.

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IV.  The famous Mrs. Astor was credited with building and shaping the Gilded Age elite. But at her side and combining forces with her to create "the 400" was the controversial Ward McAllister.  

McAllister was originally a Southerner who himself developed a complex persona as the most socially knowledgeable and refined gentleman of the New York elite.  Join me for a look into who Ward McAllister really was, how he developed his famous reputation and what led to his infamous break from the social court of Mrs. Astor. 

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VIII.  During the 1870's and 1880's New York's famous Ladies' Mile shopping district took hold along Broadway, and grand palaces of retail grew, filled with splendors and luxuries to tempt the glittering clientele that swept through their doors. Join me and my guest, art historian and master guide, Emma Guest-Consales, PhD for a unique and fascinating Gilded Age shopping trip.

Visit The Gilded Gentleman website for more information on Carl Raymond and the podcast.

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VII.  Many people throughout the 19th century were fascinated with the idea of connecting with the beyond. Even the famous 'Commodore' Cornelius Vanderbilt was intrigued with the notion. Historian Anthony Bellov joins Carl this week on The Gilded Gentleman for a look into some rather strange phenomena and the story of Vanderbilt and one of the most famous spiritualists of the period -- the captivating Victoria Woodhull.  

Visit The Gilded Gentleman website for more information on Carl Raymond and the podcast.

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VI.  New York Times bestselling author Carol Wallace discusses her just published novel of the Gilded Age called Our Kind of People as well as shares insights on her book To Marry an English Lord which served as an inspiration for Downton Abbey. 

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V.  Grace Kelly captured the attention of the world when she married Prince Rainier III and became Princess of Monaco in 1956.  Few people realize that she wasn't the first American born princess to hold the title.  

Travel back to the Belle Epoque and discover the story of Alice Heine, a New Orleans beauty who captured the heart of a prince nearly 100 years before. 

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IV. When Tammany Hall campaigner and popular Greenwich Village resident Murray Hall died in 1901, his death produced a shock to his friends, colleagues and family and even the general public.  What had Murray hidden for so much of his life - and what tremendous impact did his story have that we feel its importance even today? 

This show features an interview with Ken Lustbader from the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. His research into Murray's life has helped keep this story alive. 

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III. Caroline Astor was the undisputed queen of New York's Gilded Age elite, but what lay behind her imperious image?

Historian Tom Miller (from Daytonian in Manhattan) joins The Gilded Gentleman to talk about some aspects of Mrs. Astor and shares insights into her character we may not have known. 

Visit The Gilded Gentleman website for more information on Carl Raymond and the podcast.

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II. Join the Gilded Gentleman for a night at the opera! The glittering, glamorous opening night of New York’s new opera house at the height of the Gilded Age had perhaps more drama going on in the audience than on the stage.

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I. Was the Gilded Age as glamorous as it seemed? Join Carl and his guests -- Tom Meyers and Greg Young from the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast --  to discuss the light and the dark of this fascinating era.

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If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, The Age of Innocence or Upstairs Downstairs, then we know The Gilded Gentleman podcast will be your cup of tea.

Every two weeks, social and culinary historian Carl Raymond and his occasional guests with sit down for a proper cup of tea and a chat about the society, culture, architecture, food, fashion, design, music and literature of America's Gilded Age, Paris’ Belle Époque and England’s Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Produced by Tom Meyers and Greg Young from the Bowery Boys: New York City History podcast.

For more information visit the website for The Gilded Gentleman.