The Gilded Gentleman

Ulysses S. Grant, one of the most important and consequential presidents, is also one of the most misunderstood.   Ulysses Dietz , Grant's great-great grandson, joins The Gilded Gentleman to share his perspective on the lives of Grant and his wife Julia.  Ulysses discusses how the couple approached the beginnings of the Gilded Age from both a social and politicial standpoint, expounding upon the s...

As the new feature film Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale opens worldwide, we see for the final time the elegant, glamorous and always dramatic world of Lord and Lady Grantham and their family.  We also have a chance to look back at the evolving fashion and hairstyles of Downton's characters as they have evolved from the series debut set in 1912 up to this final film set in 1930.   Joining The Gilde...

Butlers, it seems, know everything. They are privy to the goings-on above and below stairs, and, of course, they keep it  - mostly  - to themselves. Agnes van Rhijn's very British butler Bannister has become a show favorite as he manages the downstairs staff and to a certain degree life above stairs as well.  Simon Jones, who plays the role of Bannister, is a veteran actor with an astonishingly im...

One of the most anxiously followed storylines in HBO's "The Gilded Age" has been the love story between Oscar van Rhijn and John Adams .  Adams ( Claybourne Elder ), who was born into a prestigious New York family as the descendant of a Founding Father, became a fan favorite as the couple navigated their complex relationship out of society's glaring view.  Following the dramatic events of Season 3...

Ever since the premiere episode of HBO's "The Gilded Age", viewers and historians have discussed just how close the fictitious character of Bertha Russell  (played by Carrie Coon) may be to the real-life socialite steamroller Alva Vanderbilt.    There certainly seems to be similarities from Bertha and Alva's mutual unrelenting drive to claw a place in society - and then there was, after all, the f...

We all have our favorite characters on HBO's " The Gilded Age, " and one fan favorite is certainly the maid-turned-social climber, the former Enid Turner -- now Mrs. Joshua Winterton.  It's hard to forget her great entrance in Season 2 when she arrives on the arm of her much older (and very wealthy) husband to Bertha's jaw dropping disbelief.   Actor Kelley Curran , who plays the role of Mrs. Wint...

Some called him the Gilded Age's biggest snob . Others thought he was a genius of social protocol and maneuvering through aristocratic circles.   Most famously, he acted as Mrs. Astor 's right hand in sorting, selecting and assembling a group of New York's elite he was credited (erroneously) as naming "the 400".  Nonetheless his influence on who got in and who stayed out was significant - but just...

Newport, Rhode Island has been an important center for the evolution of America's African heritage community. -- from its earliest days of the 18th century slave trade to the late 19th century years of the Gilded Age,  Viewers of HBO Max's The Gilded Age follow the character of Peggy Scott and her family to Newport and into the center of its wealthy, thriving Black community in the late 19th centu...

The divine Mamie Fish , the eagle-eyed, sharp tongued social arbiter that regularly appears in the HBO series The Gilded Age, was indeed a real Gilded Age socialite,known for her incisive wit and no-nonsense comments on the glittering world around her.   In this encore episode, Carl sits down with actor Ashlie Atkinson who plays Mamie in the series and listener favorite historian Keith Taillon to...

During the late 19th century, nearly 200 wealthy young American women were caught up in marriages with members of British and European nobility.  The goal was to secure aristocratic titles that would create a solid social position for the American family wishing to climb through the snobbery of Gilded Age society. The European gentlemen, meanwhile, wanted the American funds to shore up crumbling w...

Are you as bewitched and bedazzled with this season of HBO's The Gilded Age as we are? And have you been curious about how all the magic we see unfold in front of the camera actually happens?   Creative Producer Luke Harlan joins Carl for a look from the other side of the camera to explore how The Gilded Age is actually shaped, filmed and edited.  How is the script developed? How is a typical scen...

The Gilded Gentleman looks at one of the most legendary figures of the Gilded Age –  Caroline Astor , or  the  Mrs Astor, the ruler and creator of New York’s high society in the early 1870s. Is she anything like the depiction on HBO's The Gilded Age ? In collaboration with Southern social climber  Ward McAllister,  Mrs. Astor essentially created the rules for who was ‘acceptable’ in New York socia...

The Gilded Age was by no means simply an East Coast phenomenon. Wealth, position and social structure evolved across the country as railroads and improved technology pushed the country west.  Denver, Colorado, grew from a "tavern town" at the foothills of the Rockies to an important Western center for commerce and society. Social Denver was largely ruled by the Southern-born Louise Sneed Hill whos...

The life of Frederick Douglass , the great 19th century statesman, orator, writer and abolitionist, is a triumphantly American story. He was born into slavery in the early years of the 19th century and died at the very height of the Gilded Age. His tremendous talents as a leader brought him out of slavery and into the heart of the Gilded Age as a player in the political worlds of Lincoln,  Grant a...

Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Stephanie Herdrich joins Carl for an in-depth look at how the career and personal life of Gilded Age artist John Singer Sargent evolved over his ten-year period in Paris from the 1870's to the mid 1880's.   Sargent is the subject of a major new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that focuses on this period beginning in his late adolescent years and lead...

The Irish-born Augustus Saint-Gaudens came to this country as a small child and over the course of his career and life, reaching into the early years of the 20th century, became an artist that truly defined a look for America in sculpture.   His extraordinary natural talent grew into a master artist who was able to create lifelike depictions in marble and bronze that brought a realism never before...

With the Metropolitan Museum of Art ' s annual Gala on the first Monday of May and the new exhibition on John Singer Sargent and Paris , there is most definitely fashion in the air.  In this ENCORE episode with listener favorite Dr. Elizabeth L. Block we delve into the stories of some of the most important designers and couture houses of Belle Epoque  Paris.  This episode was based on Liz's first...

During the 19th century and culminating in America's Gilded Age, the public's deep fascination for all things Egypt led to "Egyptomania," a craze which affected design, style and cultural and social thought. As a result of wave of exploration and discovery, predominantly by French, English and American parties, the world gained a view into one of the world's most ancient cultures.  Architecture, f...

This week The Frick Collection will reopen its doors to the public after a renovation and restoration of nearly five years and a cost of $220 million dollars. Visitors will again see the elegant Beaux Arts mansion once occupied by Gilded Age industrialist Henry Clay Frick and his wife and daughter. They will also see the priceless collection of masterworks of art from the Renaissance through the 1...

Between the late 1890s and early 1920s, over 2 million Jews from Eastern Europe made the long, arduous and unsettling journey to America to escape persecution and violence in their native countries.  Many of these Jews were fleeing Russia, where a state sanctioned antisemitism forced many to escape for their lives.  This mass immigration was, in large part, the result of the efforts of three entre...

New York's NoHo neighborhood, wedged between  Greenwich Village and the East Village , holds the stories of many people and places that then went on to become deeply associated with the Gilded Age.   The Astor family began their dynasty here in both investment and real estate as did the well known Dutch-American merchant family the Schermerhorns.  Caroline Schermerhone who went on to become the fa...

Belle da Costa Greene is a truly unique historical figure. As the librarian of Gilded Age financier  J.P Morgan' s extraordinary personal collection of rare books, manuscripts and historical objects,  Greene was one of the most visible and formidable players in the art world of the early 20th century.   She sourced precious objects from major galleries and at auction not only in New York, but also...

Edith Minturn was a Gilded Age society beauty. Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes was a New York architect passionate about preserving the city's past.   When John Singer Sargent accepted the commission to paint their portrait as a wedding present, he perhaps didn't realize how difficult it would prove to be. Capturing Edith Minturn Stokes' strong personality as one of the era's "new woman" resulted in a...

Of all the balls and parties thrown during the Gilded Age, the extravagant evening hosted by Bradley and Cornela Martin at the Waldorf in 1897 was perhaps the most legendary, but also the most filled with misconceptions.  February 10, 2025 was the 128th anniversary of this grand ball that topped them during New York's opulent Gilded Age. To celebrate, we are offering an ENCORE presentation of the...

Who doesn't like to get a valentine -- perhaps even from a mysterious admirer?  The practice of sending valentines goes back centuries, and these well-designed romantic messages could have many meanings -- highly spiritual, an expression of friendship and love, or even a proposal of marriage.   In this episode Carl is joined by historian and collector Nancy Rosin whose own collection of over 12,00...