Cooperative Living May 2023 - 29

THROW BACK
Marble House, 1892
The Breakers, 1895
Biltmore, 1895
her calling card to Alva. That worked.
When the 1,200 guests paraded on a red
carpet into the mansion at 11 p.m., the
Astors joined them. Police held back
excited crowds straining to see the
chosen wearing resplendent costumes.
The New York World speculated the
ball cost $250,000 - about $7.5 million
today - for costumes, hairdressers,
musicians, flowers, food and champagne.
The New York Times said the ballroom
looked like a " fairyland " perfumed with
A BOMBASTIC BALL
By the time Vanderbilt's grandson
William and his wife held their ball,
new technology, hard work, and a dose
of ruthlessness had created more than
4,000 millionaires in the U.S. In New
York City, Mrs. William B. Astor Jr.
included 400 of the crème de la crème
on her exclusive list.
Viewers of HBO's drama " The
Gilded Age " will recognize how the
how the
Gilded Age " will recognize how the
ambitious nouveau riche tried to break
into NewYork's old-money society. To
get onMrs. Astor's list, Alva Vanderbilt
made sure her ball made history. It did.
She invited reporters. TheNewYork
Times wrote, " The Vanderbilt Ball has
agitated NewYork society more than
any social event that has occurred here
in many years. Scarcely anything else
has been talked about. ... It has disturbed
the sleep and occupied the waking
hours ofboth male and female social
butterflies for over six weeks. "
One disturbed woman was Mrs.
Astor. Alva Vanderbilt explained that
she could not invite Astor's daughter,
Carrie, because Astor had not called on
her. According to Anderson Cooper's
book about his family, " Vanderbilt, The
Rise and Fall ofan American Dynasty, "
society's grande dame reluctantly sent
co-opliving.com
" a profusion " of orchids and roses.
Alva wore a Venetian Renaissance
costume with diamonds and pearls, but
Alice, married to William's brother
Cornelius Vanderbilt
II, outshone her in
the Electric Light
Dress. Alice's yellow
satin gown sparkled
with gold and silver
threads, glass beads
and diamonds. She
carried a batteryc
ried
er
wo
batterypowered
lightbulb
torch over her head
lightbulb
over her
- two years before
France sent the
F nce sent the
S tue
the
w
rance sent the
Statue ofLiberty.
praised the ball. The
iberty.
NotNo everyoneyone
The
New York Sun wrote,
" The festivity
York Sun wrote,
" The
festivit
represents nothing
but the accumulation
r resents
th accu
la ion
ofimmense masses of
Mrs. William K.
Vanderbilt in her
" Venetian
Renaissance Lady "
costume at the
Vanderbilt Ball,
1883.
May 2023 ● Cooperative Living ●
27
money by the few out of the labor
of many. "
Despite such censure, William and
Cornelius Vanderbilt and their wives
went on to build opulent " cottages "
in Newport, R.I. Alva oversaw the
1892 Marble House. Alice topped
her with The Breakers in 1895.
Meanwhile, brother George Washington
Vanderbilt completed America's largest
home, the Biltmore, in North Carolina,
in 1895. Today, the public can tour all
three estates and imagine living during
one of the most audacious and newly
electrified eras in American history -
the Gilded Age. 
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living May 2023

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