"Ze Titanic Zinks!"

The first real film made about the Titanic was the German film "Titanic". Made solely as Nazi propaganda, the film features German first officer Hans Peterson, who warns the greedy British passengers and crew that the ship is going too fast, and as a result they hit an iceberg and sink. Sink there are 3000 passengers onboard, and only enough lifeboats to hold a few hundred, many people die in the sinking. At the end of the film, the British inquiries are held. J. Bruce Ismay walks free, and all the blame is put solely on Captain Smith, who perished in the sinking. 

The Dining Room, before and during the sinking.

Among the passengers traveling onboard, are White Star Line President J. Bruce Ismay and his wife, Gloria, who like all the other first-class passengers onboard are portrayed as sleazy and callous. Ismay plans are increasing the value of his and the White Star Line board-members' stock by having the Titanic win the Blue Ribbon. He cares only for himself and his money. 

J. Bruce and Gloria Ismay. 

Also onboard, are John Jacob Astor and his wife, Lady Astor. Astor is the richest man onboard, and he plans on buying out the Titanic from the White Star Line by purchasing %52 of their stock. Lady Astor, on the other hand, is tired of her husband looking at her as just another one of his assets, and frequently resorts to abusing her maid, Jenny, and her husband's secretary, Hopkins. 

John J. and Lady Astor. 

Then there is the Duchess of Canterville, who is depicted as being at least sensible, if somewhat oblivious, and Lord Archibald Douglas, who is $2 million in debt. The Duchess has never been on a ship before, because she can't swim, and only came onboard the Titanic because it is un-sinkable. Lord Douglas came aboard to find some way out of debt, and to try and steal Lady Astor's jewels, though someone else beat him to it. 

The Duchess of Canterville and Lord Douglas. 

The only non-corrupt first-class passenger onboard is Sigrid Olinsky, a recently impoverished Russian aristocrat, whom everyone thinks is extremely rich. She is Hans's lover, and the only passenger onboard to actually care about her servants. Ismay initially tries to charm her into helping bail out the White Star Line, though he eventually gives up due to his wife's anger. Hans then tries to get her to convince Ismay to slow the ship down. 

Sigrid Olinsky. 

Following the first-class passengers, are an interesting group of third-class passengers, who are, despite being rather idiotic at times, portrayed as still being better than the evil British first-class. Included are a rather dedicated couple, who look as if they belong in second-class rather than third. 

Hans Peterson is right, and the ship hits an iceberg. Chaos thus ensues, and everyone begins to run around and scream. People are seen running about the get to the lifeboats, many wearing the flimsy life vests provided for by the cheap British. Out of the whole boatload of characters, only four survive. Ismay, upon hearing the news, demands a lifeboat be secured for him. After many attempts at finding rescue, Hans announces he will save him, so that he may appear in court afterwards and face justice. It is presumed Gloria survived, as she is the first person in a lifeboat, dressed in a jaguar fur coat and clutching jewelry. Later, her over-crowded lifeboat is seen being rocked back and forth by people in the water trying to climb in, and she is eventually dumped into the water. 

Hans agrees to secure Ismay a lifeboat, to Captain Smith's surprise. 

Gloria demands the officer lower the boat. 

Sigrid tells Hans she is broke, and her takes her to the deck, where they both proceed to help distraught people into the boats. Hans convinces her to get into a boat, as they will need her to keep everyone calm. She goes reluctantly. Hans then somehow gets below decks, into a flooding first-class corridor, where he hears a little girl screaming "Mommy!". He rescues the girl who was abandoned by her callous British parents and then is thrown into the water when the ship begins to sink. All the other boats he swims past, all filled with British passengers, refuse to let him on. He finally swims to Sigrid's boat, where she demands they let him and the child onboard. They are both rescued, and later seen testifying at the hearings. 

Hans testifying at the hearings. 

As for the other characters, they all perish. Captain Smith goes down with his ship, ashamed he acted like an idiot and listened to Bruce Ismay orders to speed up the ship. John Astor, after hearing the news, orders Lady Astor to go up on deck and take a life vest and her jewelry box, accompanied by Hopkins. She brushes her husband aside and goes to change out of her evening gown, refusing to wear the life vest. She dies, as she could not decide what to wear. Astor then tries to buy a place in a lifeboat, but is last seen with his wife's jewelry box in the lounge. He also dies. Hopkins was presumably shot. 

John Astor tries to get Lady Astor and Hopkins to go on deck.

The Duchess of Canterville is one of the last people seen on the Titanic before it sinks. She makes it out on deck, in full gilded attire wearing her life vest, as the last lifeboat departs. She ponders jumping into the boat as it pulls away, but then decides not to, putting her head down knowing she is too late. Both she and Lord Douglas die, who is last seen drinking in the lounge. Just about all the third-class characters also die.

At the end of the film, after the inquiries and hearings, the council decides that all the blame should fall only on Captain Smith, and not Ismay, who gets to walk free. Amongst the last lines in the movie talk about how Britain caused the Titanic, and how corrupt they are.

Despite all the inaccuracies, and the British hate, the movie was rather interesting, if not almost completely fictional. The movie is available on YouTube, with English subtitles. 

Daisy Bruguiére, Dowager of Newport

Mrs. Bruguiére's portrait by Simon Elves. 

When Margaret "Daisy" Post Van Alen Bruguiére died at the age of 92 on January 20, 1969, at her Newport residence, 'Wakehurst', it marked the end of a fabulous and luxurious way of life. Mrs. Bruguiére was the end of her kind. A grand manner of life, a style of living, was now over. Mrs. Bruguiére's house was the last in Newport to value birthright above all else. As Daisy put it herself, in 1962, seven years before her death, "Wakehurst is the last 'properly' run [estate] left in Newport." Her death was the end...

From the 1940's till her death, Daisy Bruguiére held singular control over Newport and Washington DC society. One was never really in society unless one had been invited twice to Mrs. Bruguiére's home. The first invitation, to tea or lunch, meant nothing, it was only an chance for Daisy to survey the contestant to determine if a second would be sent. If the candidate was lucky enough to be sent a second invitation, it was most always for a dinner or ball. Mrs. Bruguiére's ball were most likely the grandest in Newport. Guests would arrive five minutes early and park their cars along the driveway, so that way they could enter Wakehurst right on time (Daisy never tolerated tardiness). A red carpet would be rolled out, and two footmen to greet the guests. Once inside, they would find their hostess in the long hall, gloved and her neck wrapped in oriental pearls, standing beneath her portrait. Daisy made it very clear that under no uncertain terms does she like the new short cocktail dresses, so her guests never dare to appear in anything less than a full-length evening gown. Dinner begins at 8:00 sharp. Cocktails are allowed, though in the long hall out of Daisy's sight. Smoking is also allowed, too, though also in the Long Hall. After dinner, there is dancing in the ballroom. The ballroom was perhaps the grandest part of Wakehurst. Since it was built, there has never been electricity in the ballroom chandeliers, along hundreds of candles to light it. The walls, much like the other rooms of Wakehurst, are lined with portraits and paintings of Van Alen ancestors and friends, who loom down on the younger generations. Tucked away in an anteroom, an orchestra plays as guests dance till dawn. 

Wakehurst, Mrs. Bruguiére's Newport residence.

                                      

The Ballroom at Wakehurst. 

The Long Hall at Wakehurst.

Mrs. Bruguiére spent summers in Newport at Wakehurst, and winters were spent in Washington D.C. at her townhouse on New Hampshire Avenue. Daisy travelled between her two residences via private plane. Mrs. Bruguiére also rented a home in Palm Beach, Florida, and frequently visited her uncle, Frederick Vanderbilt at his Hudson Valley estate 'Hyde Park'. When Frederick Vanderbil died in 1936, he left both his Hyde Park estate and $10 million to Daisy, who was already a rich woman herself. Mrs. Bruguiére, not needing another home, decided to donate Hyde Park to the public at the behest of her good friend President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who lived nearby. In 1948, Daisy shocked her friends by returning from widowhood to marry yachtsman Louis Bruguiére, a somewhat impoverished heir to the founder of San Francisco's first bank. The couple lived at their numerous homes, spending the majority of the year at Wakehurst. Daisy's son, Jimmy Van Alen, was founder of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and lived near his mother in Newport at 'Avalon'. 

Daisy was notable around Newport for her lavender, if somewhat purple, hair, which she carefully dyed once a week. This, coupled with Daisy's imperious attitude, prompted younger Newporters to refer to her as "The Purple People-Eater", something which, if she ever knew about, would have probably smiled at. 

November 27-30, 1969, an auction was conducted by Christie's in London of Mrs. Bruguiére's possessions and all the contents of Wakehurst. The grand portraits of Van Alen ancestors, the heirlooms dating back hundreds of years and Mrs. Bruguiére's fine jewelry and furniture collection were all sold (some to Jimmy Van Alen and his wife, Candy). When she died, Daisy was said to be the richest lady in Newport, with a $47 million fortune. Wakehurst was sold in 1972, and now serves as a dorm building for the Salve Regina University, who unfortunately removed most of the fine paneling in the ballroom. Despite all this, Mrs. Bruguiére's, Daisy's, legacy still remains in Newport. And Wakehurst, though stripped of the Van Alen's carefully collected possessions, still remains a monument to Newport's most regal leader and her imperious family. 

To read more about Mrs. Bruguiére, called Aunt Daisy by most Newporters, please visit my Facebook page dedicated to her, Wakehurst and her family, "The Extraordinary Life of Daisy Bruguiére and Her Estate 'Wakehurst'", by clicking HERE. Please give us a like and show your support! 

You can also visit my Pinterest board about Daisy Bruguiére and following it, by clicking HERE.

Also, to learn more about Daisy Bruguiére's Newport and the others like her, please join my Facebook group, "Newport ~ Queen of Resorts", which currently has over 730 members, by clicking HERE.

"The Commodore's Heirs"

The Gilded Age Era Blog is happy to announce that on April 1st, at 6:30 PM, the Museum of the City of New York will be welcoming author T. J. Stiles ~ author of "The First Tycon: Cornelius Vanderbilt" ~ for a lecture he will be giving on the Commodore and his heirs. The Commodore is one of the richest people in all of history! His fortune nowadays worth many hundreds of billions of dollars. His grandchildren - the heirs - emerged as the "nouveau riche" and were scorned by Mrs. Astor and other old monied families. They latter came to triumph over Astor and her kind by building the world's largest homes and giving lavish and excess parties, showing that they were America's wealthiest family - dominating the New York and Newport social arena. 

Here is the official press statement: 

"T.J. Stiles, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography The First Tycoon (Vintage, 2010) recounts the birth 

of the Gilded Age through the story of the Vanderbilt dynasty. “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt rose 

from New York’s docks to become the richest man in America. Old patrician families scorned him, though he 

lived in the same dignified fashion as they did. His popular grandchildren emerged as leaders of the social 

aristocracy, yet they indulged in lavish excess; their legendary parties and vast mansions defined the age. 

The  themes of an Edith Wharton novel play out over three generations in real-life tales of scandals, séances, 

suicide, and a bitter trial over the Commodore’s will. Presented in conjunction with Gilded New York. 

Reservations required — $15 for Museum members; $25 general public. 

Co-sponsored by The Victorian Society of New York. "

Order tickets online at  

www.mcny.org/calendar-and-event/public-programs 

or call 917.492.3395 

1220 FIFTH AVE, NY, NY 10029 • 212.534.1672 • MCNY.ORG

It is $15 for museum members, and $25 for non-members. 

Below, are some photographs that will be mentioned at the event: 

Alice Vanderbilt's "Electric Light" Costume ~ Worn to her sister's infamous 1890's ball.

The "Japanese Room" at William Henry Vanderbilt's NYC mansion 640 Fifth Avenue, the

last great Vanderbilt mansion to stand in NYC. 

A wealthy ladies toilette scene ~ like the kinds the Vanderbilt women would use. 

The Queen of Summer Resorts

During the Gilded Age ~ And for a long period afterwards ~ the little seaside town of Newport, Rhode Island, was considered to be the select summer resort. One could never be "In" society if one didn't spend summers in Newport (or at the very least own a residence there). Along the oceanside, barons of wealth built colossal marble castles ~ crammed with every finest luxury of the time ~ next door to the sophisticated yet stylish mansions of the "old money" families. No matter the size or opulence, each of these regal establishments were cozily referred to as "cottages" by the seasonal summer residents. Today, many of these palaces survive in the hands of colleges, school institutions or Preservation societies and foundations. A few, however, still remain in private hands. Here are a few "cottages" located in the resort. 

The Breakers

Built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his wife Alice, it was built to replace their first

cottage, also called 'Breakers', which burned down. Countess Gladys Szechenyi, Cornelius and Alice's daughter leased the Breakers to the Preservation Society of Newport, who bought the estate from her heirs.

It is the largest in Newport.

The Harold Brown Villa

Built by Harold Brown and his wife Georgette Wetmore as a summer estate. Given no

formal name, unlike most of the cottages, it was a treasured family jewel. It was left to Mrs Brown's

niece Eileen Slocum, who was considered the grande dame of Newport and the Republican Party and died in 2008. It is the only house on Bellevue Avenue still in the hands of the family.

Ochre Court

Built by Ogden and Mary Goelet as a palatial showplace to gain access into society.

Their son Robert offered the place to his daughter, who not surprisingly turned him down. He then donated the place to the now Salve Regina University, who still own it today.

A Newport Poem ~ Cliff Walk

~Cliff Walk~

Aquidneck Island, in Rhode Island's Ocean State, hosts a trail beside the sea

Where on Newport's legendary cliff walk fog-shrouded mansions rise in mystery. 

Above the Atlantic's pounding rage one walks past treasures from another age

To glimpse grand palaces on a fabled path along a precipice above the ocean's wrath,

As ghostly mists from another time enshroud the visitor with the sublime,

To view gray sentinels that echo times of lore from the Gilded Age, that lavish life before, 

When Newport was but America's social queen, of an opulence our nation has seldom seen. 

Many mansions there, yet, now do last, those triumphant reminders of the past, 

Where, by moonlight, lofty chimneys yet silhouette the sky above cliffs and rocks over the ocean's haunting sigh.

Above the gray cliffs, those do yet dwell, who recall legends 
of the cliff walk's many tales to tell

Of gossip and social scandals and tragedies of the sea, of success and failure during Newport's proud history.

-Alfred Richardson Simson 

Grey Gardens

'Grey Gardens' ~ Before the Beale residency. 

'Grey Gardens' ~ During the Beale residency. 

In the 1970's, Lee Raziwill, sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, suggested to two film-making brother named Albert and David Maysles, that a documentary be made about the lives of Lee and Jackie's aunt and cousin, both named Edith Beale, and their East Hampton home, 'Grey Gardens'. And so, in 1975, a documentary film was released mystically called 'Grey Gardens'. The documentary focused on the tenure of Edith Bouvier Beale, called "Big Edie", and her daughter, Edith Beale, called "Little Edie", and the ruinous conditions they lived in at their once grand estate, 'Grey Gardens'. 

Little Edie on the cover of the Maysles's documentary ~ Grey Gardens.

In 1924, Edith Bouvier and her husband Phelan Beale purchased 'Grey Gardens' in East Hampton, a few miles away from Edith's father's Hampton residence 'Lasata', where future First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy would grow up with her sister. Grey Gardens was known locally for it's stunning and beautiful gardens, which had been designed in 1913. The home was located a block away from the Atlantic Ocean, a was where Little Edie grew up. The Beales separated in 1931, later divorcing via telegram in 1946, Phelan Beale was in Mexico at the time. She received no alimony, however was given child support. After a few years of living in upper Manhattan, Little Edie returned to live permanently with her mother at Grey Gardens in the 1950's. Despite a severe shortage of cash, mother and daughter managed to survive by selling off various pieces of Bouvier silver service or antique jewelry. They remained active in Hampton society, however that ended when Big and Little Edie returned home one evening from a party to find the house had been burglarized, the thief making off with several pieces of antique furniture. The Edies rarely left home afterwards. As costs began to rise, including taxes on the home, the Beale girls found it harder and harder to maintain the home, and thus allowed the place to fall into disrepair. The lush gardens and lawn became overgrown with weeds and bushes, the house began to fall apart. The cozy hall and rooms of the house, soon became cluttered with dust and trash and garbage, not to mention there was a never ending supply of animals running around the rooms, mostly strays taken in by Big and Little Edie. Empty cat food cans were piled up along the walls of the rooms, as the paint she and sagged off, and water leaked through the roof and walls. Broken furniture heaped in every room, and blankets and pillow were lying about, since the home had no heat. The living room was perhaps the only recognizable room left in the mansion, with antique furniture propped up in the center of the room, and a portrait of Big Edie in her thirties sitting crooked in a corner. 

Big Edie in her eighties, sitting near the window of the living room at
Grey Gardens, with her portrait sitting in the corner beside her. 

The documentary proved to be the legacy of the Beale ladies, as the home was eventually cleaned up by Jacqueline and a crew of trash men. Big Edie died in 1977 at Grey Gardens, and afterwards Little Edie listed the home for sale. She was stunned at how many offers came in to demolish the home. Little Edie refused to sell the home to anyone with plans to demolish, hoping to find a buyer to restore the home. 

"All the house needs is a new coat of paint!!" Little Edie said to potential buyers. 

Eventually, the home was purchased, and completely restored. It was good timing, too, for when Grey Gardens was purchased by it's new owners, the roof and walls were literally caving in. Today, the home is a beautiful reminder to a forgotten era. 

Please, also visit the website dedicated to the home, known as 'Grey Gardens' Blog, by clicking HERE.

Newport ~ Queen of Resorts Reaches Over 400 People on Facebook!

'Marble House', the Willie K. Vanderbilt cottage, Newport, RI. 

My Facebook group, "Newport ~ Queen of Resorts", has reached over 400 members this morning! "Newport ~ Queen of Resorts" is dedicated to remembering Newport, RI, and the marble mansions (cozily called "cottages" by their owners) that made it so legendary. Please join our group, by clicking HERE.

During the Gilded Age, Newport was considered the Queen of all the summer resorts, and many of America's richest citizens built homes there in an attempt to break into the "400", a list of who's who in New York society according to Mrs. Caroline Astor, the leader of the social arena. Amongst other things, a potential candidate was required to spend at least three seasons in Newport before acceptance was decided. Alva Smith Vanderbilt, of the recently rich Vanderbilt family, decided to outbuild everyone in Newport (known as the practice of "Vanderbuilding"). She hired her friend, the renown architect Richard Morris Hunt, to design and build for her a spectacular palace costing $11 million (About $280 million today) made entirely out of marble! The result was the 'Marble House' we have today. Interestingly, Alva chose to build her home on a plot of land adjoining the Newport cottage of Mrs. Astor, 'Beechwood'. To put it simply, Alva was bound to get in!