The Gilded Gentleman

David Belasco -- playwright, producer, impresario, theatre manager, and theatrical visionary -- was one of the most important names in the world of the Gilded Age stage.

Beginning his life and career in San Francisco following the Gold Rush years, Belasco moved to New York to revolutionize how theatre was seen and produced in the last years of the 19th and into the 20th century. 

In addition to writing such hits as plays "Madame Butterfly" and "The Girl of the Golden West" which went on to become even more popular ad Puccini operas, he was responsible for launching the careers of Maude Adams (the first Peter Pan), Mary Pickford and Barbara Stanwyck. He was known for often wearing the robes and clerical collar of a Catholic priest, despite his Jewish heritage and thus began to call himself  "The Bishop of Broadway". 

Belasco owned and operated today's Belasco Theatre on 44th St which continues to bear his name. The theatre, built in 1907, is home to current Broadway hits and still contains the once lavish apartment now abandoned in which he lived on the theatre's top floor.   

It's said that perhaps Belasco has never quite left his eponymous theatre and reports have persisted over the years of sightings and strange occurrences that indicate his possible presence even today. 

Along with their acclaimed novels and short works of fiction, Henry James and Edith Wharton both extensively explored the genre of the ghost story, enormously popular throughout much of the 19th century. In nearly all of their ghostly tales, James and Wharton explore the inner depths of the human psyche and the all-too-human emotions of fear, abandonment, passion and loss. 

Carl is joined by returning guest Dr. Emily Orlando, author and professor of English at Fairfield University, for an in-depth look at examples of the ghost story from both Henry James and Edith Wharton. Carl and Emily delve into James'  techniques of horror and suspense in his masterpiece "The Turn of the Screw" and how Wharton explored the ambiguities and challenges of marriage and abandonment in several of her stories including "The Lady's Maid's Bell", "Afterward", "Pomegranate Seed" and perhaps her own masterpiece -- "All Souls". 

Orlando was also featured in the Gilded Gentleman episode -- Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence 

Stories of the Gilded Age so often focus on the world of adults and more often on the highest layer of elite society.  Of course, there was much, much more to the story of America's social and economic growth  at the end of the 19tth century that involved those of the middle and lower classes - and also included children. 

Listener favorite Esther Crain, author and creator of Ephemeral New York, joins The Gilded Gentleman for a look at the world of children during the Gilded Age. As she shared in the episode "Invisible Magicians: Domestic Servants in Gilded Age New York" with writings by actual servants, Esther has uncovered documents written in children's own voices that capture their world and reality. 

From a 12 year old boy in Gilded Age Harlem to a teenage girl on what would become Manhattan's Upper East Side, we can finally meet children who are both seen and heard. 

Elizabeth Wharton Drexel was a quintessential ingenue of the Gilded Age. Eventual heiress to the Drexel banking fortune, elegant and sophisticated, Elizabeth married but was widowed unexpectedly. But she married again, this time to Harry Symes Lehr, a bon vivant and social playboy.  

But she soon learned her life was to become a reality far from what she ever expected. 

This episode tells the story of Elizabeth Drexel and Harry Lehr along with the world in which they lived.  In 1935, after Harry's death, Elizabeth wrote what we would perhaps today call a "tell all" memoir -- King Lehr and the Gilded Age -- recounting the challenges of her marriage but also the frivolity and froth of the Gilded Age from her own observances as an up-close participant. 

Her observances are some of the most acute and incisive we have on the period. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more information and episodes

This episode was edted by Kieran Gannon

Just the name "Tiffany" evokes the glamour and elegance of the Gilded Age. But there is much more to the story than just the eponymous retailer who continues to sell fine jewelry and decorative objects today. 

Carl is joined by Lindsy R. Parrott, the Executive Director of The Neustadt Collection, one of the country's most important collections of Tiffany glass and archival materials, to discuss the two Tiffanys - Charles Lewis Tiffany who began the original retail silver and jewelry and his son Louis Comfort Tiffany who created revolutionary designs in stained glass.   

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