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 book, "Dressing Up: How American Women Influenced French Fashion". Don't miss LIz's news book "Beyond Vanity: The Power and History of Hairdressing" and our accompanying episode.

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, fashion and interior design were all influenced by the passion for this emerging ancient culture. In this show, Carl is joined by scholars and Egpytologists Dr. John Darnell and Dr. Colleen Darnell to delve into not only how an understanding of ancient Egypt was evolving during the 19th century but its social and cultural impact. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for a list of all shows

Follow Carl on one of his walking tours! Find out more information at Bowery Boys Walks

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 19th century, much of acquired by Frick himself. 

In this episode, a companion show to the Bowery Boys "House of Beauty: The Story of the Frick Collection", Carl talks with managing educator Caitlin Henningsen about her work researching the domestic staff who worked in the mansion, just who they were and what their roles in the household were. They also speak about how Frick thought about blending art with domestic space in several of his homes and what he wanted to achieve with this mansion before it became a museum after his death in 1919.  

Caitlin and Carl also discuss, thanks to extraordinary archival records,  how the Fricks entertained in a grand Gilded Age style in the very dining room visitors see today.   

Find PART ONE over at the Bowery Boys podcast House of Beauty: The Story of the Frick Collection

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 entrepreneurial men whose efforts insured escape for tens of thousands. 

-- Albert Ballin, the director of the Hamburg-America line; Jacob Schiff, the German born New York based philanthropist and financier; and the Gilded Age financial titan J.P Morgan, all insured methods of escape that would otherwise not have been possible.  

So much of this story has not been told until now and it is through the research and writing of historian Steven Ujifusa that has finally brought the full story to light.  

Steve joins The Gilded Gentleman table in this episode to discuss what exactly happened, the enormous difference Ballin, Schiff and Morgan all made in helping so many to escare. In addition, Steve shares his own story as well and how he was able to uncover little-known material to tell the larger story. 

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 famed Mrs. Astor grew up right here on Bond St along with many members of her family.  

NoHo today still contains many remnants of its early 19th century glamorous past as well as sites where the tensions between the wealthy residents of the Lafayette Place neighborhood classed with the growing immigrant population just one street away on the Bowery. 

Master Bowery Boys Walks tour guide Aaron Schielke joins Carl for a look at this fascinating neighborhood which includes stories of the rich and famous as well as the macabre details of a dramatic and grisly 19th century murder that took place on Bond St in the heart of NOHO that remains unsolved to this day. 

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 throughout Europe with her deep expertise and drive.  

As Belle competed regularly against other major collectors in this male dominated world and was covered regularly by the press, although much of her own personal story remained unknown or the subject of speculation. Belle was born into an affluent African-American family in Washington DC but upon moving North with her mother, she passed for white. With new research and curatorial insight, even more is now known about this exceptional woman and her role in creating one of the world's most important libraries and museum collections.  

 Carl is joined by Morgan Library and Museum curator Philip Palmer to discuss and delve into the world and life of Belle Da Costa Greene. 

This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon

Visit the Morgan Library and Museum and check out the Belle da Costa Greene exhibition (through May 4, 2025) 

And listen to the Bowery Boys podcast on the history of the Morgan Library and Museum

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 portrait that in some ways was as scandalous as his famous "Madame X". 

Author and Historian Jean Zimmerman joins The Gilded Gentleman to reveal the real story behind this famous portrait, along with just who Newton Phelps Stokes and Edith Minturn really were. The third part of this story is of course Sargent himself who broke new ground and broke a few conventions in portraying "Mr. and Mrs. I.N. Phelps Stokes" as they really were. 

This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon

Get your tickets for the Bowery Boys Gilded Age Weekend, featuring Carl Raymond, the Gilded Gentleman -- May 29-June 1

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 episode on the ball with historian and author Rick Hutto whose family is descended from the Bardley Martin's themselves. 

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for an entire list of shows. 

This show was edited by Kieran Gannon

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 12,000 valentines from the past 400 years has recently been archived at the Huntington Library. 

Nancy takes us back to the early Roman days, through the MIddle Ages and into the "golden age" of valentines in the early 19th century and, at last, into the extravagant Gilded Age.  

Nancy  shares some of the most significant examples from her collection and leads us into very personal worlds of beauty and love from the 17th century to our modern day.   

Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more information

This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon

Historian Dr. Elizabeth L. Block, author of "Beyond Vanity: The History and Power of Hairdressing," returns to the show for an insightful and fascinating look at hair and hairdressing in the Gilded Age.  

Hairstyles and the methods of hairdressing evolved dramatically over the 19th century from an "at home" activity shared by sisters and female relatives to salons opening often with female entrepreneurs which gave women significant agency and power. 

In addition to making a social statement through one's designer gowns from the great Paris couture houses, Gilded Age hostesses made sure that in addition to the dresses and jewels, they wore the most fashionable hairstyles of the day.  

This show was produced by Kieran Gannon

Related Gilded Gentleman podcasts: 
Gilded Age French Fashion: The House of Worth and Beyond  
Gilded Age Undergarmetns: What Did Mrs. Astor Wear Under There?