Steve and I are binge-watching The Gilded Age, a historical drama set in the 1880s. It features real historical figures, like Carrie Astor and J.P. Morgan, as well as fictionalized versions of real people. Bertha and George Russell on the show are based on Jay Gould and Alva Vanderbilt. Like in the show, Alva forced her daughter to marry an impoverished duke in England.
The Gilded Age is a good drama with gorgeous dresses, for sure. An excellent way to unwind at the end of the day. But it’s more than that.
Lurking behind the wood-paneled doorways and cigar haze of The Gilded Age is the unspoken message: this long-ago time with corsets and balls isn’t so different from today. We still care too much about status and rank. The rich are still rich. And, even with the flaws in our country, talent still rises to the top, and reformers continue to seek improvements.
This weekend, on a date night in New York City, Steve and I visited one of those former Gilded Age mansions on 51st Street. The Villard is now a hotel with a cool bar set up in the old music room. Perched on barstools, a chatty bartender told us about the history of the Villard family. He even gave us a quick tour of the second-floor library.
Amidst the old bling on the walls, there was plenty of modern bling, too. The bartender dropped the names of the players and celebrities who would be there during the U.S. Open. At the bar with us were hotel guests, who might have paid $1,600 per night. Dressed up to see a show, Steve and I didn’t feel out of place. We can blend when necessary.
Today, the wealthy are unashamedly ostentatious. Think about Lauren Sanchez and her ice-cream scoop wedding dress. Yacht season is in high gear, so there are plenty of pictures of celebrities outside Ibiza. Some have a layer of sleeze, similar to the old Robber Barons.
Walking to the show after our drinks, we passed Trump Tower and the many tourists who take selfies in front of the gold sign of the building. Whatever happens to the Trump presidency, Trump’s name has permanent brand recognition. He has ensured generations of Trump wealth. The New Yorker reports that Trump has already earned billions while in office, but I bet the biggest profits will happen when he leaves the White House and his children slap the Trump name on everything from toilet paper to disposable diapers.
And, like the Gilded Age, America’s rich aren’t as contemptible as the European rich and royal. A new book about Prince Andrew skewers the fat, stupid pervert. A Norwegian prince was charged with rape this week. We may have an unrestrained capitalism in the States, but at least we don’t have hereditary heads of state and primogeniture.
It’s hard to tell what the general public thinks about the modern spectacle of wealth. With TikTok, we’re closer to the rich than ever before. We might not be able to fake the yacht outside Ibiza, but thanks to semiglutides, we might be able to be as skinny as they are.
At the same time, average Americans can’t buy homes or afford groceries. Young people can’t find jobs. Some colleges now come with a $100,000 per year price tag. The median home price in my suburban town is $1.1 million. At some point, you would think that people would get pissed off. Wouldn’t you expect outrage? Some protests? Where’s Bernie Sanders? Does Momdani’s primary win in New York City have legs outside of the city? Or are Americans too distracted by hundreds of videos of Barbie-doll sorority girls to care about the new Gilded Age?
Despite its excesses of wealth, America in the 1880s had two redeeming features. Idealistic reformers reduced corruption in city government, established public schools, ended child labor, and made a host of other public improvements. They used their wealth to bring about lasting changes that we still benefit from today.
That era also saw the real opportunities for social mobility. Given a whole lot of luck and creativity, a smart guy really could become insanely wealthy. The rigid class structure turned out not to be so rigid after all.
Reformers and opportunities have always been the American antidote to economic insanity. We need both today.
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This is a separate rant… The Sydney Sweeney jeans ad launched a million thought pieces about the return of beauty and a million videos of blond sorority girls doing silly dances. Both of which make me gag. The ad doesn’t bother me at all. I’m too Gen X for those sorority girl videos.
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Because I’m a shallow creature who follows gossip writers, my social media feed is awash with images of Lauren Sanchez Bezos with her ice-cream scoop boobs encased in yards of Italian lace. Understanding the assignment, her wedding guests squeezed their sculpted bodies into pink leather and tulle.
Just for the record: Marius Høiby is a royal mess and it is a very nasty story which is a serious embarrassment to the Norwegian royals, but he is neither a prince nor a member of the royal family. His father should have had some connections to the Norwegian royals. (His mother’s life before before she married Crown Prince Haakon did raise several eyebrows in Norway)
Now, Haakon’s older sister Märta Louise - and, yes, Märta is written in Swedish - who is a princess is quite a story as well: She is active as a clairvoyant and is married second time with an American conspiracy theorist who claims to be a lizard shaman. Check Wikipedia for details.
The Danish royals are a bit boring in comparison. Last week’s story in the tabloids - and some other media - was when the King’s oldest daughter attended a pop music festival wearing a t-shirt with an … explicit message.
You didn't happen to run into Scott...uhm Scott Fitzgerald did you?