The Gilded Gentleman

In this truly spooky episode. Greg and Tom from the Bowery Boys podcast travel to Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island to delve into four tales of the unexplained, the perhaps unforgotten and definitely the unsettling.  Our stories include a massive elegant mansion that once graced the Hunts Point neighborhood in the Bronx. Built by merchant and trader Benjamin Whitlock in 1850 and later owned by Cuban sugar importer Inocencio Casanova, the mansion is the site of numerous unexplained mysteries including an extensive system of vaults and secret rooms hidden well beneath the mansion's main floors. A stop on Manhattan's East 27th Street (near the Gilded Age's fashionable Madison Square) uncovers reports of a curious and very active poltergeist and a trip out to Queens explores two mysterious deaths at the location of a remote farmhouse, the site now part of Calvary Cemetery.  Greg and Tom conclude their visits with a few of the ghosts of the Gilded Age with a stop at the Vanderbilt Mausoleum in Staten Island, the final resting place of Cornelius Vanderbilt as well as his son William H. Vanderbilt and grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II.  And as with any visit with the Vanderbilts, one discovers a few secrets that may lurk beneath the surface. Visit the Bowery Boys website for images related to this show.

John Jacob Astor is considered to have been New York's first great real estate mogul, and indeed the Astor family has been said to have been "New York's landlords" for much of the 19th century.  But other developers and builders were responsible for establishing desirable areas in which to build as well.  In this episode guest historian Keith Taillon takes a look at five particular properties and mansions  - all except for one can still be found today.  With locations as diverse as today's midtown Manhattan to the Upper West Side and up into Harlem, Keith weaves the tales of how each area became fashionable, how desirability rose and fell,  what styles of architecture prevailed, and just who some of the owners were.  Our journey will include the homes of JP Morgan Jr and Andrew Carnegie as well as other lesser well-known Gilded Age luminaries such as Robert Davis and James Bailey, all with equally intriguing and drama filled stories to tell. If you liked this show, listen to Carl and Keith's last podcast together -- Chasing the Gold: A Gilded Age Tour Up Manhattan

Join Carl and historian and professional musician Dr. Christopher Brellochs for a tour through the musical influences of the Gilded Age. Music in the Gilded Age incorporated many different styles and influences from the classical symphonies and operas brought to American concert halls and stages from Europe to more home grown music that included military influenced music as well as music that reflected the fusion of cultural influences like ragtime.   Dr. Brellochs shares insight into just what Gilded Age audiences were tapping their feet to and where they were going to hear music from the brand new Carnegie Hall in 1891 to the opening of the Metropolitan Opera in 1883.   This episode covers some American composers that you might not know including John Knowles Paine who was tremendously influential in the Gilded Age and nearly forgotten today.  And just to give some special perspective Dr. Brellochs played the role of John Knowles Paine in an episode of HBO's first season of "The Gilded Age".   We also discuss the popularization of a new instrument - the saxophone - which Dr. Brellochs has called a Gilded Age "coming of age story".  

In the latter part of 19th-century America, over 200 young women married into British and European noble families.  Some Gilded Age families wanted their daughters to gain titles to secure their social standing, and many willing aristocrats needed the significant marriage settlements to repair crumbling estates and fill up their bank accounts.  From the marriage in 1874 of Jenny Jerome to Lord Randolph Churchill, many mothers and daughters went in search of eligible nobles to marry. This episode looks into the marriage of Jenny Jerome, mother of Winston Churchill, as well as perhaps the most famous aristocratic match - Consuelo Vanderbilt's marriage to Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, in 1895, to see what motivated these matches and what they were like in reality.  

Venice by the end of the 19th century had lost much of the glory it once had known. Crumbling palazzi, a bad economy and an overall sense of decay permeated the city. New writings published on the long-forgotten Venetian Renaissance painters and artists brought a new stream of visitors to the city including Henry James, John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler among others. American expatriate art connoisseurs such as Daniel and Ariana Curtis and the great Isabella Stewart Gardner all made Venice home for a time. Much of the activity centered around the majestic Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal which the Curtises bought, becoming the scene of much entertaining and socializing among artists. This episode takes a look at what the city meant to James on his many visits since his first in 1869 to his last in 1907. In addition, the show considers what it meant to other artists and how they interpreted it amidst a fascinating, eccentric, educated community of people flowing into the city. We will also take a look at the two great works in which James captured the city and this community, The Aspern Papers (1888) and The Wings of the Dove (1902).  Visit the Gilded Gentleman website for more episodes 

As we continue our visit to the Riviera in the Belle Epoque, The Gilded Gentleman revisits the little-known story of an American-born European princess. Many people think that Grace Kelly became the first American princess of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier in 1956. The truth however is that decades before in the glittering years of the Belle Epoque, another American-born woman married a Monegasque prince and claimed that honor.  Alice Heine was born in New Orleans to a French father and a mother with European as well as Southern roots. Moving to Europe with her family when she was a child, she married a French duke at a young age. His untimely death left her a widow, but she caught the eye of Prince Albert I of Monaco who despite his family's objections married her in 1889 making her his princess. The story of Alice's life as Princess of Monaco is a fascinating one which includes many famous names of the era such as the Prince of Wales the future King Edward VII.  Among other efforts to modernize the principality, Alice devoted much of her time to raising the cultural prestige of Monaco and Monte Carlo. Her marriage faltered due to infidelity on both sides and following a dramatic incident discussed in the show, Alice abruptly left Monaco in 1901 never to return. 

A glittering, glamorous look at the history of the French Riviera and its height in the years of the Belle Epoque - where not everything was always quite as it seemed. Originally popular as a warm weather destination for convalescing British aristocrats, the rocky, dramatically beautiful eastern coastline of southern France, the Riviera and its resorts of Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo,  have been populated with the rich and the royal.  It was also a good place if one just wanted to hide out.  In many ways, it was a place where anyone could be anyone they wanted to be - as long as they looked the part.  Queen Victoria discovered Nice and its neighboring region beginning in 1882 and made it her winter home for many years. Wealthy aristocratic families such as the great Rothschild banking family found it too and in this episode we spend time with two unique Rothschild ladies. For many movie fans, the Riviera will always remain as it appeared in Hitchcock's 1955 film To Catch a Thief and indeed this episode includes the story of one particular real-life jewel thief with a surprising identity who preyed upon the wealthy in the Belle Epoque.Visit the website for more information

As New York continued its march up the island of Manhattan, there were few places where people that couldn't escape to Newport could find somewhere to relax, play, stroll and find some shade.  The development of 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.  In this episode, returning guest Esther Crain, author and creator of Ephemeral New York, 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. 

As a special summer bonus, join Carl for an encore of this classic Gilded Gentleman episode. Be sure to wear your best hat and dust off your gold topped cane for this very gilded shopping trip. Carl is joined by Emma Guest-Consales, PhD art historian and master New York City tour guide. for this special look at the evolution of shopping in 19th century New York and just how revolutionary some retailers were in the Gilded Age.   Emma takes us on a virtual visit to Ladies MIle, the elegant shopping thoroughfare along Broadway as well as for a look at several of the great cast iron shopping emporiums such as Siegel Cooper and Stern Brothers. Many of the standard elements of a retail experience such as end of season sales, good customer service, merchandise displays and even everyone's favorite pastime, window shopping were revelations in the 19th century and this episode will delve into just how it all came to be. For more information, you can also listen to the Bowery Boys Podcast episode on Ladies Mile. More on this week's guest Emma Guest-Consales. You can book her Gilded Age tours here.

There is nothing like a finely crafted cocktail to celebrate a special occasion (even if it's just a typical Tuesday). While many think that classic cocktail history began during the Jazz Age and the 1920s (even though America was in the middle of Prohibition), the truth is that much happened about fifty years before -- in the Gilded Age.  Vintage beverage specialist Don Spiro takes listeners through the history that includes the moment mixed drinks began to be called "cocktails", what the very first cocktail actually was, and most importantly, how  great Gilded Age hotels like New York's Waldorf Hotel and the Hoffman House contributed to cocktail history.  Don shares some of his favorite vintage cocktails, cocktail books and stories of some of the most famous and influential celebrity bartenders. You'll hear the histories of the Manhattan, the Martini, the Daiquiri and  - as a special bonus - Don even has created a brand new cocktail - The Gilded Gentleman. Join us to find out just what's in it and how you can make it at home!Visit the website for more information