- The Vanderbilts were seen as new money comers who used their enormous wealth, building mansions and throwing themselves into New York society
- The series will depict a dramatized version of how the Vanderbilts founded the Metropolitan Opera after being shunned by the Academy of Music
- It will also tell the story of Ward McAllister, a southerner who colonized Gilded Age society alongside his reigning queen, Caroline Astor
The hot lives of America’s richest dynasties are brought to light once again in dramatic fashion in the second season of HBO’s hit series “The Gilded Age.”
Created by Julian Fellowes, the show traces the tug-of-war between old and new money in 1880s New York.
Generation-rich people like Agnes van Rhijn (played by Christine Baranski) and Caroline Astor (played by Donna Murphy) desperately try to keep the railway-rich interlopers George and Bertha Russell out of their monastic circle.
Based on true events, the series’ second season will have a dramatic tenor as it retells the true story of dueling opera houses in a colorful depiction of money and manners.
At the height of New York City’s Golden Age, nothing meant a person’s good education, wealth, and social standing like a box seat at the famed Academy of Music.
The 18 lodges were passed down from generation to generation and closely guarded by the oldest and most respected families in society: the Astors, the Livingstons, the Schermerhorns and the Roosevelts.
Meanwhile, the nouveau riche—which included the Vanderbilts, Carnegies, and Rockefellers—were unwelcome.
When William Henry Vanderbilt, then arguably the richest man in the world, tried to buy a box at the academy for the sum of $30,000, he was quickly turned away.
Frustrated by the exclusionary culture, the new money comers banded together to build a new Metropolitan Opera House on Broadway and 39th Street that dwarfed the old academy in every way.
Today, the Met at Lincoln Center remains a popular institution in New York’s performing arts scene. But without this little-known feud between American aristocrats, the famous music box would not exist.
Here’s a look at the operatic conflicts, salacious secrets and scandalous American dynasties that inspired the HBO series’ second season, premiering October 29.
How a power struggle over opera would change the development of New York society
The conflict between Caroline Astor and Bertha Russell (a fictionalized version of Alva Vanderbilt, the wife of a railroad magnate) reaches its climax when Russell is denied a place at the famed Academy of Music in the second season of HBO’s The Gilded Age. Above, George and Bertha Russell are played by Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon. The HBO series is intended to retell an early skirmish in the social war between the houses of Vanderbilt and Astor, which refused to give the new money industrialists a box seat in the Academy of Music. In response, Vanderbilt initiated construction of a new opera house that dwarfed the old academy in size, importance, and splendor. The Metropolitan Opera opened to great fanfare in 1883 and remains a New York City landmark (the Met is pictured above in its old location on 39th Street). At the height of the Gilded Age, there was no greater sign of status than owning a box at the Academy of Music, located at the corner of 14th Street and Irving Place. The Metropolitan Opera opened to great fanfare in October 1883
In the second season, the conflict between Caroline Astor and Bertha Russell (a fictional version of Alva Vanderbilt, the wife of a railroad magnate) reaches its climax when Russell is denied a place at the famous music academy.
According to Vanity Fair, Bertha makes it clear in an early episode of season two: “The opera is the place where society parades itself, where the elite meet and their children court each other, and where the wheels of society meet turn.”
In fact, the Academy was the epicenter of the social life of wealthy American nobility, the city’s only venue for major opera performances, and the site of numerous balls – including a reception for the Prince of Wales in 1860.
But only the oldest and most famous families could own private boxes in the theater, which became a symbol of social importance passed down from generation to generation.
Edith Wharton is famously immortalized in The Age of Innocence, writing, “Conservatives appreciated it.” [the Academy] because it was small and uncomfortable, keeping out the “new people” that New York was beginning to fear and yet were attracted to.
After William Vanderbilt was expelled from the Academy, he and his fellow industrialists pooled their money to build a new opera house that would dwarf the Academy in influence, importance, and size.
The Metropolitan Opera opened its doors to great fanfare in October 1883. The colossal building stood at the corner of Broadway and 39th Street, a location closer to the pseudo-chateaux and mansions of the upper city on Fifth Avenue.
Inside was a gilded treasure chest made of gaslit crystal and rich red velvet, giving the old music academy a staid and shabby look.
The new venue offered box seats for purchase on three levels. Reserved for those with the thickest checkbooks, the “Diamond Horseshoe” was designed to showcase the diamond-dripping inmates and the latest European fashion trends.
William Vanderbilt bought three boxes, one for himself and the other two for his sons.
Although it was considered a triumph, one newspaper criticized: “The Goulds and Vanderbilts and people like that filled the air with the smell of crisp greenbacks.” “The rows of boxes looked like cages in a menagerie of monopolists.”
Caroline Astor was notably out of town when the Met had its opening day, waiting to see which way the social cards would go. But it wasn’t long before her old money friends gave in and moved to the Met.
Within two years of its opening, the music academy permanently closed its doors.
It was an early victory for Alva Vanderbilt in the long struggle for social supremacy, but it would be years before she dethroned Caroline Astor as queen of New York society.
Today, the Metropolitan Opera lives on at its new location at Lincoln Center. The old Gilded Age building was demolished in 1966.
ALVA VANDERBILTS SEEK TO DOMINATE CAROLINE ASTOR’S CONTROL OVER THE AMERICAN ARISTOCRACY
In the first season of the HBO series, Bertha Russell (a fictionalized version of Alva Vanderbilt) lays siege to New York society despite her personal power struggle with Caroline Astor. Caroline Astor (played by Donna Murphy) is the reigning queen of New York society, who despises new money arrivals like the Vanderbilts and Morgans. Astor was a well-known Dutch socialite of staid reputation who married into the Astor fur and real estate fortune. She was the epitome of “old money” and ruled over the “Four Hundred” of New York society during the Gilded Age, whose main gatekeeper Amy Forsyth (left) plays Carrie Astor, the beautiful daughter of Caroline Astor. Inspired by true events, the first season of “The Gilded Age” reveals how Alva Vanderbilt forced Caroline Astor to accept her into New York society when she disinvited Carrie from her highly anticipated ball
Much like the real Vanderbilts, the Russells in HBO’s “The Gilded Age” are an upwardly mobile family who made a fortune in railroads.
In the show’s first season, Bertha Russell puts the finishing touches on a Fifth Avenue palace modeled after a French chateau.
It’s about her attempt to transform herself into the “old world” by imitating its habits with liveried servants, hiring a French chef, and purchasing furniture, tapestries, and carpets from European castles.
The third-generation Vanderbilts wanted to use their heritage to break into the gilded gates of New York society. Up to this point, the old guard viewed them as nouveau riche vulgarists. It would be their amazing life of abundance that the family would become famous for.
The show tells the story of how, despite Alva’s personal power struggle with Caroline Astor, Willie Kissam Vanderbilt (grandson of the “Commodore”) and his socially ambitious wife Alva would use their considerable wealth to lay siege to the secluded salons of the old money, (the what America was closest to the rural aristocracy at the time).
No one was willing to “take her in,” so to speak, until Ms. Astor indicated she was ready to take her in.
Alva’s opening game was a grand masquerade ball celebrating the completion of a garish Gothic-style mansion on Fifth Avenue.
She invited 1,200 of New York’s crème de la crème to her “housewarming party,” which caught the attention of Caroline Astor.
Recreated in the first season of The Gilded Age, Alva (Bertha Russell) invites Caroline Astor’s daughter Carrie to dance the quadrille at her highly anticipated ball of the season.
Alva would use her considerable wealth to lay siege to the secluded parlor rooms of the old money. Their opening game was an elaborate masquerade ball to celebrate the completion of a grandiose Gothic-style mansion on Fifth Avenue. Alva invited 1,200 of New York’s crème de la crème to her “housewarming party.” Alva was brilliant and “absolutely ruthless” in her quest to challenge Caroline Astor’s iron rule over the New York aristocracy.
However, much to Carrie’s dismay, Alva later revokes her invitation after her mother refuses to leave “a calling card” at the Vanderbilt home.
The practice of leaving “calling cards” on the doorstep of polite society was one of the more mysterious examples of social theater in the Golden Age.
Bluebloods paid each other short visits to show respect and assert their own power in society.
As dramatized in the HBO series, Caroline Astor refused to approach Bertha Russell, which in turn meant she was allowed to keep young Carrie away from the ball.
Forcing Caroline Astor to acknowledge her presence in society meant Alva Vanderbilt won, and New York society was never the same.
HOW A SOUTHERN GADFLY CALLED WARD MCALLISTER COLONIZED GILDED AGE SOCIETY ALONGSIDE CAROLINE ASTOR
In real life, Ward McAllister (played by Nathan Lane) was a bossy and fussy Southerner who helped define the rules that governed New York’s Golden Age high society. One newspaper called him “the most complete dandy in America,” but thanks to his close friendship with Caroline Astor, he became known as “the king of New York society.” Ward McAllister, who was well-versed in Old World manners and etiquette, served as Astor’s unofficial advisor. Astor noted that in order to be accepted into society, one must be at least three generations removed from the one who had been defiled while making money. Together they ruled as society’s gatekeepers. McAllister defined the rules of what constituted an aristocratic gentleman. (A cartoon above makes fun of his snobbery). McAllister founded an organization called the Society of Patriarchs. which consisted of 25 members who were “representative men of value, reputation and responsibility.” They were handpicked by him and Astor from old money families like the Schermerhorns and Lorillards and the new money clans like the Goelets and Rockefellers
In the first season of the HBO period drama, viewers are introduced to an eccentric, mustachioed character named Ward McAllister (played by Nathan Lane).
In real life, Ward McAllister was a bossy and fussy Southerner who helped define the rules that governed New York’s Golden Age high society.
Georgia-born McAllister was a legal trainer who went west during the Gold Rush before giving up his life to tour Europe.
He returned to America and established himself in New York City as a professional snob who mingled with the elite.
In reality, McAllister was a fraudster who imitated the habits of his celebrity friends.
As a young man, he moved in with a wealthy relative in the hope of inheriting her money. But after her death, she left him a paltry $1,000 in her will, which he used exclusively for an evening suit to attend an important ball with aristocrats who assumed he was the heir to a vast fortune.
One newspaper called him “the most consummate dandy in America,” but thanks to his close friendship with Caroline Astor, he became known as “the king of New York society.”
McAllister was the first and greatest representative of what came to be known as the “Walker,” a friendly gentleman who offered an arm to socialites in place of their busy husbands.
Although he was married with three children, there were rumors that his wife was an invalid and was never seen in public.
When Caroline Astor wanted to consolidate her influence on the Beau Monde, she needed an elegant collaborator and unofficial advisor who was well versed in Old World manners and knew the rules of etiquette.
The twin leaders of New York City sought to organize rank and hierarchy within the ruling class.
McAllister coined the word “nob” to define those who came from old money and pedigree, like Caroline Astor. In contrast, the “Swells” were the nouveau riche like the Vanderbilts, Carnegies and Rockefellers.
Astor and McAllister served as gatekeepers to the infamous “Four Hundred” list – a number determined by the number of people who could fit in their ballroom. Together they exercised their social influence as kingmakers and arbiters of taste.
In the HBO series The Gilded Age, a meeting with Ward McAllister was the key to Bertha Russell’s entry into New York society. True to the true story, McAllister is credited with paving the way for Vanderbilt’s inclusion in the Silk Stockings Series.
Eventually McAllister fell out of favor with celebrities when he published his revealing memoirs in 1890. He died five years later of a sudden attack of influenza – penniless, detached from his former glamorous life and utterly meaningless.
THE TRUE STORY T. THOMAS FORTUNE, A FORMER SLAVE WHO OWNED THE NEW YORK GLOBE NEWSPAPER
According to Deadline.com, the second season of The Gilded Age will see Peggy Scott (played by Denée Benton, left) channeling her activist spirit through her work with T. Thomas Fortune (played by Sullivan Jones) at the New York Globe. While Fortune is a real character in the story, Peggy’s character was inspired by a number of black women pioneers of the time. As seen in the first season, Peggy Scott (played by Denée Benton) is a young, ambitious black writer from Brooklyn who refuses to write for Fortune T. Thomas Fortune was born into slavery and was a close collaborator by Booker T. Washington, who founded the New York Globe, a publication that would become one of the world’s largest newspapers. Peggy Scott is loosely based on Ida B. Wells, an author and activist who founded the NAACP
As seen in the first season, Peggy Scott (played by Denée Benton) is a young, ambitious black writer from Brooklyn who refuses to write for the white newspaper The Christian Advocate because the editor wants her to writes under a pseudonym.
According to Deadline.com, The Gilded Age’s second season will see Peggy “exercise her activist spirit through her work with T. Thomas Fortune at the New York Globe.”
T. Thomas Fortune, played by Sullivan Jones, is a real-life historical figure often referred to as the dean of black journalism.
Born into slavery, Fortune was a close associate of Booker T. Washington, who founded the New York Globe – a publication that would become one of the most influential black newspapers in the country.
According to series creator Julian Fellowes, Peggy’s character is not based on a single historical figure, but was inspired by a number of real-life pioneers of the time.
One of them is Ida B. Wells, an author and activist who documented lynchings across the country and became one of the founders of the NAACP.
THE BLOODY UNION STRIKE AT THE PITTSBURGH STEEL MILL THAT RUINED ANDREW CARNEGIE’S REPUTATION
The second season will feature another infamous event in American history known as the Homestead Strike. Inspired by the true story of steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie; Railroad magnate George Russell (played by Morgan Spector) will face off against union workers at his steel mill in Pittsburgh
The second season will feature another infamous event in American history known as the Homestead Strike.
Inspired by the true story of steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie; Railroad magnate George Russell (played by Morgan Spector) will face off against union workers at his steel mill in Pittsburgh.
The Homestead Strike of 1892 was a pivotal labor dispute that took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania.
A conflict arose between the powerful Carnegie Steel Company and a union representing steelworkers over the company’s decision to cut wages and dissolve the union.
Carnegie decided to lock workers out of the plant and installed three miles of barbed wire fencing and guard towers overnight to allow non-union workers into the plant.
He hired 300 armed Pinkerton guards to escort the strikebreakers past the strike protesters. But tensions escalated, leading to fierce fighting, gunfire and seven deaths.
Eventually, the state militia was called in to restore order and support the company’s interests.
In the end, union workers were forced to take a 60 percent pay cut, but Andrew Carnegie’s reputation as a “worker-friendly” would never be the same.
The strike highlighted their struggles and contributed to the development of labor rights and union movements in the United States.