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 sprawli...
Jul 23, 2024•57 min
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 stocke...
Jul 09, 2024•57 min
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 fro...
Jun 25, 2024•48 min
To celebrate a month of diversity, courage and pride, we are rereleasing this episode which continues to be one of the most talked about shows on The Gilded Gentleman so far. The story of Murray Hall -- a Gilded Age bail bondsman, Tammany Hall representative and loving and devoted father -- is one that few know. It's a story that leaves you inspired and one that is impossible to forget and one that when you first hear it, takes you by surprise. Murray's story, like countless others nearly forgot...
Jun 18, 2024•36 min•Ep. 85
Carl is joined by veteran journalist, writer and tour guide Michael Morgenthal for a journey through the pages of 19th century newspapers. Michael traces the history of several of our most well known newspapers today including the New York Post and the New York Times as well as how Gilded Age journalists and readers had - in their way - the (nearly) 24 hour news cycle that we are so accustomed to today. By the end of the Gilded Age there were over 20 daily newspapers published in New York City a...
Jun 11, 2024•59 min•Ep. 84
Carl visits the Museum of the City of New York where he's joined by Collections Manager for Costumes and Textiles, Elizabeth Randolph, to discuss the famous dress Alice Vanderbilt wore to her sister-in-law Alva'a ball, while inspecting the original dress itself. On the evening of March 26, 1883, Alva Vanderbilt threw her famous costume ball to officially open her new "Petit Chateau" on Fifth Avenue and to secure her place in Gilded Age society. Her sister-in-law, Alice, not to be outdone, arrive...
May 28, 2024•47 min•Ep. 83
Renowned historian and author Richard Jones delves deeply into one of the world's most fascinating unsolved series of murders. True crime fans may think they know the major elements of the grisly set of Jack the Ripper murders and the resulting investigation, but this show uncovers some angles and aspects that shine a wider light into these horrors of late Victorian London . Carl and guest Richard Jones delve into all aspects of the crimes themselves - from what happened, to what clues were and ...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 82
Royal historian and author Tracy Borman returns to The Gilded Gentleman following her appearance on Crown & Scepter: The Coronation Show last year. Tracy is a noted historian and a frequent guest and commentator on the BBC as well as many documentaries and programs internationally. Tracy's most recent book "Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter That Changed History" serves as the basis for this episode, along with Tracy's insights on the mother daughter relationships in the li...
Apr 30, 2024•57 min•Ep. 81
Just over a year ago, as Broadway opened a revival of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd , The Gilded Gentleman was honored to sit down with one of the stars of the original 1979 Broadway production. Sarah Rice , who went on to a distinguished career in opera as well as leading roles in musical theatre, originated the role of Johanna playing opposite such Broadway legends as Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou . Sarah covered how she got started in theatre, came to New York with two ca...
Apr 23, 2024•43 min•Ep. 80
Join Carl and British country house historian Curt DiCamillo for a look into the world of the Edwardian country house. Audiences became fascinated in these houses through the blockbuster Julian Fellowes series "Downton Abbey" and his earlier film "Gosford Park", with their colliding worlds of upstairs and downstairs and interlocking social dramas. Curt discusses this fascinating period in British history and how the country house in Edwardian times brought society closer to a modern age. Curt ex...
Apr 16, 2024•46 min•Ep. 79
Fashion historian and author, Dr. Elizabeth L. Block returns to The Gilded Gentleman for a truly "undercover" investigation. This time, Liz joins Carl to discuss the world of corsets, bustles, straps and stockings, all of which comprised the undergarment engineering that helped make the glorious gowns by Worth and other designers appear as glamorous as they did. In addition to the architecture and the food, it is the fashion of the Gilded Age that always elicits comments and sighs at the very be...
Apr 02, 2024•55 min•Ep. 78
The small two acre square known since the 1830's as Gramercy Park has also been called "America's Bloomsbury". Taking the reference from London's famous neighborhood once home to many great writers and artists, New York's Gramercy Park has similarly included noted cultural icons from architect Stanford White to actor Edwin Booth to the great politician Samual Tilden . Wandering along the park today it's easy to gain a view back into the past - many of the original Greek Revival brick townhouses ...
Mar 19, 2024•57 min•Ep. 77
Carl is joined by noted architect, interior designer and author Phillip James Dodd for an in-depth discussion of the "look" of the Gilded Age - a style known as American Beaux-Arts. Architecture constructed during the height of America's Gilded Age most certainly had a distinctive look. It was a uniquely American combination of stylistic elements of classical antiquity, the Renaissance palaces of the Medici, as well as the more flamboyant styles of France's Belle Epoque . But just how does one d...
Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 76
In the previous episode "Dandies: Gentleman of Style from the 19th Century to Today", Carl was joined by cultural historian and maker of fine custom clothing, Nathaniel Lee Adams for a look at this most interesting breed of society's tastemaking men. In this new episode, Carl and Natty take the discussion further and focus on the early 20th century, when a new brand of dandy was emerging - one with style perhaps, but also often tinged by scandal. Being a "dandy" is generally thought to be more t...
Feb 20, 2024•52 min•Ep. 75
In this episode, journalist and biographer Maria Teresa Cometto joins The Gilded Gentleman for a look into the life of New York-born 19th-century sculptor Emma Stebbins. Emma Stebbins is most noted for her iconic bronze statue, The Angel of the Waters , which was placed on Central Park's Bethesda Terrace in 1873. Maria Teresa Cometto is the author of the recently published "Emma and the Angel of Central Park", the first extensive biographical look at Stebbins' life. Many locals and visitors may ...
Feb 06, 2024•54 min•Ep. 74
Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish , known to all as just Mamie, was another of the larger-than-life personalities during the Gilded Age. For this episode, Carl is joined by historian and writer Keith Taillon and actor Ashlie Atkinson , who portrays Mamie Fish in HBO's The Gilded Age , for a look at just who this complicated and fascinating woman really was. If you received an invitation to a party at Mamie Fish's - you went. Mamie Fish, who had an iron clad family pedigree and enough money to compete with ot...
Jan 23, 2024•53 min•Ep. 73
Edith Wharton published The Age of Innocence at a very important moment in her life. When the novel came out in 1920, she had been living in France full-time for nearly 10 years and had seen the devastating effects of World War I up close. Her response was to look back with a sense of nostalgia to the time of her childhood to recreate that staid, restrictive world of New York in the 1870s that, despite its often social cruelty and harsh judgements, seemed to have some kind of moral center. It wa...
Jan 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 72
It's ball season! Time to call the carriage for your visit to the Gilded Age's greatest parties. Balls were the most lavish entertainment one could attend in the Gilded Age -- from Mrs. Astor's annual Opera Ball for around 400 guests to smaller affairs for only 200 or 300 hundred. But that ball was far more than an elegant night out. Being invited signaled that you were "in" society. Who you saw there often determined how you navigated society, and whom you could introduce your daughter to indic...
Jan 02, 2024•49 min•Ep. 71
Viewers were introduced to Emily Roebling on the second season of The Gilded Age. Now learn the entire story of the Roebling family -- father, son, wife -- the engineers responsible for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. As a special bonus episode to end the year, enjoy this 2023 show from the Bowery Boys podcast archives, looking at the extraordinary individuals responsible for this 19th century marvel. Greg and Tom walk through the history, then chat with Kriss Roebling, Washington and E...
Dec 26, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 70
Delmonico's began as the dream of two Swiss immigrants in the 1820's and grew to be a social center of the Gilded Age. Prohibition shuttered Delmonico's along with other great New York restaurants. Italian immigrant Oscar Tucci looked at the closed great brownstone former restaurant at 56 Beaver St and decided to reopen it - first as a speakeasy, then as a full continental restaurant that went on to welcome the famous, not-so-famous, and never famous to dine side by side and celebrate tradition ...
Dec 19, 2023•42 min•Ep. 69
Carl is joined by actor Simon Jones, whose distinguished career has included King George V on " Downton Abbey ", stage productions on Broadway and the West End, and his current role as Bannister on HBO's " The Gilded Age ". Simon takes us backstage as he discusses his career from his earliest roles, including in the radio drama version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and film version, his role as Brideshead in the iconic 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited", and his...
Dec 12, 2023•45 min•Ep. 68
Ulysses Dietz , noted curator, author, and historian is the great-great grandson of President Ulysses S. Grant. In this unique and very special show, Ulysses takes us behind the doors of several of Newport's great mansions to understand how architecture, design and decorative arts all combine to tell the story of how this social community came to be and grew during the Gilded Age. Ulysses shares insight into some of the famous personalities of the Gilded Age, including Alva Vanderbilt, and the a...
Dec 05, 2023•46 min•Ep. 67
Christmas traditions evolved over the 19th century, combining influences from the days of the Dutch settlers with British practices inspired by the work of Dickens, and along the way, they became something truly American. In this special holiday episode, the Gilded Gentleman visits with Ann Haddad, House Historian of New York's 1832 Merchant's House Museum, and takes a look at how the well-to-do Tredwell family and their servants would have celebrated the holiday around mid-century. We then trav...
Nov 28, 2023•50 min•Ep. 66
Financier Jay Gould was one of the most famous — and infamous — of the Gilded Age robber barons. He was ruthless in his business dealings, tangled with the Vanderbilts for control of the railroads and fought battle after battle on Wall Street. But there was a less contentious side to him as well. Gould sought respite from New York City with his family at his country home, Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, a rolling estate where instead of Wall St. warrior he could be father and husband. Lyndhurst ...
Nov 21, 2023•45 min•Ep. 65
The Gilded Age was a period of rapid industrialization and innovation - and that was abundantly true in terms of what was happening in the kitchen. New marvels like refrigeration, the availability of ingredients like baking powder, and new tools from egg beaters to meat slicers, all made creating over-the-top meals much easier than ever before. Becky Libourel Diamond , food historian and author of the just published Gilded Age Cookbook , shares some rich insights into a number of these kitchen i...
Nov 14, 2023•51 min•Ep. 64
One of the most fascinating story lines in Season One of the HBO series "The Gilded Age" was that of the young black writer Peggy Scott and her Brooklyn family. Elements of Peggy's father's character were based on scholar Dr. Carla Peterson's own ancestral family. In her groundbreaking book, Black Gotham: A Family History of African-Americans in Nineteenth Century New York City , Dr. Peterson sheds light on how this community grew, how diverse the community actually was, and she provides insight...
Nov 07, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 63
Celebrate the opening of the opera season Gilded Age style! In this encore episode, Carl delves into how the Metropolitan Opera came to be and what it meant to those bejewelled Gilded Age audiences. Most of the drama took place in the audience - and not so much on the stage. On the night of October 22, 1883, the brand new Metropolitan Opera House opened its doors. The new theater was able to accommodate many more prime seats than the old Academy of Music , and as a result, "new money" socialites...
Oct 31, 2023•28 min•Ep. 62
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 m...
Oct 17, 2023•56 min•Ep. 61
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 M...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 60
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 Gi...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 59
