The Vanderbilt Ball thrilled the wealthiest New Yorkers on the night of Monday, March 26, 1883. The hottest topic of society pages for months, it also revealed outrageous excess among the most privileged people of the Gilded Age. Many in attendance were on the list of 400. Those who weren’t hoped to change their status.
The title of Gilded Age was first coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their famous 1873 satirical novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Set in post-Civil War America, it follows the moneymaking land schemes of a poor rural family with big ambitions.
Twain observed that the Gilded Age glittered only on the surface for tycoons who extraordinary riches while the working class struggled to feed their families.
The Vanderbilt Ball offers an extraordinary example of the excesses of its time, revealing the pageantry, lavish costumes and lifestyles of the rich and famous.
Following are 8 diamond-dripping details to titillate guests at your next soiree.
#1-“The Four Hundred” Ruled New York High Society
Prior to the Civil War, Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor and her sidekick, Ward McAllister ruled New York City’s social elite. According to The Museum of New York City, they were the self-appointed “authorities in all things upper class.”
After the Civil War, the population of New York grew rapidly. This included millions of immigrants as well as the nouveau riche (a.k.a. wealthy arrivistes) from the Southern and Midwestern United States. Astor and McAllister were the tastemakers who defined proper etiquette for the upper crust with old money. They also determined who made it into the upper ranks of social events.
Vast fortunes were created from the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. Many surpassed those of old-wealth families. According to American Aristocracy, Mrs. Astor and Ward McAllister fine-tuned a list of the 400 people who represented the cream of New York Society.
“The prerequisites for inclusion stipulated that those listed had to come from families who’d enjoyed at least three generations of wealth, and were people who felt at ease in the grandest ballrooms.” (American Aristocracy)
After years of the press pleading for the names, Ward McAllister finally spilled the beans to The New York Times, which published the list on February 16, 1892.
Publications known for stories like Nellie Bly’s first-person accounts for the New York World, lampooned the list, many people in New York society clamored to be on it.
The Vanderbilt family did not make the cut.
#2-Alva Vanderbilt Was Determined To Make “The List”
Alva Erskine Smith from Mobile, Alabama, wife of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt’s grandson William Kissam Vanderbilt, was determined to get on the list and into New York’s highest social circle. Unfortunately, Mrs. Astor and Ward McAllister had decided that the patriarch of the newly rich famil,y who made their fortune in railroads and shipping, was too crass for such honors.
At the core of Alva’s plan to change their perception was her vision of the Vanderbilt Ball.
The Antique Trader writes:
“Her first step was hiring renowned American architect Richard Morris Hunt to build an extravagant French château-style mansion for her and William at 660 Fifth Avenue that overshadowed the opulent townhomes already lining the avenue. The super-sized estate was nicknamed Petit Chateau.” (Antique Trader)
When Alva’s mega-mansion was complete, she celebrated with a party that would be remembered through history as the Vanderbilt Ball.
#3-Lady Astor Was Forced To Lower Her Standards
Enter Carrie Astor, marriage-aged daughter of Lady Astor. The quintessential high-school flick circa 2025 ensued. All of Carrie’s friends received their invitation to the Vanderbilt Ball.
Carrie did not make the cut.
According to Antique Trader, Alva used New York’s rules of etiquette like a sharpened foil. Since Lad Astor had not properly called on her at her Petite Chateau, she was not on her guest list for the upcoming Vanderbilt Ball. Lady Astor promptly dropped her visiting card and with a twist of the foil Alva included the Astors on her list.
#4-New York Socialites Were Twitterpated For Months
The Lenten season of austerity and self-denial was largely ignored in high social circles during the Spring of 1893.
On March 27, 1883, The New York Times wrote:
“The Vanderbilt Ball has agitated New York society more than any social event that has occurred here in many years. Since the announcement that it would take place, which was made about a week before the beginning of Lent, sscarcely anything else has been talked about.” (The New York Times)
Uniformed servants hand-delivered exquisite invitations. Guests practiced their assigned quadrilles for weeks. And of course, they suffered over the profound decision of what costume to wear.
“Amid the rush and excitement of business, men have found their minds haunted by uncontrollable thoughts as to whether they should appear as Robert Le Diable, Cardinal Richelieu, Otho the Barbarian, or the Count of Monte Cristo, while the ladies have been driven to the verge of distraction in the effort to settle the comparative advantages of ancient, medieval, and modern costumes.” (The New York Times)
#5 Look Books Helped Socialites Dress For Fancy Costume Balls
The Gilded Age was a time of wildly expensive parties of all types. The Vanderbilt Ball stood out among them as was a costume event of the century.
Guests had elaborate outfits made by famed dress designers. Look Books like What To Wear At Fancy Balls by Arden Holt were exquisitely illustrated with color plates and monochromes.
While It’s difficult to pick the best costumes in the crowd of a reported 1,200 guests at the Vanderbilt Ball, a few remain favorites. Alva dressed as a Venetian Renaissance lady. Her sister-in-law, Mrs. William Seward Webb, was a hornet with an imported diamond-encrusted headdress.
Other costumes were encrusted with genuine emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.
And one that would not pass ASPCA standards today was Miss Kate Fearing Strong (a.k.a. Puss) whose costume was decorated with genuine tails of a cat and its head for her hat. At a time when Victorian Cat Ladies were growing in numbers, it seems impossible that Puss got through the entire Vanderbilt Ball without at least a few catty comments.
Although the Vanderbilt Ball did not feature an official contest, there’ is one standout in history, worn by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II. A creation of trendsetter, Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895), it was titled “Electric Light”. The gown was made of yellow satin with gold and silver threads and decorated with glass beads and pearls in a lightning-bolt pattern. It featured a working torch operated by hidden batteries.
#6-Elaborately Costumed Guests Were Photographed
Alva had her guests photographed for posterity, and no doubt for publicity. Wisely, she hired he famous photographer of the wealthy, Cuban refugee celebrity photographer, Cuban born José María Mora (1847 –1926).
He produced cabinet cards that remain in museum collections, placing the Vanderbilt Ball as an iconic event of Twain’s Gilded Age.
#7-Alva Made History
The Vanderbilt Ball was the event of the year, the decade and the era.
Carriages began arriving at the Petite Chateau around 10 pm. Onlookers clogged the streets, hoping for a glimpse of the elaborate costumes.
“The scene outside the brilliantly lighted mansion, as the guests began to arrive, was novel and interesting. Early in the evening a squad of Police officers arrived to keep the expected crowd of sightseers in order and to direct the movements of drivers and cabmen.“ (The New York Times)
People took up positions on the stairs of houses opposite or stood on adjacent corners waiting for the carriages to arrive.
“They “gazed curiously and enviously at the gorgeously costumed gentlemen and ladies whom the ushers assisted.” (The New York Times)
The ball began promptly at 11:30 with the hobby-horse quadrille. Guests danced down the mansion’s grand staircase in their lavish costumes. More quadrilles followed, each with their own costumes.
“Dozens of Venetian noblewomen and Louis XVIs, Joan of Arc, a King Lear “in his right mind,” and hundreds of other costumed guests drank champagne and danced around the flower-filled house and the third-floor gymnasium, which had been converted into a forest filled with orchids, bougainvillea, and palm trees.” (Antique Trader)
A small staff of servants served an elaborate dinner at 2 a.m.,
The New York Times, wrote extensively about the Vanderbilt Ball. (The New York Times)
#8-Twain’s Grim Reminder: How The Other Half Lived
Jacob Riis published How the Other Half Livesin 1890. His volume of photojournalism documents the condition of the majority of people living in New York City around the time of the Vanderbilt Ball.
The U.S. Census Bureau ranked New York as the most densely populated city in the United States with1.5 million inhabitants. Although specific numbers are impossible to pinpoint, the Library of Congress estimates that as much as two-thirds of the population lived in some level of poverty. (Library of Congress)
Mark Twain was keenly aware of this disconnect with his Gilded Age. While he didn’t specifically address the Vanderbilt Ball, he often wrote about lavishly excessive events of the time. He even attended a few.
Events like the opulent Easter Parades of the time sparked satire. Social Political Cartoonists including Art Young endlessly mocked rampant corruption of the times.
Muckrakers including Nellie Bly wrote first-person accounts the New York World, from the squalid streets of New York City.
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