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The Four Hundred was a list of New York society during the Gilded Age, a group that was led by Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, the "Mrs. Astor", for many years. After her death, her role in society was filled by three women: Mamie Fish, Theresa Fair Oelrichs, and Alva Belmont,known as the "triumvirate" of American society.Establishment.Aided by McAllister, Mrs. Astor attempted to codify proper behavior and etiquette, as well as determine who was acceptable among the arrivistes, as champions of old money and tradition.
On February 16, 1892, The New York Times published the "official" list of those included in the Four Hundred as dictated by social arbiter Ward McAllister, Mrs. Astor's friend and confidant, The list, purported to include the crème de la crème of New York society, consisted largely of "bankers, lawyers, brokers, real estate men, and railroaders, with one editor), one publisher, one artist, and two architects."
It also included a mix of both "Nobs" and "Swells", terms coined by McAllister. "Nobs" came from old money and "Swells" were representatives of the nouveau riche, who Mrs. Astor felt, begrudgingly, were able to partake in "polite" society.
Excluded† were outstanding prominent members of the Jewish faith of equal and often greater wealth.
"Nobs" (Old Money) Families:
- Byrd Family * Randolph Family * Lowell family * Astor family * Hartwick family
- Carter Family * Roosevelt Family * Du Pont family * Harrison Family * Pitcairn family
- Lindsey Family * Cabot Family * Forbes family * Griswold Family * Van Leer family
- Whitney Family * Fish Family * Livingston Family * Cooke Family * Duke Family
- Mellon Family * Donnelley family * Cargill family * Cruger Family
- Rhinelander Family * Hamilton Family * Schuyler family * Robinson Family * Green Family
- Van Rensselaer * Van Cortlandt * Bayard family * Stuyvesant family * Kean Family
- Bush Family * Morris Family * Kane Family * Van Buren Family †† * Schermerhorn Family
- Delancey family *Hecksher Family
†† variant spelling = van Beuren
"Swells" (New Money/Nouveau Riche/Baron Robbers) Families:
- Vanderbilt family * Carnegie Family * Hill Family * De Young family
- Fulton Family * Collins Family * Stanford Family * Ford Family
- Morgan Family * Milliken family * Hearst Family * Getty Family
- Oelrich Family * Drexel Family * Nielson Family * Brown family ** Rockefeller Family
Sources
- wikipedia "The Four Hundred"
- the wealthy of 1902 (in terms of property taxation in Manhattan) The New York Times 20 Jul 1902, Sun · Page 28
- ~• included many of the "400"
- † Birmingham, Stephen (1967). "Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York (1967). New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 9781579124359. ~• in particular: Cha. 11 = Peddlers in Top Hats, vis. Ward McAllister and the Astors p.84-86
Current (or passing) Interest
- https://thegildedgentleman.com/
- YouTube
- coming up on Jan 19, 2023 = https://salmagundi.org/2023-afternoon-tea-talks-jan/
- YouTube
Popular Culture
- HBO 'Series: The Gilded Age 2022- (unfinished, one season completed as of 2022)
- Julian Fellowes—or the Lord Fellowes of West Stafford, as he’s known in his native Britain—has said that The Custom of the Country, Wharton’s strikingly modern 1913 novel about a ruthless social climber, inspired him to start writing (this series)
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10855109/Inside-true-lives...
- By TATE DELLOYE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM ; PUBLISHED: 10:02 EST, 2 June 2022
- https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/01/the-gilded-age-...
- The Custom of the Country, Edith Wharton’s strikingly modern 1913 novel about a ruthless social climber
- "The Saturday Review wrote that (Wharton) had ‘assembled as many detestable people as it is possible to pack between the covers of a six-hundred page novel’, but concluded that the book was ‘brilliantly written’, and ‘should be read as a parable’. It follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the midwest and determined to conquer high society."
- see, in addition: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/t-magazine/wharton-custom-countr... = Undine Spragg’s Life in Objects NYT Magazine, Jan. 26, 2021
- "The Saturday Review wrote that (Wharton) had ‘assembled as many detestable people as it is possible to pack between the covers of a six-hundred page novel’, but concluded that the book was ‘brilliantly written’, and ‘should be read as a parable’. It follows the career of Undine Spragg, recently arrived in New York from the midwest and determined to conquer high society."
- youtube The Vanderbilt Ball of 1883 was so lavish that it put all of the Met Galas to shame : Nov 17, 2023 #vanderbilt #gildedage #history
Period Newspaper Articles
- "The Forebears of the 400" • Los Angeles Times • May 26 1895 • page one ( ~• of satirical interest )