St. Paul’s School, 7, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 52, 54, 77, 226; “Cricket Day,” 49; endowment, 52; as route to Yale, 80; sports at, 84
Saks Fifth Avenue, 20
Saltonstall, William G. (“Bill Salty”), 56
Saltonstall family, 4, 10, 286, 288, 297
Saltonstall of Huntwicke, Sir Richard, 286
San Francisco, 17–32, 66; self-indulgence in, 19–20; home entertaining in, 21; concern for Class, 22; social fatalities in, 23–24; social leadership in, 26–28; Maritime Museum, 29; Junior League, 101, 105; Peninsula, 182
San Francisco Chronicle, 31
San Marino, California, 73
Santa Clara Lumber Company, 231
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, 74, 137, 138
Saranac, New York, 232
Saratoga Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses, 232
Saratoga Springs, 232
Scarsdale, New York, 125, 135–136
Schiff, Jacob, 47
Schiff, Morti, 47
Schine, G. David, 246
Schine, J. Meyer, 246
Schlotman, Mrs. Joseph (Stella), 144, 145, 152, 154
Schmidt, George, 259
School, 8, 34, 35. See also Boarding school; College; Prep school
Schwab family, New York, 36, 130
Schwabacher family, San Francisco, 18
Scott, Mrs. Harold, 130
Scranton, William W., 54
Scroll and Key, Yale senior society, 121, 300
Sears family, Boston, 301
Seattle, Washington, 26
Second World War, 51, 55, 64, 86, 247, 300; servant shortage during, 15, 292–294
Sedgwick family, Boston, 10
Seligman, Joseph, 232
Sert Room, 62
Servants, 14–17, 194–195, 225; World War II shortage of, 15
“Seven sisters,” women’s colleges, 81. See also name of specific college
Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 36
Sewickley, Pennsylvania, 125, 182
Shaker Heights, Ohio, 125, 182
Shattuck (boat) club, St. Paul’s School, 44
Shaw, Carolyn Hagner, 200, 208
Shepard, Mrs. Finley J., 128
Sheraton Plaza Hotel, Boston, 72
Sherman, Roger, 132
Sherman family, New York, 133
Shipley School, Philadelphia, 168
Shriver, Eunice Kennedy, 200
Shriver, Sargent, 200
Sicard, Pierre, 271
Sigourney, Charles, 183
Sigoumey, Mrs. Charles (Lydia Huntley), 183
Sill, Frederick H., 46
Sinatra, Frank, 272
Singer, I. M., 248
Singer, Paris, 248
Skiing, 85, 95
Skull and Bones, Yale senior society, 121
Slater, Denniston, 154
Sloan, Maria (Mrs. Edgar Stirling Auchincloss), 287
Sloan family, New York, 35, 288
Sloane, Alfred P., 146
Smedberg family, 287, 288
Smedley, Edward, 137
Smith, Stephen E., 236
Smith College, 7, 81, 87; Alumnae Association, 189
Smoke Tree Ranch, Palm Springs, 272–273
Social climbers, 5, 9, 11; in San Francisco, 21, 24, 25; and coming-out parties, 66–67; and the Junior League, 106; and Grosse Pointe, 150; and Palm Beach, 245
Social club(s), see Club(s)
Social Establishment, 11, 52, 80; in San Francisco, 20; and the trailer park, 270
Social Register, 65, 66, 95, 129, 175, 225; and New York, 6–7, 35; and San Francisco, 18, 81, 116; and college’s social standing, 81–82; and the Junior League, 104; and Detroit, 155; and Philadelphia, 159, 164; Auchincloss family in, 288
Social secretaries (professional party-planners), 65–72; their lists, 67–69; imported by Westerners, 73
Society: Real, defined, 3; American, 5; English influence upon, 45; Jewish/Gentile, 67; in Washington, 195–196; of Palm Springs, 259, 272, 276; and the Auchincloss family, 281–301; values of, 301–302
Society for the Preservation of Cultural Relations Between the East and West Banks of the Schuylkill, 179
Society Hill, Philadelphia, 163
Somerset Club, Boston, 32, 117
Sororities, 121
South Dakota School of Mines, 82
Southampton, Long Island, 224
Southeastern University, 82
Southern Pacific Railroad, 18
Southwestern University, 82
Spee Club, Harvard, 80, 82
Sports: college, 82; in Grosse Pointe, 152; in Philadelphia, 167, 180. See also name of specific sport
Spreckels, Adolph B., 22, 29, 30–31
Spreckels, Mrs. Adolph B. (Alma Emma Charlotte Corday le Normand de Bretteville), 28–31; her Salvage Shop, 29
Spreckels family, San Francisco, 18
Squash (sport), 83
Stags, 65–68. See also Bachelors
Stanford, Leland, 18
Stanford University, 81
Stanton, William, 289–290
State in Schuylkill, see Fish House, Philadelphia
Statler Hotel, Boston, 72
Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 137
Steele, Alfred, 260, 269
Steinhilber, George, 40
Stevenson, Adlai, 54
Stillman family, New York, 10
Stone, Lucy, 117
Stotesbury, Mrs. Edward T., 12–13, 20, 70; in Bar Harbor, 223; in Palm Beach, 243
Strafford, Pennsylvania, 160
Straus, R. Peter, 236
“Strawberry Hill,” Blyth estate in Burlingame, 27
Sub-debutante dances, see Junior dances
Summer camp, 34
Sunningdale Country Club, Westchester, 135
Surf Club, Coral Gables, 257
Sutro family, San Francisco, 18
Swampscott, Mass., 226
Swan, Mrs. Joseph R. (Nathalie Henderson), 100, 110, 245
Swope Community Center, New York, 111
Swope family, New York, 35
Symington, Eve, 74
Taft, Horace D., 46
Taft, Robert A., 121
Taft, Mrs. Robert A., 54
Taft, William Howard, 46
Taft family, 49
Taft School, Watertown, Connecticut, 46, 49, 77
Talbott family, 94
Talleyrand, Duchess of, 128
Tamarisk Country Club, Palm Springs, 282
Tampa Bay Hotel, 245
Tavern Clubs, Boston and Chicago, 117
Tavistock, Marquis of, 76
Taylor, Elizabeth, 260
Taylor, Mrs. J. Madison, 227
Temple, Shirley, 192
Tennis, 85, 167
Tennis Club, Palm Springs, 273, 276
Terhune, Albert Payson, 192
Tew, Mrs. William H., 65, 91, 95
Thieriot family, San Francisco, 18
Thomas, Lowell, 36
Thompson, Rex, 270, 272
Thompson, Mrs. Wirt, 71
Thornton, Dan, 277
Thunderbird Country Club, 267, 272
Tiarks, Henrietta, 75–76
Tiffany family, 288
Tiffany’s, New York, 69
Time, Inc., 50
Tobin, Mrs. Michael, 21, 24, 25
Todd, Mike, 260
Tolstoi, Countess Cyril, 142–143
Tolstoi, Leo, 142
Toswill, Timothy Dymond, 44
Touch football, 87
Tower, Senator John, 192, 193–194
Towle, Sidney, headmaster of Kent, 56
Trailer park, 270–271
Travel, 152–153
Travelers Insurance Company, Hartford, Connecticut, 182, 189
Tree, Marietta, 301–302
Trinity College, 81
Truman, Harry, 261
Truslow family, 288
Tuckahoe, New Yor
k, 126
Tucker, Mrs. Nion, 26, 31
Tupper, New York, 232
Turtle, Julia, 244
Tuxedo Park, 220–221; year-round residents, 13; Autumn Ball, 62–63, 221
Twombly family, 35
Udall, Stewart, 208
Uihlein family, Milwaukee, 10
Union Club, New York, 117–118, 120, 129n.
Union College, 81
Union League, New York, 119–120
United Fund, Detroit, 147
United States Air Force Academy, 81
United States Military Academy, see West Point
United States Naval Academy, see Annapolis
United States Steel Company, 46
University of California, 81
Van Cortlandt family, Westchester, 126
Vanderbilt, Cornelius (Commodore), 133, 134
Vanderbilt, Gloria (Mrs. Wyatt Cooper), 75
Vanderbilt, William H., 54, 216, 234
Vanderbilt, William K., 242
Vanderbilt family, 9, 13, 35, 49, 55, 130, 132–133, 225, 281, 282, 288, 297; and Newport, 222; and Lake Placid, 233; in Palm Beach, 243
Van der Donck family, Westchester, 126
Vanderlip, Frank A., 131–132
Vanderlip, Mrs. Frank A., 131–132
Vanderlip family, 9
Van Rensselaer family, 9, 35, 288
Vassar College, 81, 87
Vidal, Gore, 284
Vidal, Nina Gore, 284
“Viking’s Cove,” Oyster Bay, 16, 192, 193
Villanova, Pennsylvania, 160, 164
Villanova University, 180
Voice, social, 7–8, 45, 168; “Massachusetts malocclusion,” 7, 168; “Philadelphia paralysis” (“Main Line lockjaw”), 168
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, 189
Wainwright, General Jonathan M., 133
Wainwright family, New York, 133, 286
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York, 60, 74
Walker, Nancy, 268
Wall, Evander Berry, 232n.
Wallace, Henry, 4
Wain family, Newport, 222
Walpole, Horace, 286
Wanamaker, John, 13
Warner, Jack, 259
Warnock Uniform Company, 39
Warren, Reverend Matthew M., headmaster of St. Paul’s, 56, 277
Warrick, Colonel William H., 36, 38–39
Washington, D.C., 81–82, 192–209; social fluidity in, 197; press corps in, 199; gaiety in, 200–201; hostesses in, 201–206; Junior League in, 208
Washington, George, 115, 162, 293
Watch Hill, Rhode Island, 224
Wayne, General Anthony, 162
Wayne, Pennsylvania, 160, 165
Wealth, 13; responsibility of, and children, 33–34; and marriage, 89–97; and values, 301–302
Webb, J. Watson, 238
Webb, Dr. Seward, 233–234
Weeders (club), Philadelphia, 167
Weissmuller, Johnny, 254
Wellesley College, 87
Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, 125
Wellington School, England, 52
Wendel, Ella, 128–129
Wendel, J. G., 128–129
Wendel, Rebecca, 128–129
Wesleyan University, 81
West, Clifford, 147, 150
West, Mrs. Clifford, 154
West Hartford, Connecticut, 125, 182–191; social restrictions in, 186; and “Connecticut Yankeeism,” 186–189; community projects in, 190
West Philadelphia, 163
West Point (United States Military Academy), 81
Westchester County, New York, 33, 125–139; early history, 126–132; Sound/River divisions, 132–134; Jewish population, 134–135; cocktail parties in, 214–215
Westover School, 76
“Wetback Group,” San Francisco, 23
Wharton, Edith, 22
Wheeler family, Philadelphia, 48, 49
White Sulphur Springs, 15
White’s Club, London, 113
Whitehead, Commander Edward, 37
Whitehouse, Sheldon, 295
Whitehouse family, New York, 130
Whiteman, Paul, 254
Whitemarsh-Penllyn area, Philadelphia, 163
Whitney, Cornelius Vanderbilt (“Sonny”), 238
Whitney, John Hay, 121
Whitney family, 225, 233, 243
Whyte, Celeste, 154
Whyte, Ray, 153
Wickes family, New York, 10
Widener, Ella (“Tootie”), 71
Wiener, Mrs. Alexander, 150
Wilcocks family, Newport, 222
Wilde, Frazar B., 190
Wilde, Oscar, 174–175
Wilding, Michael, 260
Williams, “Big Boy,” 273
Williams College, 80, 87; Bennington field hockey game, 88
Wilmerding family, 225
Wilson, Mrs. John C., 185
Winchell, Walter, 74
Winchester School, England, 45, 52
Windsor, Duke of, 6, 28
Wintersteen, Mrs. John, 165, 180
Winthrop, John, Governor of Connecticut, 286
Winthrop, John, Governor of Massachusetts, 286
Winthrop family, 285, 288
Wister family, Philadelphia, 94, 162
Wolcott family, 48
Wolff, Viola, 67
Wood, Alan, 174
Woodbury Forest School, Virginia, 45
Woodside, California, 25
Woodward, William, Jr., 94–85
Woodward, Mrs. William, Jr. (Ann Eden Crowell), 94–95
Woodward, Mrs. William, Sr., 94–95
Woodward family, New York, 10, 92
World War II, see Second World War
Wright, Cobina, Jr., 74
Wrightsman, Charles B., 249
Wurlitzer, Farny, 259
Wyandotte Chemical Company, 146
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, 160, 164–165, 174
Yacht-racing, 85
Yale University, 35, 43, 49, 50, 54, 87; social importance of, 80–81; senior societies, 121
Yale-Harvard Regatta, 84–85
Young, Owen D., 46
Zellerbach family, San Francisco, 18
Zeta Psi, University of Pennsylvania fraternity, 80, 86
Zimmerman, Charles, 191
Zimmerman, Mrs. Charles (Opal Marie), 190–191
Zobel, Myron, 259
About the Author
Stephen Birmingham is an American author of more than thirty books. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1932, he graduated from Williams College in 1953 and taught writing at the University of Cincinnati. Birmingham’s work focuses on the upper class in America. He’s written about the African American elite in Certain People and prominent Jewish society in Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York, The Grandees: The Story of America’s Sephardic Elite, and The Rest of Us: The Rise of America’s Eastern European Jews. His work also encompasses several novels including The Auerbach Will, The LeBaron Secret, Shades of Fortune, and The Rothman Scandal, and other nonfiction titles such as California Rich, The Grandes Dames, and Life at the Dakota: New York’s Most Unusual Address. Birmingham lives in southwest Ohio.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 by Stephen Birmingham
Cover design by Angela Goddard
ISBN: 978-1-5040-2627-7
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
EARLY BIRD BOOKS
FRESH EBOOK DEALS, DELIVERED DAILY
BE THE FIRST TO KNOW—
NEW DEALS HATCH EVERY DAY!
EBOOKS BY STEPHEN BIRMINGHAM
FRO
M OPEN ROAD MEDIA
These and more available wherever ebooks are sold
Open Road Integrated Media is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.
Videos, Archival Documents, and New Releases
Sign up for the Open Road Media newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign up now at
www.openroadmedia.com/newsletters
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM
FOLLOW US:
@openroadmedia and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia