Gilded Age Christmas Gifts: The "Mystery Dollhouse" from FAO Schwarz

Long before children in the 20th century were requesting a Barbie dreamhouse for Christmas, girls in the 1890s had dreams of receiving dollhouses that were no less elaborate than what we might see today! If you visit Staatsburgh during ‘A Gilded Age Christmas’ this year, keep your eyes open for a large dollhouse. The dollhouse was first put on display in 2023 and then again this year as a representation of the type of Christmas gifts one of the Mills daughters may have received.

1890 "Mystery dollhouse," donated by Joseph and Susan Feeks in 2023

Is That Napoleon?

That's Napoleon.
(ML.1974.242)

No, that's not Napoleon.

Hanging in Staatsburgh's library, the life-size portrait of Staatsburgh's founder, Morgan Lewis, dressed an early 19th century military uniform, often prompts the question "Is that Napoleon?" 

While Ruth Mills' great-grandfather is not the French emperor, there are certainly reminders of Napoleon Bonaparte throughout the house. Tucked away in the southwest corner of Staatsburgh's library is a leather-bound, four-volume set titled Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life. Sitting upon Mrs. Mills' desk in her boudoir is a small brass sealing wax stamp crowned with a bust of Napoleon Bonaparte. Besides it, there sits a small tortoise box with a cameo of Napoleon Bonaparte. Outside of the guestrooms for unmarried ladies upstairs, hung among the portraits of American presidents such as George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt, hangs a print of Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps.

In anticipation of the upcoming Napoleon Bonaparte biopic, Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular emperor, we wanted to share some of Staatsburgh's own connections to the wider Bonaparte family. For a woman who vied to be Queen of New York Society, Ruth Mills seemed to surround herself with images of French royalty. Yet her and her family's ties to the Bonaparte family went beyond interior decoration. Several generations of Ruth Livingston Mills' family had connections to the famous French imperial family, reaching from the gilded palaces of Paris to the American Wild West.

Edith Wharton's Re-imagining of Staatsburgh

Just as Staatsburgh is a time-capsule of the Gilded Age, the literature from the era provides a lasting insight into the period. In fact, the term 'Gilded Age' comes from the title of an 1873 Mark Twain novel of the same name. Beyond this literary association, the decades following the Civil War produced some of the most famous American authors, including Henry James, W.E.B. Du Bois, Hellen Keller, and Upton Sinclair. Works still widely read today, such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), White Fang (1906), Tarzan of the Apes (1912), and O Pioneers! (1913) were all written during the height of the Gilded Age. However, one author over all others truly captures of the essence of Gilded Age American society: Edith Wharton.

A Passing Fancy: Gilded Age Crushes

During the month of February, in honor of Valentine's Day, we celebrated some of the many swoon-worthy men and women of the Gilded Age.  These short profiles take a look at four men and four women who captured the attention of Staatsburgh staff.  Originally posted on Staatsburgh's facebook page, we compiled all the posts here to share in a single essay.  

Who is your Gilded Age crush? Without further ado, here are our selections descending by age...

The Consummate Gentleman: Winthrop Rutherfurd and Some of His Leading Ladies

The press was enamored of many dashing gentlemen during the Gilded Age, but no one quite so much as Winthrop Rutherfurd.  "Winty" was tall, handsome, and of good stock.  His father, Lewis Morris Rutherfurd, was a pioneering astronomer, but Winthrop also descended directly from Peter Stuyvesant who was the head of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, and from John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts.  Edith Wharton once referred to him as the "prototype of my first novels." Perhaps she thought of him as she wrote male characters who she wanted to portray the discreet proper gentleman or ideal suitor.  Rutherfurd visited Staatsburgh multiple times and his family became connected to the Mills family when his niece married Ogden Livingston Mills in 1911.

Winthrop Rutherfurd, circa 1895

His three best-known loves span different eras of his life, but there were also probably countless others that never became public record.  How many women succumbed to the charms of Winthrop Rutherfurd?  We may never know....

A Gilded Age Ice Skating Tea

It is currently tea season at Staatsburgh and we are serving scones, sandwiches, and our special Harney & Sons Staatsburgh blend tea almost every weekend.  We enjoy welcoming guests to the historic dining room for this unique experience.  During the Gilded Age, having tea was a very common social experience.  One of the more unique tea entertainments was the 'ice tea,' which was tea in conjunction with ice skating!  Ice skating became very popular during the Gilded Age when indoor ice rinks first opened, which lengthened the skating season.  Before 'artificial ice,' skating only happened on frozen outdoor ponds, and the weather played a big role in the number of skating days every season.  An event like an 'ice tea' was only possible once skating moved indoors!

A Nutcracker Christmas at Staatsburgh

This year the mansion was decorated for the holidays with a nutcracker theme.  Visitors walking through the house heard the lovely strains of the famous musical score as they admired the decorations and collection of various sized nutcrackers.  Not only are nutcrackers a popular Christmas decoration, the score from The Nutcracker ballet, composed by Peter Tchaikovsky in 1892 has a lasting association with the Christmas season.  The ballet is performed every year in cities large and small around the world.  Many productions continue to be set in the late 19th century and depict a world similar to the American Gilded Age (at least during the party scene before the fantasy elements begin).

Nutcrackers grace the mantel in Staatsburgh's dining room, Christmas 2019

Book Review: Tragic Mansions by Mrs. Philip Lydig

Life and relationships in wealthy Gilded Age society is a fascinating topic, but there are only a few first hand accounts from the women who ruled the upper echelons of society during this era.  Maverick in Mauve: The Diary of a Romantic Age by Florence Adele Sloane (a great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt) is a published account of diary entries in the years before and during the author's marriage.  Another great example written by Sloane's cousin, Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, was entitled The Glitter and the Gold.  Both provide unique insights into love and marriage within a society with very strict rules.  A third example provides an equally fascinating and perhaps darker look into the lives of those who appeared to have it all.  Published in 1927 by Rita de Acosta Lydig, the book came at a time when Rita was in ill health and a lot of debt.  She wrote the book to earn money and in the meantime provided a unique window into her world.

Portrait of Rita de Acosta Lydig by Giovanni Boldini, 1911

Ladies' Fashions at the Turn of the 20th Century

When Stanford White was brought in to remodel Ruth Livingston Mills’s inherited home, he took special care to install an enormous staircase, knocking out a ceiling and a couple of walls to do the job. Looking at the staircase today, you can almost see the beautiful ladies visiting Staatsburgh sweeping down those steps to make their grand entrance for dinner, no doubt bedecked in one of the most fashionable gowns they owned.

The "pigeon chest"

Fashion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was quite elaborate and just as fickle as it is today. Over the course of around twenty years (from the very late 1890’s up to around 1915) women’s fashion would undergo a veritable coup.

The House of Worth: Designer Fashion in the Gilded Age

Today there are countless dress designers who have successfully made a career of dressing the rich and famous.  Names like Armani, Dior, Chanel, Gucci, and Valentino are commonly muttered by artists and entertainers walking the red carpet.  However, if one were to ask the most elite women in Gilded Age society about their gowns, the vast majority of answers would be the same...the House of Worth.