Olympic Sports of Yesteryear: Polo

It has been a century since Paris hosted the Olympic Games, and undeniably the 2024 Summer Olympics will look quite different from the 1924 Olympics. The 1924 Olympics had 17 sports and 126 medal events, while the 2024 Olympics features 32 sports and 329 medal events. Only about 5% of athletes in 1924 were women, while in 2024 that number is around 50%. In 1924, 44 nations were represented, but in 2024, there are athletes from 206 nations competing in the games. A highlight of the 1924 Olympics included the performance of Johnny Weissmuller (who later became an actor known for his portrayal of Tarzan) who won three gold medals in swimming and a bronze in water polo.

     

Paris has now hosted the Olympics three times: 1900, 1924 & 2024. While many sports have been added, others have faded away. One sport which was part of the 1900 & 1924 games, but will not be part of the 2024 games, is polo. What is polo, why is it no longer part of the Olympics, and what is the sport’s connection to Staatsburgh?

A Quick Trip to Newport

Recently on a family vacation, I made a quick detour to Newport, Rhode Island.  I have visited Newport and toured mansions on two separate occasions in the past, but both times were before I started working at Staatsburgh.  Previously I had just a general interest in the Gilded Age seaside colony, but after becoming more immersed in researching the Mills family, their servants, and the context of their life, my interests have become much more pointed.  I was eager to explore Newport as it related to the Mills family.

Though the trip was brief, I made a few integral stops and have some insights and photos that I would like to share.

Life Downstairs at Staatsburgh: A Servant Wedding

Fans of the television series Downton Abbey may remember the slow burn of the relationship between the butler, Carson, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes.  Finally, after many seasons of the show, and many more years of working together, the pair expressed their love for each other and were married (much to the delight of the show's fans!).

Romance between servants was usually discouraged, but it did happen.  Some left service after being married, but others continued like Anna and Mr. Bates (another married couple featured on Downton Abbey!).  Even here at Staatsburgh, we know the servants were not immune to falling in love.  Staatsburgh's butler was already married with children when he started working for the Mills family, but his daughter fell in love and married a footman!  Read their story below:

Carson & Mrs. Hughes (Photo: PBS/Masterpiece)

Ocean View: How the Millses Summered in Style in Newport

There is something extraordinary about the sea and the summer season is a great time to enjoy the salty tides and coastal views far away from the bustle of the city.  Staatsburgh was generally quiet during the summer because the Mills family was usually headquartered in Newport, Rhode Island.  Newport was the center of the summer season for wealthy Gilded Age families. The elite flocked to the ocean breezes and built grand mansions along the shore.  The young Ruth Livingston spent summers as a young lady in Newport at her parent's cottage on Bellevue Court and even served as a bridesmaid at her twin sister's wedding to Englishman George Cavendish-Bentinck at the Episcopal Chapel of All Saints, which was one of the most anticipated events of the 1880 season.  Once Ruth married Ogden Mills, they visited Newport each summer and rented a home where they would reside during their time there until they purchased Ocean View in 1888.

As a port city on the Atlantic Ocean, Newport was the center for the New England slave trade during the Colonial era until the transatlantic slave trade was abolished in 1807.  Soon wealthy Southern plantation owners began to build summer homes in Newport to escape the heat and by the middle of the nineteenth century wealthy Yankee families began to do the same.  Most of the homes built during this era were shingle style cottages.  By the 1880's, the Newport season began to get longer, beginning in May and ending in October for some families, and the number of cottages occupied each summer continued to increase through the decade.  By this time, the style of the homes had changed, and most of the large mansions were built with marble and resembled prodigious European palaces (see Marble House).

On Right: Ocean View, the Ogden Mills Newport Mansion
located on Bellevue Avenue, circa 1932-34

Source: DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University