A Gilded Age Gossip Columnist: Maury Paul, The Man Behind Cholly Knickerbocker

Downton Abbey Spoiler Alert!  Do you remember the final  season of Downton Abbey when Lady Edith's magazine hired a new writer with the pen name of Cassandra Jones to write an advice column for women? Ms. Jones' column turned out to be very popular and when Lady Edith arranged a meeting with the author, she found out Cassandra Jones was none other than her grandmother's butler Septimus Spratt!

Maury Henry Biddle Paul took on a similar gender bending identity and pseudonym when he wrote for newspaper columns as Polly Stuyvesant and Cholly Knickerbocker while reporting on the activities of society's wealthy elite class.  He was born in 1890 so he missed much of the earlier years of the Gilded Age, but he started paying attention to society news at a young age.  Even though Ruth Mills died in 1920, he still included her in more than one column when he reported about the status of the Millses several homes.  The Gilded Age elite were not immune to the prying eye of the media just as celebrities today are constantly hounded by paparazzi.  The fact that salacious gossip sells is not a new concept!

Maury Paul aka Cholly Knickbocker (right in black bow tie) visiting a club, circa 1938.

Changing of the Guard: Who Will Become the Next Queen of Gilded Age Society...?

Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (1830-1908) was undeniably the grande-dame of society for decades.  She reigned over New York Society and the "Four Hundred," as the arbiter of good taste and social acceptance.  By the 1890's, however, she was beginning to slow down.  Her husband, William Backhouse Astor, died in 1892 and her daughter Helen (Roosevelt) died in 1893, which necessitated two years of mourning in a row.  In 1895, Mrs. Astor's entertaining co-conspirator, Ward McAllister, died as well really leaving her without the same gusto for entertaining.  She also was reportedly suffering from dementia, which affected the later years of her life.  Once she was advancing in age and starting to slow down, society was buzzing about who would become the next Mrs. Astor.

Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (1830-1908)

There were several candidates, but who had the strength, power, and skill to succeed?  Who had the combination of wealth, elegance, beauty, and needed to take over the reigns and lead society?  Let's take a look at the contenders...