Episode 46: No Expense Spared
Come join the biggest debutante ball of the season, of many seasons. It’s going to be one for the record books, and no one is going to want to miss out.
Barbara Hutton has the biggest, most expensive debutante ball ever thrown at the Ritz-Carlton. Everyone attends the wonderful night, but drama starts to unfold amongst her many guests..
Archival music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Publish Date: December 09, 2021
Length: 23:16
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Stardust by Freddie Gardner, Album More Sophistication
Section 2 Music: I’m In the Mood for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Elegance
Section 3 Music: Moonlight Cocktail by Hutch for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Tea Dance 1920s, 30s, 40s Vintage Tea Party
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 046 – No Expense Spared
00:00
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast by Nicki Woodard. Based on historical research, this is a deep exploration into what happened to a set of actual heirs and heiresses to some of America’s most famous fortunes when the Great Depression hits.
Each episode has three primary sections. Section 1 is a narrative story. Section 2 goes deeper into the historical facts. Section 3 focuses on contemporary, emotional, and personal connections.
00:28
Story Recap
After bowing at Buckingham Palace and her Newport debutante ball, richest girl Doris Duke is the debutante of her season, while other former debutantes have become salesgirls after financial troubles.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
No Expense Spared
00:48
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
Come join the biggest debutante ball of the season, of many seasons. It’s going to be one for the record books, and no one is going to want to miss out.
This episode is dedicated to the loving memory of my mother.
01:07
[Music – Stardust by Freddie Gardner, Album More Sophistication]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:18
Outside on a freezing cold night, a large crowd gathers in anticipation. Yellow lights illuminate the snowy streets. Police oversee the 46th Street and Madison Avenue entrance of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. The bright French windows contrast the dark outside. Despite the growing poverty, homelessness, and despair, people gather to see opulence on display. Debutantes in white ermine and college boys in white ties and coattails arrive in Packards, Cadillacs, and Rolls-Royces.
01:48
What is the occasion?
The time has come for chubby budding fashionista and teen heiress Barbara Hutton to debut. The newspapers are already taking notice, reporting on her whereabouts, fashions, and activities.
Like the tea dance hosted by her Uncle EF Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post on December 7th. Barbara wore a pale blue chiffon organdie frock, made long and sweeping, with a cape collar banded with pale pink ribbons and little bows. She also wore a little cap of organdie with two rosettes over the ear. Her hair has been both described as blonde or dark haired. She is also noted as the one of the prettiest debutantes of her season and likely the richest with the exception of one other teen heiress the tall and awkward Doris Duke.
Both Barbara and Doris flit about from activity to activity at the height of the debutante season in New York.
02:39
Monday, December 22nd, 1930 at 11:00pm
The Ritz-Carlton transforms into a moonlit garden through the work of the Metropolitan Opera and Ziegfeld Follies set designer Austrian-American architect Joseph Urban, also designer of Mar-A-Lago among other creations. The Ritz’s grand ballroom ceiling is covered in blue gauze and dotted with silver stars to represent the night sky. Ballroom doors and windows are covered with silver cloth.
New York florist Max Schling further enhances the setting. Balconies banked with evergreens and poinsettias. Trees from California and Florida brought in for this special occasion, with eucalyptus sprays being a favorite touch for tables. Throughout silver birches, poinsettias, Talisman and Pernet roses fill the background. A beautiful, transcendent, and magical setting.
03:35
At the stairs in front of the Oval restaurant, Barbara stands with her stepmother Irene Hutton receiving guests. Male escorts are key to the debutante’s grand night, but alas Barbara is accompanied by her two cousins Woolworth “Woolly” Donahue and James Donahue Jr (also known as Jimmy and for those closest Jeem). While she will definitely laugh, it is still less than romantic to have your 16 year old flamboyantly gay cousin as her escort.
04:04
Barbara wears a white tulle, bouffant frock in a Chanel manner, the skirt in tiers bordered with silver spangles, molded bodice, a cape forming a point at the back and rounded line in front, a string of pearls, long white gloves, and silver slippers. She carries a bouquet of white butterfly orchids. A stunning outfit that is not so stunning for her body type.
Stepmother Irene’s gown is a rosy pink flesh-colored satin, fitted in the bodice with a full skirt, the decolletage low at the back and draped in the front. A long pendant ruby and diamond necklace and long white gloves. In Irene’s mind, she gets another chance to live vicariously the life she never had nor ever will.
04:51
For most guests, white is the predominant theme in almost every fabric – satin, lace, chiffon, net, taffeta, and crepes. Shades of white range from the most important clear white down to the more prominent silvery and off whites. Silver embellishments in crystal beads, sequins, and rhinestones adding more sparkle and scattered in bands, shoulder straps, and star shaped motifs. Paler colors especially in blues and pinks also appear. Aunt Marjorie wears a pale blue satin with decolletage introducing revers and tie-ends at the back and the skirt with train.
Deep rich blue shades also seemed newer than black. The young widow Mrs. Reginald Vanderbilt stands out in a deep sapphire blue lace gown with a low back and short tunic line pairing it with beige gloves and chiffon square.
The next most prevalent color is red matching the holiday poinsettias. Sometimes in a thin manner and others based on the fabric whether lace, taffeta, chiffon, velvet, or crepe. Other notable dresses include a rich blue sequins, another in a rich bronze shade with cape, and a deep midnight blue with silver sheer metal mesh. The high waisted Empire line is favored, and ruffles are another recurring effect at the hips, off shoulder, and hemlines. Several dresses pair the themes of white with touches of red in embroidery, beading, scarfs, slippers, or handkerchiefs.
06:15
Two hundred gather for dinner before the nearly 1000 join the dance festivities. Barbara and Irene greet the arrivals, so many for the night. Familiar names and faces. Some of the higher echelons are missing, but enough of the desirables. The Belle of Paris and best friend Silvia Castilleja de Rivas with her brother future marquis Felipe and popular former debutante, member of the junior league, and now salesgirl Happy Shannon are among the guests.
Proud scion Jakey Astor makes his own unheralded debut this winter attending many prominent parties as a particularly favorable debs delight. His popular and prominent cousins Henry Van Alen with his wife and Sam Van Alen with another debutante Elizabeth “Betty” Kent make their appearances. The more jovial brothers have a slightly solemn air about them. Following them, the former popular deb of her season and their sister Louise Van Alen beams as she enters on the arm of Russian Prince Alexis Mdivani.
07:16
Barbara’s face nearly drops. Rumors were the Prince had already left for Paris, but alas here he is. Dashingly handsome and possibly breaking Silvia’s heart yet again, or maybe he will win her back tonight. That latter hope quickly dashed when a sparkle from Louise’s finger stabs Barbara in her own heart – there it is a familiar ruby ring, the one Barbara had given to the Prince for Silvia.
The older guests gather for their supper in the Crystal room decorated in evergreens. On the tables are lighted candles and centerpieces of white heather, Pernet and Claudius roses, and Persian mountain violets. The Russian Ensemble and the Howard Lanin Orchestra play in the background. Tonight, no expense spared especially for music.
08:05
The younger guests are served in the Oval restaurant and Palm Court. Both filled with silver birches and tables decorated with Talisman roses and Gerbera Jamesons. The Meyer Davis Orchestra plays alternating with handsome young crooner and one of the first teen pop idols Rudy Vallee. At Barbara’s table, Doris Duke and cousin Woolly sit among the 23 select guests. Barbara can hardly focus constantly watching Louise and the Prince from a distance and taking note of Silvia’s whereabouts.
After dinner, the guests move into the ballroom. Supreme hostess Cobina Wright strolls around on the arm of her handsome stockbroker husband William May Wright, aka Bill. As Cobina marvels over the beauty, Bill mutters his suspicions. There is no way stockbroker Franklyn Hutton could succeed this well on Barbara’s five and dime inheritance. “Everyone has been damaged by the Crash, just look at the chaos in Nashville.” Bill scoffs, “And that court request for a private pullman car? Obviously, there is something amiss in such garish and vulgar displays.”
09:10
Aunt Marjorie took great efforts to provide a program of special dances performed by the sensational and sensuous Spanish flamenco artist La Argentina. With grand and dramatic gestures, the beautiful dancer takes the center of the ballroom floor.
Those well chosen for the stag line, young college men of reputable family focus more getting drunk off champagne. Like other regular dances, the girls cower to the side waiting for invitations from the avoidant males.
As La Argentina spins across the floor, the rude and dismissive audience hardly pays attention.
Frustrated and annoyed, Aunt Marjorie jumps on stage and grabs the microphone admonishing the youths for their disrespectful behavior. She threatens to end the party if proper behavior fails to ensue. Quickly and eerily silenced, the rest of the night’s events will run more smoothly.
09:59
As the more traditional dancing resumes, the Prince shows off his skills with Louise in his arms. Hot blooded, Spanish Silvia counters with her own seductive moves. The tension palpable. Louise tries to keep up but cannot outdo the more sultry Silvia. Barbara, Doris, Jakey, and the Van Alen brothers all wonder if more dramatic works are in store for the night.
The endless extravagant evening is only a third of the way through and will go well into the next morning and breakfast.
To be continued…
10:33
[Music – I’m In the Mood for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Elegance]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
10:56
During the winter holidays, another important tradition occurs – the debutante season. For 1930 New York, an estimated 180 girls will come out in Society with an average cost on $3,000 per individual party with 400 guests, according to the managing director at Pierre’s (the restaurant and hotel featured in Episode 42 Pinwheels). Therefore, each hotel will rake in close to $500k per season. Debutantes are big business.
Thus other side businesses pop up for services. Social secretaries are in top demand as they handle the guest list and make sure the most eligible and desirable attend. Two or three males for the stag line for every female to ensure always available dance partners. A social secretary might also handle invitations and venue logistics. Then there is the retail market now proliferating with the debutante shops providing advisory committees.
11:51
Of course the prime feature of a debut would be the mother-daughter planning sessions, which Barbara Hutton does not get. Her mother Edna Woolworth Hutton died years earlier. Barbara’s stepmother Irene Hutton is not quite up to snuff, and thus Barbara’s aunts maternal side Jessie Woolworth Donahue and paternal side Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton take charge of the planning and ensuring this will be the best party ever as both aunts themselves had hard times in adjusting and being accepted by Society.
12:20
Within less than a week, there are 3 debutante balls with 1000 guests. Peggy Potter has her debut at the Pierre’s also on Monday December 22nd, and South Carolina debutante Natalie Coe has her party at the Ritz-Carlton on December 25th. Every night that week, The Ritz-Carlton’s Crystal room, Pierre’s, Park Lane, Savoy Plaza, Central Park Casino, and the Sherry-Netherlands are booked full with debuts.
But it is Barbara Hutton who has the biggest debutante party up to that time. Her normally penny pinching, freeloading, and prone to rentals father Franklyn Hutton willingly pays for his daughter’s lavish event. Reports indicate anywhere from the low end of $30k up to the more likely unheard of sum $60k. Essentially today’s equivalent of the first million dollar party.
13:11
The 1,000 and more guest list as published in the New York Times on December 23rd, 1930 includes by order mentioned:
Mr. & Mrs. James Van Alen (also more popularly known as Jimmy Van Alen, for our series Henry), Barbara’s maternal cousin and co-debutante Helena McCann, popular debutante turned salesgirl Happy Shannon, Doris’s Fermata classmate Dorothy Mahana, co-committee chair of October Ball Josephine Laimbeer and her sister Natalie, former debutante and ballroom dancer June Blossom, Barbara’s best friend and the Prince’s forbidden lover Sylvia Castilleja de Rivas, Louise Van Alen, another October Ball co-chair and granddaughter of President Theodore Roosevelt Grace Roosevelt, Doris’s Buckingham Palace bowing co-deb and future wife of Sam Van Alen Elizabeth Kent, Doris Duke, William Van Alen more popularly known as Sam, Barbara’s future companion & biographer Philip Van Rensselaer, John Jacob Astor VI “Jakey”, Bernard Baruch Jr aka Sailing Baruch, Silvia’s brother and future marquis Felipe de Rivas, cousins and escorts Woolworth and James Donahue.
14:18
Additional names worth mentioning:
Mr. & Mrs. Preston Sturges, Princess Laura Murat, the Torlonia sisters (they are the Italian princesses one of which Donna Marina Torlonia is Brooke Shield’s grandmother), George Vanderbilt, Winston Churchill, Viscount Acheson, as well as several Biddles, Auchincloss, Rockefellers, Belmonts, among other younger elites. The older more established family names and adults did not likely attend, but their younger counterparts did.
Elsewhere Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is also repeatedly referenced as an attendee in several accounts. Women’s Wear Daily mentions Mrs. Reginald Vanderbilt – also known as Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, mother to little Gloria Vanderbilt and identical twin to Thelma Furness the married lover to David, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor.
15:09
Those above are clearly documented, yet there are likely some names that weren’t published. Those is question would be Cobina Wright and her husband Bill, Doris’s admirer – sometimes escort and heir to two fortunes Jimmy Cromwell, Huntington Hartford, Frank Shields, and lastly Prince Alexis Mdivani.
In one of the biographies on Barbara the somewhat unreliable Poor Little Rich Girl, it is indicated that the Prince had left only days before. However in that book’s tv movie adaptation also titled Poor Little Rich Girl starring Farrah Fawcett as Barbara, Prince Alexis is at the ball with Louise Van Alen. We clearly see in the New York Times guest list, Louise and her brothers were all in attendance, along with the Prince’s lover and Barbara’s best friend Silvia Castilleja de Rivas. So maybe the Prince did avoid mixing with both females present. It’s also very likely he could have been there but not listed in the paper.
16:03
So many stories about Barbara get the select details wrong. Rumors and gossip complicate matters further. I am forever correcting very important facts and dynamics that will change the general narrative and thereby our understanding. For crying out loud, even the dates are constantly mixed up. Every biography states her debutante ball as December 21st, but newspapers clearly mark the date as December 22nd. I don’t maybe it’s because the event starts late in the evening around 11pm and lasts almost wholly into the next morning from 4am or 7am.
Another conflict is the reference to the Spanish flamenco dancer. In books, they refer to La Argentinita, but the period newspapers clearly refer to La Argentina (one misspelled as Argentine), who is considered the better dancer but harder to gather information as searches compete with the actual country. However these are not merely recollections may vary issues, but rather the lapses in memories recorded decades later, some by hearsay, rumor, and scandal. It is somewhat understandable later confusion.
17:07
I know these sound like trivial, definitely would be rich white people problems. However I am trying to point out the intricacy of details and the myriad of complications in trying to suss out facts and reconstruct the era. Hence priority is given more to the emotional facts in order to contextualize what everything potentially means over hardcore facts that really are somewhat trivial. I mean does it matter the difference between Sunday December 21st or Monday December 22nd? Or the fact, that this was the biggest most expensive party of its time in a very complicated era? What is going on in their private lives that will impact their futures?
And when it comes to the emotional weight, the psychological dynamics, the twisted and increasingly complicated tales I’m telling – this event matters. I pull one string and find a thousand more paths of an intricate spiraling web.
18:02
So for those reasons and others that will be revealed as the story progresses, I have put Prince Alexis Mdivani at this ball. Along with Cobina Wright & her husband, Huntington Hartford, and Jimmy Cromwell, because this one particular night, this one exact debutante ball has large ramifications for all.
Maybe only psychologically, possibly comparatively, but it really is a big BIG deal.
18:34
[Music – Moonlight Cocktail by Hutch for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Tea Dance 1920s, 30s, 40s Vintage Tea Party]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
18:51
Ever waited for that perfect dream moment for it to go so incredibly awry?
Every girl has that perfect dream – the sweet sixteen, homecoming, the prom night, the wedding… The grand special event in which you are the center. Beautiful, romantic, glorious moment of triumph. Females spend years planning and debating colors, flowers, fashions, and romantic suitors in excited anticipation.
19:18
When anything is going to be that big and involving anything remotely celebrity like, there will be an audience and headlines vicariously participating as a dream or fairytale unfolds. Plenty of news coverage, maybe even live broadcasts, and at other times reality tv shows. From extravagant over the top parties to famous celebrity and royal weddings, there is a fascination peering from the outside of glamour with very little information regarding what truly happens inside. Well, unless it’s a reality tv series or involving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, then we are treated to endless recounts, details, and drama.
19:54
Barbara Hutton’s ball is best explained as a quote by Cher from the movie Clueless “she’s a full-on Monet” (referring to another rival character Amber). Cher’s protégé Tai replies: “What’s a Monet?” Cher continues: “It’s like a painting, see? From far away, it’s OK, but up close, it’s a big ol’ mess.”
Barbara Hutton’s debutante ball is spectacularly beautiful from a distance, but in reality a total disaster up close. I have always likened it to a fuzzy pink nightmare. When I used to discuss the story with a major heir affiliated and familiar with this world, he always chuckled at the accuracy of that description and commended my humanity in understanding the true psychological underpinnings of these tales and the people involved.
We all have dreams, but there are some events so big that they forever impact our psyches. There is far more to the story of this evening and its longstanding effect for many involved.
I hope you continue listening to our series.
20:54
For those wishing to see visual representations of this past world, I recommend a few Instagram accounts. @PowerPrivilegeMoney recently featured in November a series of images of Barbara Hutton. @MansionsoftheGildedAge features the homes and buildings often discussed in this series. @TheGildedAgeSociety covers the era shortly before our series and illustrates the world in which the wealth, fortunes, and social rules were born that blur and complicate the lives of our characters.
Once again, that’s @PowerPrivilegeMoney, @MansionsoftheGildedAge, and @TheGildedAgeSociety.
21:28
One of the most consistent compliments I receive involves the music used within this podcast. The music used has been digitally restored and remastered by Past Perfect Vintage Music. They have a wonderful collection of music from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Their music has been used in multiple period films and television productions, including The King’s Speech and a new film coming out early next year. Check out their collection at www.pastperfect.com. They have three wonderful holiday albums Vintage Christmas featuring musical hits of Fats Waller, Nat King Cole, and “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. The Vintage Christmas Tree album with Nat King Cole, Kay Starr, Peggy Lee, and Margaret Whiting among its 25 tracks including Rudolph and Frosty. And lastly the Perfect Christmas album with Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, along with others and available for the first time in more than 10 years.
Hook
22:26
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
The most extravagant debutante ball is in full swing, but disaster both inside and out looms on the horizon.
Until then…
Credits
22:40
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast written, produced, and voiced by Nicki Woodard, based on historical research. Archival music has been provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, check out their website at www.pastperfect.com.
Please come visit us at As The Money Burns via Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
23:16
THE END.