AS THE MONEY BURNS

Podcast by Nicki Woodard

Episode 024 – The Last Party

Series Tag

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

With the summer’s end, young heiresses Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton deal with the hassles of returning to school, while a robust stock market breeds optimism amongst adults Nanaline Duke and opera singer Cobina Wright’s husband Bill.

Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS

Title

00:46

The Last Party

[Music fade out]

Episode Tag

00:49

As the long perfect Indian summer ends, there is one final party to attend.  Only the Wall Street Crash takes out more than stocks, and all that is known will soon be questioned.

01:00

[Music – Top Hat, White Tie and Tails by Carroll Gibbons & Boy Friends, Album Sophistication – Songs of the Thirties]

Section 1 – Story

[Music fade out]

01:13

Under the Venetian canopy, the long custom royal purple drapes with embroidered delicate pink roses surround supreme hostess and opera singer Cobina Wright as she gets her last moments of beauty rest before a very busy day. 

The details of the room from the painted pink walls to the pink breakfast tray make a cozy and cheery atmosphere.   Cobina beckons her handsome golden husband Bill back to bed.  They bask in the glow and warmth of renewed love.  As a fire crackles in their tiny marble fireplace, Bill cuddles with her as they perfect their evening plans. 

01:47

Tonight they are hosting the last official dinner party of this long Indian summer.  White tie and sure to be another in a long line of fabulous events.  Several last minute requests have been made to expand the list, but Cobina remains firm on the count.  Their guest of honor is none other than Deems Taylor who recently finished his opera Peter Ibbetson for the Met and visiting singer Noel Coward from London.

02:10

Snug away from the bitter Autumn cold, Bill and Cobina watch from their tall windows as two tugboats struggle up the East River.

Telephone ringing.

Bill gives her one big final kiss before heading off to work.  Another day on the Stock Exchange.  This last week has been a little shaky to say the least.

She shifts in her bed and debates pulling down her sleep mask for a few more beauty winks.  Her wonderfully attentive English butler Bruce retrieves the tray and brings her the phone.

02:39

Later in the morning, Cobina sits with her social secretary approving and turning down various invitations to other events.  Occasionally, Cobina is interrupted by more calls to discuss the evening details.  She fidgets with the faulty clasp on her sapphire and diamond bracelet.

Lunch time follows her daily routine with her curly headed tot Lil Cobina.

03:00

Another telephone ring.  The maid brings her the phone – this time it’s Bill.

Cobina ushers everyone out of the room for privacy.  She hands over her faulty bracelet for repair.  When alone, she puts the receiver to her ear.  She loves his little check-ins.

Immediately, Bill blurts out.  “Darling, I’ve got something I must tell you.  We have lost everything – everything we have in the world.” 

Without hesitation, he rambles on.  Cobina listens in silence, carefully deciding her words and not fully comprehending the situation.

“Are you alright?  Can’t you hear me?  Did you understand what I said?  We’re wiped out.”

“Yes, I hear you.”  Cobina’s mind races with all this new information.  Too stunned to absorb what all that really means or could mean.

“Everything’s gone.  The bottom’s fallen out.  It’s happening to everybody.”

Cobina offers to go to him, but he urges her to stay.  All she wants is to see him, touch him, hug him,… then she would know what to do.  How to soothe him properly. 

Mustering her Oregon pioneering spirit, she reassures him that their love will see them past the challenges ahead.  Always an optimist with rose-colored glasses.

Then it occurs to him.  “Oh, we’d better call off that party tonight.”

“No, Bill, from now on the fight is going to be hard… uphill.  Let’s not set a pattern of running away.  This evening is bought and paid for.  We’ll have it, white tie and all, and we’ll call it the Last Party.”

“You’re right.  We’ll give the party.  I may not get there for dinner, but I’ll come as quickly as I can.”

04:50

Still confused and processing their conversation, Cobina informs both British butlers Bruce and Fred of the final details for the night.    She isn’t ready to fully contemplate the magnitude of what might now occur. 

Midafternoon, she crawls up in her bed and stares at the fireplace with no fire, only ashes.  Thoughts rushing around.  The rumors of suicides, jumping from windows, revolvers to the head,… 

What does wiped out even mean?  Could they really end up homeless?

After an hour or so, rising from her bed, Cobina walks with what feels like cement shoes throughout the Sutton apartment to ensure the evening preparations are underfoot.  She looks at the masses of fall chrysanthemums in the living room and over the large fireplace.  She places the seating cards amongst the tiny pink Irish elegance roses arranged on the long mahogany dinner table purchased during her European shopping expedition two years before.

05:46

Cobina sighs at the thought of the charade.  Were they being callous or cavalier?  Is this a mockery of the grave situation, or a much needed comfort before a long winter?  Seeing the names of all her friends before her, she musters up the gaiety and hope surely her guests will need now more than ever.

Cobina fusses over her makeup and hair at her vanity.  She rifles through her jewelry box.  All those glittering jewels.  She remembers the play money she set aside playing the stocks.  All their properties and homes.  Certainly, they have options for survival before things will eventually turn around.

06:23

As the guests arrive, Bill has not.

The glow of the white candles bathes everyone in a warm romantic light.  The twisted beauty of a haunted night.   Cobina weaves between all her guests wondering who also is wiped out and who is okay.  Can she see through their masks?  Can they see through hers?

Throughout dinner, Cobina fights back tears as she cordially listens to her guests chatting away.  Noel Coward on her right.  Bill’s space empty.

Young chief executive at the radio station Columbia Broadcasting Service, aka CBS, William Paley remains bold and confident.  Heiress and divorcee Birdie Vanderbilt wonders aloud who will be joining her down in Palm Beach during winter.  Prestigious French writer Henri Bernstein and Eve Curie – biographer to her famous mother Madame Curie – are the focus of intellectual curiosity.  The ever extravagant Jessie Donahue dripping in opulent jewels is no doubt an icon for her niece Barbara Hutton.  Unflappable Prince Serge Obolensky proves his disarming charm has no bounds, and his wife Ava Astor radiates her bohemian restlessness.  Film and Broadway star Clifton Webb alternates between sophistication and vaudeville humor balancing the delicate moods.

07:45

Only two guests know the Wrights’ fates that day – financier Jules Bache and vice president of Guaranty Trust Willis Booth.  They both whisper their admiration at Cobina’s brave face in these tough times.

Near the fountain, young Doris Duke stands there somewhat unperturbed.  Cobina wonders if a fortune as large as Doris’s has also vanished instantly. 

Long after dinner, Bill finally makes his way home and enters in his white finery.  His bloodshot eyes, trembling hands, and silent demeanor frighten Cobina as they dance.  It is the only way she can be close to him without calling more attention.

08:25

Sometime during the night, Cobina sings a beautiful aria which New York Symphony maestro Walter Damrosch applauds.  He later inquires what brought out some new and great quality to her voice.  Cobina demurely replies, “Tears,” then hurries away before he can surmise the secret behind them.

Bill is the walking wounded barely contained.  He avoids any conversation and eye contact as he stares into his drink.  Nanaline Duke hovers in concern but dares not approach.  Her mind wrestling over the fate of her investments.

The last two guests to remain are of course the only two who knew the truth.  Willis Booth offers to buy Wright, Slade, and Co.  Only Bill hollowly replies, “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”

09:09

After those two leave, Bill and Cobina sit in their empty apartment full of flowers.  Their home of the last two years where they have entertained so many. 

Hopeful, Cobina breaks the silence.  “I guess we’ll have to start over again.  We can make another fortune.”

Bill shakes his head.  “It’s too late for that.”  He retires to their bedroom.

Cobina stands alone.  Glancing at the beauty of their home, she is forced to accept their fate, their ruin.  She blows out the last burning candle.

[SFX – Female blows out candle]