Episode 47: Dark Side Of The Moon
Come The most extravagant debutante ball is in full swing, but disaster both inside and out looms on the horizon.
Barbara Hutton’s big debutante ball continues at the Ritz-Carlton. Prince Alexis Mdivani and Louise Van Alen steal the attention, while Silvia begs Barbara to marry the Prince. Barbara’s father Franklyn Hutton finally tells her the true amount of her fortune.
Archival music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Publish Date: December 23, 2021
Length: 20:14
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Nightfall by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 2 Music: Lost In A Fog by Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
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 Band
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 047 – Dark Side of the Moon
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
At the height of the debutante season, Barbara Hutton has her big ball. Unexpectedly, Prince Alexis Mdivani has appeared with Louise Van Alen despite his secret lover Silvia also being there.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:45
Dark Side of the Moon
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
The most extravagant debutante ball is in full swing, but disaster both inside and out looms on the horizon.
This episode is dedicated to the loving memory of my mother.
01:06
[Music – Nightfall by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:19
Part 2 from No Expense Spared…
December 22nd from 11pm into the wee morning hours, the budding fashionista and teen heiress Barbara Hutton’s debutante ball is the most extravagant party ever seen.
And it is a sight to behold. The Ritz-Carlton has been transformed into a moonlit garden, and the Oval Restaurant a sunken garden. Throughout silver birches, roses, and flora from as far as California and Florida were brought in. Four musical orchestras and bands play throughout the night, which alone must have cost several thousand.
01:55
This is a night no one will ever forget. Over a 1000 guests dance the night away. However eyes follow two in particular – the former debutante and It-Girl Louise Van Alen and the Russian Prince Alexis Mdivani. The Prince is dashing and alluring, and elsewhere in this large crowd is his forbidden lover, the hot & fiery Latina Silvia (*de Rivas de) Castilleja de Rivas. Silvia and Louise could not be further opposite in temperaments.
Louise flaunts a beautiful ruby ring on her finger, possibly unaware it was a ring Barbara had given the Prince to pawn so he could return to Silvia. Barbara has made numerous failed attempts to reunite the two lovers, but alas Silvia’s father once and for all intervened yet again and terminated any potential relationship.
02:43
Louise gloats like the cat who ate the cream. The Prince was on her arm back at her own debutante ball. They too have been having a clandestine affair unbeknownst to her own brothers Henry and Sam Van Alen. Sam and Prince Alexis have been school friends since Eton, when the Van Alens semi adopted Alexis into their family. Henry and Sam too are at the ball, but neither seem too happy with Louise and the Prince appearing far more chummy than her brothers would ever care for.
The Prince is immune to the controversy surrounding him and instead takes continuous mental notes of the splendor of the evening. He calculates every cost and detail, not letting anything go unchecked. He enjoys the Russian orchestra as he harkens back to his long lost royal life. Louise feeling his distance comments how over the top everything appears to be in times when a bit more frugalness is needed.
03:36
Deep into the morning hours, the party carries on.
Midway through the night, proud stockbroker Franklyn Hutton escorts Barbara onto the dance floor for the traditional father-daughter dance. For a man who resembles more the Monopoly man, Franklyn proves adept and light on his feet. Barbara blushes as all eyes fall on her. They whirl around the dance floor. Only instead of a princess, Barbara feels more like the hunchback of Notre Dame.
However that moment is more enviable than she realizes. Several of the other debutantes are without their fathers. Doris Duke and Louise Van Alen never got their own father-daughter dances at their balls nor will at their future weddings. Alas they at least still have their mothers to plan their special nights, though one would hardly consider Nanaline Duke as warm.
04:26
As Barbara’s spins her around, Barbara sees Sam speaking with Silvia who runs off in tears. Later, Barbara finds the senorita in the powder room. Silvia throws her arms around her old friend.
“Barbara, Sam warns me that Alexis and Louise might —” Silvia can’t bear to utter the words out loud. She fights her impulsive fiery nature.
Barbara tries to soothe her distressed friend. “He loves you. I know it. His heart will always belong to you.”
“Did you see that ruby ring on her finger?” Silvia asks, but before Barbara can say something. “Barbara, you must marry Alexis. He needs someone to care for him. Not that cold heartless Louise. Why not you?”
Barbara can hardly respond. Though the Prince is her big secret crush, her loyalty to Silvia and the obvious comparisons to her beautiful best friend are reality checks to such a dream becoming true. Yet a seed is planted. A mental chain removed. Permission granted to consider the unthinkable.
05:27
The idealistic girls return to the dance floor. Silvia is quickly swept onto the floor by young heir Jakey Astor, while Barbara waits in the wings at her own party. No young eligible male asks her to dance. Only older family friends and unlikely paramours like Silvia’s own brother Felipe dare to approach. Barbara mingles and appropriately socializes as requires. Her heart sinking every time she spots the Prince with Louise, who is carefully guarding his attention away from Silvia.
The dancing goes well into 4am the next morning. Those still remaining gather for breakfast until 7am.
06:05
Leaving the Ritz-Carlton, Barbara with her father and stepmother Irene crawl into the back of a black Rolls Royce. Only two blocks away is a soup kitchen, where the hungry will line up for their daily meal.
As they drive by a homeless person, her father remarks contemptuously, “That will never be you.”
He then goes on to reveal that he has doubled her fortune from the $26 million inherited after her grandmother Jenny Woolworth passed away in 1924 to almost $56 million dollars. An astronomical, nearly unheard of and inconceivable sum. Young Barbara has never been aware of her actual worth nor understands its relativity.
Barbara looks back at the homeless person, confused and frightened.
06:54
They return to the double brownstones on Fifth Avenue. Franklyn and Irene enter their home, while Barbara goes into hers.
She wanders around looking at all the refinement. She goes up to her bedroom overlooking Central Park. She sits down and picks up a pen to write poetry about her experience.
All the money in the world, and still she is alone.
Over the next few days, newspaper headlines talk about Barbara’s brilliant ball in endless detail.
Yet there is one headline that grabs her attention even more – “New York ‘Deb’ Will Become Princess.”
There it is news coming from Paris that Louise Van Alen will be marrying Prince Alexis Mdivani.
07:42
[Music – Lost In A Fog by Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
07:58
From childhood, Barbara Hutton was constantly told alternately no one liked her because of her money – that was from same age peers, and that she would only be loved for her money – that was by her father and possibly a butler as well.
She had a beautiful and successful debut. From now on, she was a fashion icon, noted for her clothes and whereabouts. Along with Doris Duke, Barbara will constantly be trailed by photographers and reporters. And no matter the context of the article, there will always be a mention of her $50 million dollar fortune.
08:34
Incorrectly, some articles would report Doris and Barbara have equal inheritance or that Barbara has a more. More likely, Doris still had $20-50 million more, nearly $100 million upon her father’s death and still no less than $70 million after the Crash.
Let’s do a quick math inflation from 1930 to today 2021. $26 million would be close to $433 million. $56 million would be $932 million. $70 million would be $1.165 billion.
09:08
Somehow in less than 10 years and even with the Crash, Barbara’s father doubled her $26 million inheritance thereby outstripping all her relatives’ fortunes except for Marjorie Merriweather Post, sole heir to the Post Cereal fortune decades earlier. Her Woolworth aunts Helena McCann and Jessie Donahue also received the same amount $26 million. But while Helena lives a more quiet life in Long Island, Jessie lives lavishly. Their fortunes do not increase as significantly, and even more so none of Barbara’s cousins will likely inherit nearly the same amount nor even the original sum, first by being one generation removed and second by having siblings. Still Barbara like Doris is only 18 years old, and neither heiress will truly be in control of their fortunes until turning 21 in 1933, and even then as females there will be complications.
10:05
Reminder from Episode 29 The Taxman Always Collects. In 1924 & 1927, income tax returns show roughly 207 people with million dollar incomes. In 1930, only 20 people were recorded as having an income of $1 million or more. That is incomes, not accumulated fortunes nor inheritances. At that time, there was not an inheritance tax, which Barbara Hutton will later be cited as proof of there needing to be one. In 1929 stock market peak pre-Crash, there were estimated to be 25-35,000 millionaires. By the stock market bottom of 1932, there were only 5,000 estimated millionaires.
Meanwhile average incomes were closer to $4000 for the regular working American family. Income taxes would be filed for incomes of $3000 or more.
11:01
In 1930, the average debutante ball in this high Society set was $3000 for 400 guests, while Barbara’s was reportedly $60,000 for 1000 guests. Immediately, lots of press focused on the young heiress. It was hard to ignore her wealth when the rest of the nation was so bleak.
Two blocks from the Ritz-Carlton, there was a soup kitchen feeding the unemployed. In fact, soup kitchens were on the rise across the nation, to be discussed more in a future episode. In 1929 unemployment had been 3.2%. By the end of 1930 it is 8.7% which will double to 15.9% in 1931 and at a height of 23.6% in 1932.
Newspapers covered Barbara’s ball with all sorts of lavish detail from the decorations, fashion, music, and guest lists. But the commentary description of opulence came with criticism and forewarning.
11:58
As noted in the biography Million Dollar Baby by Philip Van Rensselaer who attended the event, the New York Sun likened the event to the Titanic.
“Even the decks of that great ocean liner, the Titanic didn’t blaze as brilliantly as the French windows of the Hotel Ritz on the occasion of Barbara Hutton’s debut.”
Further allusions to the tragic ship heading towards the iceberg compared with Barbara and her uncle EF Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post arriving.
The article ended the analogy with, “In any case, let’s hope Miss Hutton fares better than the S.S. Titanic on her maiden voyage.”
Alas, it will be the beginning of a very long dark time for the young naïve girl.
12:38
From now on, Barbara Hutton will appear in news articles with the often reference of being worth $50 million. The constant press with its now ability to print her name and photo makes anonymity even more complicated. Newsreels too will feature her whereabouts and doings. There are continuous references within her biographies and interviews that she was hounded by the press, crowds, and sometimes mobs. An outcry and criticism follow her every move and decision.
13:06
I have yet to locate immediate sources in the negative. Possibly they were in gossip rags or newspapers outside my scope of view. I began researching this in 2013 via the UCLA library, and with the pandemic I utilize another online archive as a resource as access while certain libraries remain forbidden.
13:26
Essentially Barbara Hutton becomes the Marie Antionette of the Great Depression. The emblem of the disaffected rich while the rest of the nation suffer far poorer fates. Threats to safety, protests on working wages & conditions, and normal critical commentary, Barbara becomes the target of everything but a regular love life. Her extreme wealth is both a beacon to fortune hunters and a repellant to respectable young men.
13:49
Barbara has a hard time conceiving how she alone gets so much ire. Both Doris Duke and Aunt Marjorie Merriweather Post as well as several males have inherited amounts larger than hers. The same week of her debut two other debs Peggy Potter and Natalie Coe also have 1000 guests balls in New York. The constant negativity will effect Barbara’s remaining affiliation with the Woolworth corporation.
The protests and criticisms became so prominent and intense that the individual debutante ball would die out and be replaced by the more collaborative mass balls, where many debs will be featured at one event to become the norm as a result to downplay the opulence of the ritual.
Thus Barbara Hutton’s debutante ball truly becomes a life altering event for her and others.
14:38
[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]
14:56
Ever have your fantasy dream come true, but when it did it became a complete disaster and nightmare?
Barbara Hutton’s debutante ball saw the transformation of the Ritz-Carlton in Manhattan into a moonlit garden. Lovely indeed, reminding all the beauty of the full moon and nightfall with all its possibilities. Only there on the edges and beyond, darkness looms.
15:22
One must remember that while the bright side of the moon can be blindingly bright, the dark side of the moon is equally cold and harsh. The moon in of itself does not emit light but reflects it. Much like celebrity, the attention is only by what is given by the audience looking upon the designated special person. And that positive attention can disappear as quickly as it comes and turn into something far more dangerous.
15:49
Barbara Hutton’s debut was a sensation, and one that quickly threw her world out of hand. Nowadays, I think we can be a little more sympathetic to an 18 year old being so vilified. She could serve as a lesson as one of the first media celebrities in such a situation.
Social media is much like the reflected light of the moon, it comes on strong then can disappear into a great abyss. The constant speculation around the younger Paris Hilton was only the tip of the iceberg of what now is far more prominent. Take Kylie Jenner or Kendall Jenner and any misstep they make. Like the dancer ad that Kendall did, where many criticized her lack of abilities. Today’s backlash on social media makes the public outcry inescapable and louder. A quick mob mentality ready to condemn over the slightest offense.
16:34
We might expect it more now, but there is no way teenage Barbara Hutton was in anyway able to anticipate nor understand the level of hatred that will from now on greet her. In America, she will face criticism and backlash for every step and misstep from here on out.
Today, many more come under the scrutiny in the age of social media. The virtual mobs get far larger, and the digital trails can last forever to be repeatedly resurfaced on any random occasion.
17:03
Recently, a close friend and I discussed about the lack of redemption stories and the perpetual villainization that keeps happening in real life. How critical it is that we learn to forgive and give people an opportunity to redeem themselves. It’s the big American dream. We love comeback stories. I.e. the multiple Rocky sequels, anyone? We all want a chance to prove ourselves especially after a failure.
Yet today we live in a fishbowl where all you can ever be is perfect, and your flawlessness is based purely on ideological bents. To be accused of thought crimes, and to be further punished as retribution for an actual crime perpetuated by another. There are very few people who act so egregiously awful that yes they require ongoing punishment and even “cancelling.” Yet, the vast majority of us need a chance at redemption and inclusion. For all our humanity, we need to remember we will all need forgiveness at some point or another, and in true karmic fashion giving it helps bring it back to us.
18:04
Hammurabi’s Code was an eye for an eye. Though that has philosophically argued then everyone walks around blind, because everyone commits an offense. But what about situations that mete out punishments because a different offender had not been punished enough previously. What if the biggest offense is grounded more in envy of the accuser than an actual perpetuated crime?
Thus the quagmire of Barbara Hutton’s life from now on until the day she dies. She will never be allowed to forget her biggest offense was being born with too much money. Money she herself didn’t really understand nor felt she deserved.
18:43
Don’t worry I’m not trying to ruin the schadenfreude experience of these tales, only merely pointing out let’s not lose our humanity in the process. These characters and we will all make plenty of mistakes.
Hopefully, we can laugh at ours, learn from others if possible, and occasionally vicariously be glad there are some problems which might never be ours, at least not on that scale.
If history teaches anything, this too shall pass. Like phases of the moon, times will change. But beware, they will eventually cycle back yet again.
Hook
19:25
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
As another year begins, many lives are in flux amidst the changes occurring. Will their choices lead to better outcomes or more trouble ahead?
Until then…
Credits
19:46
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.
20:14
THE END.