Episode 70: So Rich
*Today is the 93rd Anniversary of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
The richest girl travels around the world and gets invited to all the fabulous parties, so with such a glamorous life why does she seem perpetually unhappy?
In 1931, newspapers increasingly focus on Doris Duke reporting on her lifestyle and theorizing about how rich she really is and any potential suitors. Doris spends the evening at New York’s Central Park Casino with two popular young men Foster Blakeley and Dave Coddington, Jr.
Archival music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Extra Notes / Call to Action:
My recurring Waldorf-Astoria hotels webinar – Part 1 on Thursday, December 1st, 2022 and Part 2 Thursday, December 8th at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. New York Adventure Club www.nyadventureclub.com or the events section at https://asthemoneyburns.com.
Thursday, December 1st, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel Part 1: A New Standard of Luxury (pre-1929), Come learn more about the Astor family dispute behind the famous hotel and its construction as well as the hotel’s influence on luxury travel and fine dining. Connections to the Titanic as well as other events and famous people will also be explored. But all good things come to and end.
Thursday, December 8th, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 2: Manhattan’s Grandest Hotel (1931-present), The second version of this fine luxury hotel comes during the dawn of new era which will bring new challenges and excitement. A lingering Astor family connection adds to the saga until a new family the Hilton dynasty rises and takes over. More celebrities and events will add to allure of this hotel. Finally, updates reveal the recent renovations, an auction, and the future for the third incarnation.
Share, like, subscribe
22:18
[Music – Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
22:33
While developing this series, I have been continually asked about any crimes especially murder involved. I stumbled across this in last spring 2022.
But it is by far from the only legal crime and other abuse linked to these fortunes. There are quite a few in fact, which is why I have spent so much time developing these stories. It is also a prescient forewarning.
22:56
We often envy those we think have wealthy lives and might consider large inheritances like winning the lottery. It’s all good right? Why wouldn’t we have a little envy over such good fortune?
But that isn’t necessarily the case, trauma might lead to the fortune, and trauma will come with those who then try to take it away. As the Great Depression magnifies both greed and desperation, our heirs and heiresses will become primary targets. Next spring the Lindbergh kidnapping will work its way into the story and its impact on several already known characters.
23:32
While the stories might be interesting, history does provide important lessons. The pandemic definitely kicked off a set of scams and thefts, and those are going to increase with future instability caused by more financial and economic hard times on the horizon. It’s going to be a cold, dark winter in many ways.
23:52
Recently as in between these last 2 episodes, I became a target of identity theft. My new driver’s license (the one to be protective against this stuff) was intercepted via mail then used to attempt “in person” at getting a credit card at a Big Lots store – yeah that place in commercials, to which I have no idea where an actual store is, well until now… I learned after receiving a notice from the financial institution regarding the decline a week later. I’m not rich and have definitely been struggling these last few years, but even I was a victim. A pain, yet far better than my high school experience of being carjacked.
As I alerted other friends, my longtime friend and former classmate replied from New England – her credit card too had just been stolen, and within a very short period that person spent thousands at a resort and the Museum of Sex. Isn’t it great when someone wants to live well off of you?
24:56
Please be careful and reconsider your financial and identity security measures. Hopefully, I was lucky in catching this incident early, but this is only the beginning of more similar crimes in our present.
I hope you stay safe and well by all means and endeavors.
25:15
Good news, my two webinars on the Waldorf-Astoria hotels are returning to New York Adventure Club Part 1 on Thursday, December 1st, 2022 and Part 2 on Thursday, December 8th, 2022 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. Weblinks will soon be available at www.nyadventureclub.com and the News | Events section at asthemoneyburns.com.
Thursday, December 1st, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 1: A New Standard of Luxury (pre-1929), Come learn more about the Astor family dispute behind the famous hotel and its construction as well as the hotel’s influence on luxury travel and fine dining. Connections to the Titanic as well as other events and famous people will also be explored. But all good things come to an end.
Thursday, December 8th, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 2: Manhattan’s Grandest Hotel (1931-present), The second version of this fine luxury hotel comes during the dawn of new era which will bring new challenges and excitement. A lingering Astor family connection adds to the saga until a
new family the Hilton dynasty rises and takes over. More celebrities and events will add to allure of this hotel. Finally, updates reveal the recent renovations, an auction, and the future for the third incarnation.
If you enjoy As The Money Burns, then please share, like, & subscribe.
Hook
25:46
[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 richest girl travels around the world and gets invited to all the fabulous parties, so with such a glamorous life why does she seem perpetually unhappy?
Until then…
Credits
26:06
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 Goodpods, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
26:39
THE END.
Publish Date: October 29, 2022
Length: 22:22
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Crazy Rhythm by Victor Silvester, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 2 Music: With Thee I Swing by Carroll Gibbons, Album The Age of Style – Hits from the 30s
Section 3 Music: Skirts by Billy Cotton, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s
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 070 – So Rich
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.
00:29
Story Recap
Barbara Hutton enjoys the limelight after bowing at Buckingham Palace, but a gift to a favored cousin leads to a triple homicide decades later.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:46
So Rich
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
01:02
[Music – Crazy Rhythm by Victor Silvester, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:17
New York’s Central Park Casino serves as another famous happening elite spot. The Gothic Revival stone structure provides nightclub entertainment and dining at a high price for those who gain admission. Thematically decorated for the October 1931 evenings, papier mache pumpkins and cornstalks among autumn leaves surround guests who never go near plebian cornfields.
People whisper the richest girl is amongst them. Is that actually her sitting over there? Is she everything they expected?
On one side, a young lady sparkles as she is decked out in more jewels than a Tiffany’s window display. Her dress and manners all beg for more attention.
If you got it, why not flaunt it? Though the circumstances of the ongoing economic downturn has started to wear some down and think a little more discreetly.
02:10
And yet rumors endlessly persists…
Fantastical details that sound like fairy tales fueled further by the darkness of the Great Depression.
She eats her morning oatmeal out of gold bowl encrusted with jewels and drinks orange juice from an amethyst goblet while served by a footman in satin breeches. Her color coordination so finely tuned that her bathrobes match the tint of her bathwater. She selects her outfits from a wardrobe catalogue made with colored photographs.
She is glorious and fabulous and uber ultra beyond comprehension wealthy.
02:47
Doris Duke was always a name in the press, ever since her birth not two weeks after Barbara Hutton. Doris’s father Buck Duke delighted when the newspapers indicated his baby girl was richer than the Woolworth heiress.
After that, Doris would occasionally show up in the paper but only sporadically. A travel here, a court case there. She did after all sue her own mother and win over dispute regarding the estate’s properties.
That is until a year ago she bowed at Buckingham Palace in May 1930 then followed by her debutante ball in Newport in August 1930.
And then an explosion of attention, the world’s richest girl photographed and noted everywhere she goes.
03:31
And other details continuously reported —
– 7 automobiles
– 4 estates, including a 2,600 acre estate in New Jersey
– and of course, millions upon millions in the bank account…. Though the reported amounts vary and only in speculation (ironically most are way under the real numbers).
Now everyone knows who she is. This year alone her travels documented – New York, Paris, Bulgaria, who keeps track? Seemingly more than she desires. She is photographed with a friend in London while getting into a car.
04:06
She has been to balls and events like the Royal Ascot and Wimbledon. Hints of rumors are percolating the 37 year old bachelor Prince of Wales might even be considering a proposal in the near future.
Not so into the Prince, there is another more ardent admirer ever lurking about already divorced Jimmy Cromwell, whose wealthy mother Eva Stotesbury and her friend Hope Diamond owner Evalyn Walsh McLean continuously plot a marital match with the blonde heiress. It is all so glamorous.
Thankfully Doris did escape the clutches of one marital arrangement. The now married Huntington Hartford is off the list. His marriage to future kindergarten teacher and daughter of a West Virginian dentist Mary Lee Epling has gladly filled the vacant spot. Still Doris is mentioned when scandal around Hunt broke out in September.
At the Saratoga Springs polo matches in September, Doris is accompanied and photographed with Alan Hudson. At least those captions remark at her stunning beauty. So distant from the earlier comments of her ill-fitting hand me down clothes. The awkward ugly duckling has finally become a swan.
05:15
The truth Doris prefers to run around in overalls, work in the garden, and has numerous interests outside the rigid protocol Society mandates. She prefers outdoor sports and would love to be known more as a regular fun-loving girl than a fancy and privileged heiress and worse like a legendary princess. Instead of a prince coming to a rescue, she fears the fortune hunter.
That “friend” in the London photo is none other than Doris’s mother Nanaline Duke. The society reporter Cholly Knickerbocker relays the anecdote as flattery to the petite stylish mother, who must be in her 60s by now, but for a 19 year old heiress should nowhere near be considered a “friend” or companion.
And that is one of things money can’t buy – true friendship. Oh how, Doris longs for that more than anything. And to confuse her mother as her “friend”… The mother who vilely hates her. The one Doris sued and won against at 14 in a court to prevent the selling of the large New Jersey estate, so loved by Doris as an attachment to her beloved deceased father Buck Duke.
06:19
Over at the Duke Farms, Doris enjoys mixing with the help far too much. Nanaline has caught on more than one occasion hints of her daughter’s attraction to not only help but people of color. Aware of the Duke family’s penchant and open mindedness, Nanaline fears her daughter will soon destroy any chance at a viable societal match, thus Nanaline feverishly keeps Doris flittering about Europe and other elite hotspots to find more suitable mates.
Now Doris returns to the United States for more required social activities, all the same debutante gatherings like the upcoming Tuxedo Ball, the Met season opening, and other events.
All with various eligible men. Some try to discuss stocks with her. Some offer financial advice. Others request advice. Others have absolutely no clue. Once in a while someone doesn’t seem to recognize her, then the utter shock and horror when she gives her name the light bulbs go on.
07:18
At least this evening she is surrounded by more age-appropriate companions. Central Park Casino is a place where many come to be seen and flaunt their stuff.
A handsome young man walks about bringing his female companion a drink. He is Foster Blakeley – the debonair son of actress, socialite, and soprano star Grace Hyde. He glides past the sparkly young Tiffany lady who quickly deflates as he moves past her for another a slender tall lady sitting demurely in a black lace dress with a simple pearl necklace and bracelet and hands her the drink.
The richest girl in the world – a moniker which plagues the simple one, the one who is none other than Doris Duke. Her simple fashion style belies the epitome of the new Parisian chic.
08:06
Tonight Doris is paired with the tall and handsome Dave Coddington, Jr., from a family with links back to colonial settlers and England. As the sparkly Tiffany girl’s face drops at recognition, Foster quips to their group, “She could have at least paid for better fakes. That costume jewelry fools no one.”
They laugh. There Doris sits at the table listening as the others talk. The chatter none too entertaining. She feigns a smile, fluffs her napkin. Doris does light up when discussing one subject related to her deep passion of music. Out of all the things Doris has seem to take a recent liking for the dance style known as clogging. Foster encourages the topic. With his theatrical star mother, he has plenty to add. Both young men with their brothers William Coddington and James Blakeley are frequent guests of Barbara Hutton. Attractive and agreeable men get invited everywhere.
09:03
With all the goings on, one would think Doris is having the time of her life, and yet she is quoted in the press sounding more like a wet rag.
Never a chance to be more than a name, more than a moniker.
Richest Girl in the World isn’t what it is cracked up to be.
Doris never learns well how to get along with others.
What Doris wishes for is one true friend, and what Doris fears is that all her gold is a curse that will prevent her from ever finding a happily ever after.
09:40
[Music – With Thee I Swing by Carroll Gibbons, Album The Age of Style – Hits from the 30s]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
09:58
In my research for 1931, the following quotes have suddenly and prolifically appear in relation to Doris Duke.
“When people know who you are the prices usually go up twice as high to start with, and people who have money wouldn’t have it long if they did not ask how much things cost and then refuse to buy half of them.” – Doris Duke
“It’s no fun to be so rich.” – Doris Duke
10:24
Those two quotes by Doris Duke appear regularly in her *biographies and used throughout her life. I’m not quite sure when they first appeared. However they have become prevalent in 1931. I mean really prevalent like over 60 or more newspapers. Suddenly and randomly, they appear as one off quotes and occasionally with minor sarcastic commentary as to how others are willing to prove her wrong or help her solve her problem. Here and there a quote will appear within the columns like Cholly Knickerbocker and Nancy Randolph discussing Doris in the Society pages or other articles and features.
11:00
Still these direct quotes have never been given with exacting specifics like time, place, or to whom. Though that might not really be all too important as they are seemingly her life mottos. She likely repeated them or similar sayings throughout her life.
However with the surge and prevalence of these quotes, I surmise it had to be said at least around this time after her debut as that is when she became a fixture and topic of conversation thus the documentation. The one quote related to shopping is tied to articles on her in August 1931 Paris.
11:32
Pre-debut there are occasional mentions of her whereabouts or status as in if she is traveling or like Jakey Astor suffering a bout of illness. Mostly distant observations relayed as relatively simple facts with small commentary only by outside observers or witnesses. Only now Doris Duke, Barbara Hutton, and others are of marital age and have become a focus of attention for being ultra-wealthy during the contrasting abysmal economic times, so they are the original media celebrities.
In time, celebrities will shift more to actors and actresses as the rise in film and movies became the cheap de facto popular entertainment easily available to the masses. Shirley Temple debuts at age 3 in 1931, signs a contract in 1932 for Baby Burlesks, and achieves international fame in the 1933 film Bright Eyes. Temple will be the major number one box office draw and darling from 1934 to 1938, making 29 pictures between age 3 to 10.
The cheap and highly accessible films accompanied with newsreels will shift the attention of the public. There will always be a fascination with wealth and privilege, and even more so in economic hard times when envy and greed ramp up in relation to desperation. In the meantime, the newspapers cover a lot about the comings and goings of the elites, no matter the derivation of their status.
12:54
Originally, New York’s elite restaurant turned nightclub the Central Park Casino is established in 1864 as the Ladies’ Refreshment Salon as a restaurant for unaccompanied women visiting the city. Immediately, the intended wooden chalet is rebuilt as a Gothic revival stone structure near East 72nd Street. The term “casino” comes from the Italian term for a little house and not a gambling structure as it is more commonly used in modern day vernacular.
13:20
Upon opening, the Central Park Casino soon became popular for both women and men but fell into disrepair by the 1920s. It would undergo renovations from 1921 – 1922. By the late 1920s, New York mayor Jimmy Walker is said to have frequented the establishment more than City Hall. In February 1929, the Central Park Casino is turned into a nightclub, though during Prohibition meaning liquor was still forbidden. Those renovations were supervised by theatrical designer and architect Joseph Urban, the same man responsible for the Moonlit Garden transformation of the Ritz Carlton for Barbara Hutton’s debutante ball. Criticism and scrutiny of the nightclub comes due to the use of public lands while the Central Park Casino charged high admission prices essentially causing exclusive entrance requirements. Several police raids would occur there until the Casino closed in 1936.
14:13
Another recent topic of interest in the newspapers has been Grace Riopel Blakeley Hyde. A year earlier she divorced on the grounds “complications of incompatibility.” The complications and incompatibility seems to be her husband’s affairs with other women. The 1930 divorce granted after photographic evidence exposes her second husband capitalist and New York and Palm Beach resident William Hyde spotted with another woman at the Hotel McAllister in Miami. Grace’s son Foster Blakeley identifies his stepfather in the photograph, and Grace is awarded the temporary alimony of $1000 a month (the equivalent $19,500 in 2022).
14:53
Grace was previously widowed during World War I when her first husband Englishman and actor Lieutenant James Blakeley died during a bombing raid of London’s Gaiety Theatre. They have two sons James Blakeley and Foster Blakeley – around 21 & 20 years old in 1931. Grace is a soprano star and is proclaimed to be one of the most beautiful women on the stage. She performs in Europe where she spent a large time on the Continent. Upon returning to the States during widowhood, she performs in the homes of E.F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriweather Post, Jesse Woolworth Donahue, and Mrs. William Hayward – the mother of millionheir Phil Plant and stepmother to theatrical agent Leland Hayward.
Grace meets her second husband and remarries in 1916.
15:36
As her divorce is granted in 1930, Grace announces her boredom with Society and signs a contract to sing the lead role in the Ziegfield Follies production of “Ming Toy.”
After several years, “Ming Toy” production never makes it to Broadway. It will however be made into a short film in 1936 with an Asian actor-actress actual father-daughter team of Filipino descent Joe Paguio and his daughter Margie Paguio who went by the stage name Ho Shee and was referred as the Chinese Betty Hutton *no relation to Barbara. Otherwise for such productions, the cast would have been yellow face which was considered acceptable back then.
In addition to the Broadway role, Grace also agrees to a weekly Wednesday performance on CBS radio for William “Bill” Paley.
In the near future of 1932, William Hyde will petition to reduce alimony claiming his funds are not as ample as they had been and felt unlikely to recover due to the Great Depression. Grace will fight his claims as bogus.
16:37
Mr. Hyde is not the only person undone by a photograph at this time. Ex-dry czar – the former New Jersey Prohibition administrator Adrian G. Chamberlain poses for a boudoir photo in his underwear with a pink chemise clad cousin Mrs. Madeline Jacoby. During the Jacoby divorce trial, two women admitted to peeking in on Mrs. Jacoby’s bedroom and blushing at the sight. Mr. Chamberlain had previously resigned his post in 1926 after a $50 million dollar bootleg scandal, when cargoes of hooch were brought into Weehawken under the connivance of city officials.
Ahh, the power of a photograph is only beginning to make its way into the public and as evidence. The rules of the game are changing, and we know exactly how far they might go. And this, all before social media ever became a thing.
17:31
[Music – Skirts by Billy Cotton, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
17:48
Today is the 93rd Anniversary of the Wall Street Crash which occurred on October 29th, 1929. But it took over 2 years for the darker years of the Great Depression to really take hold, with 1932 considered the worst year of all. That same year a special investigation will be launched to determine the causes of the Crash. That day and the events thereafter had a global impact which lingered for many years and even decades later.
18:17
So many parallels with what we are now going through in our present circumstances.
As winter draws near, we have warnings of pending food and energy shortages. The last couple of years has seen a major disruption in supply chains that ripple to the present day. Earlier this year 2022 there has been the baby formula shortage (I’m not sure where we are on that overall by October). And who knows where everything will lead to more disasters later. Europe will definitely suffer during the winter months due to the additional issues of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
For those who were previously diligent and/or lucky enough to make investments are seeing easily a 30% decrease in value for the time being.
18:58
It is easy to get overwhelmed when being hit from all directions. And even if one has been good and cautious, over 2.5 years of economic issues with the pandemic will surely make a dent in anyone’s financial concerns.
With all the dark and bleak information, it is only natural to wish for better times. This week the Powerball lottery has reached $800 million. It really makes one wonder what it would be like to be so rich. Who cares about fun… Right now it’s more about survival.
19:29
Frauds and scams are increasing. We have yet to hear of all the Ponzi schemes and other issues that are being exposed, and like the hydra in Greek mythology as one falls it gets replaced by several more.
Bastards. What do they care? All they want is money for their own selfish needs.
I’m sorry I will never openly approve of theft no matter the target nor method. I don’t care who does it. I can sympathize with many plights, but the sympathy absolutely stops when it comes to damaging others.
19:58
Already in these tales, I have alluded to several ongoing scams that will surface more later. A Ponzi scheme is in the midst. Can you guess by whom, hint they have a big financial position? As well, a future jewel thief has now entered the story. However the biggest ensnarements will occur with the heart. In that, at least 2 are in direct play to quickly expand to 3 with surely more to abound in one manner or another.
Out of our main heirs and heiresses the current ongoing scams within the story will lead to one withdrawing, another vulnerable to a second but inadvertently rescued, a third will be endlessly a victim throughout life, and a fourth yet to be one of the worst cases of abuse in the 1970s & 1980s era. And fifth related but the actual victim is not currently in the story will be one of the more sensational public cases in later life around 2008.
Plenty of tales to tell so stay tuned…
20:57
Good news, my two webinars on the Waldorf-Astoria hotels are returning to New York Adventure Club Part 1 on Thursday, December 1st, 2022 and Part 2 on Thursday, December 8th, 2022 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. Weblinks will soon be available at www.nyadventureclub.com and the News | Events section at asthemoneyburns.com. The fee is $10 with one week access after.
Thursday, December 1st, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 1: A New Standard of Luxury (pre-1929), Come learn more about the Astor family dispute behind the famous hotel and its construction as well as the hotel’s influence on luxury travel and fine dining. Connections to the Titanic as well as other events and famous people will also be explored. But all good things come to an end.
Thursday, December 8th, 8pm EST / 5pm PST – Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Part 2: Manhattan’s Grandest Hotel (1931-present), The second version of this fine luxury hotel comes during the dawn of new era which will bring new challenges and excitement. A lingering Astor family connection adds to the saga until a
new family the Hilton dynasty rises and takes over. More celebrities and events will add to allure of this hotel. Finally, updates reveal the recent renovations, an auction, and the future for the third incarnation.
If you enjoy As The Money Burns, then please share, like, & subscribe.
Hook
21:30
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
Their fortune might be gone, but one couple dances the night away while planning to rebuild another.
Until then…
Credits
21:46
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 Goodpods, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
22:19
THE END.