Episode 72: Blessed Troubles
The national holiday arrives when many give thanks, but how grateful should some be when they knowingly face tougher times ahead?
Thanksgiving 1931 finds multiple people in flux. As Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton have yet to secure an engagement, Cobina Wright and Evalyn Walsh McLean are struggling in their marriages. Alice Vanderbilt hides her depleted fortune while Grace Wilson Vanderbilt continues her lavish lifestyle. The Van Alens focus on family, while E.F. Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton continue aiding charities. Lastly, Al Capone adjusts to life behind bars.
Other people and subjects include: Edward McLean, Hope Diamond, Washington Post, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Countess Gladys Vanderbilt Szechenyi, “Neily” Cornelius Vanderbilt III, “Neil” Cornelius Vanderbilt IV, Mary Duke Biddle, James Blakeley, Grace Blakeley Hyde, Anthony Drexel IV, Prince Girolamo “Jerome” Rospigliosi, Marian Snowden, Daisy Van Alen, Princess Louise Van Alen Astor, Prince Alexis Mdivani, James “Henry” Van Alen, William “Sam” Van Alen, Elizabeth “Betty” Kent Van Alen, Louise Vanderbilt, E.T. Stotesbury, Evalyn Stotesbury, Louise Cromwell Brooks MacArthur Atwill, Louise Brooks, James “Jimmy” HR Cromwell, Josep Maria Sert, Marion Davies, William Randolph Hearst, Caroline Astor, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, Jehangir Hothari of Karachi, Ralph Capone, Club El Patio, Sonogee, Wakehurst, Rough Point, Gould mansion, Fifth Avenue, Metropolitan Opera, Bergdorf Goodman, Waldorf-Astoria hotels, Empire State Building, Chicago Cook County Jail, Leavenworth, interconnected stories, divorce, real estate, con artists, tax evasion, debutante balls, troubled blessings, life’s curveballs, gratitude, troubled times, toxic positivity, troubled blessings
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
Publish Date: November 24, 2022
Length: 21:33
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: I Guess I Will Have To Change My Plan by Ambrose & His Orchestra, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 2 Music: Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 3 Music: If This Is Only The Beginning by Billy Ternent, Album Elegance
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
UPCOMING EVENTS:
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.
New York Adventure Club https://www.nyadventureclub.com/categories/all/
Live Presentation with one week limited access. $10 admission.
Click for download: Waldorf-Astoria 90th Anniversary Activity Bookle
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 072 – Blessed Troubles
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
Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke get plenty of press for their romantic entanglements, while Cobina Wright tries to save her marriage and rebuild her fortune.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:45
Blessed Troubles
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
The national holiday arrives when many give thanks, but how grateful should some be when they knowingly face tougher times ahead?
01:00
[Music – I Guess I Will Have To Change My Plan by Ambrose & His Orchestra, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:14
During the week of Thanksgiving, November 26, 1931–
Another social season of operas, debutantes, and holiday events keep everyone busy or at least busy dodging suspicions.
The opening of the Met in late October kicks off the annual debutante winter season. Last year debutantes, teen heiresses Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton made their rounds and will make the customary reappearances this year as well, though not as rigid and mandatory as their own coming out season. A year having gone by signals danger for a debutante. The whole tradition is based on the concept of arranging acceptable marriages, and the most desirable are engaged and married within a year – sometimes the engagements announced the night of their debutante balls. Doris and Barbara also share nearby birthdays. Neither has secured a worthwhile proposal despite multiple suitors. The Saturday before Thanksgiving for her birthday, Doris throws a dinner party and small dance at her 78th Street mansion in New York.
02:15
In Washington, D.C., young debutante Louise Brooks makes her societal debut. This season’s It Girl should not be confused with the actress nor her namesake mother. Mother Louise Cromwell Brooks MacArthur Atwell is a society beauty known for breaking several hearts, including General Douglas MacArthur’s. Mother Louise recently remarried to actor Lionel Atwill. Other important relations – brother / uncle James “Jimmy” HR Cromwell is ardent suitor to Doris Duke and mother / grandmother Eva Stotesbury is married to well to do financier E.T. “Ned” Stotesbury. The latter Stotesburys spend time between their elaborate homes Whitemarsh near Philadelphia, El Mirasol in Palm Beach, and Wingwood House in Bar Harbor, Maine. Three of the largest homes of the time.
03:05
Eva’s close personal friend, another D.C. resident, and Hope Diamond owner Evalyn Walsh McLean finds herself also rather ironically in the newspapers for less favorable reasons. Her husband Edward McLean abandoned her a year earlier in 1930 and has since attempted to divorce her in Mexico and now Latvia. Evalyn filed an injunction thwarting the foreign jurisdiction and is attempting to be divorced solely in Washington, D.C.
Edward wants to marry his young female lover Rose Douras Van Cleve – the sister of actress Marion Davies, the mistress of William Randolph Hearst. Edward is also trying to avoid any alimony to Evalyn. An heiress in her own right, Evalyn is the sole beneficiary of her father’s mining estate, and Edward is the heir to the Washington Post, which was originally purchased by his father. Evalyn and Edward married in 1908 and brokered the Hope Diamond purchase at the Washington Post offices in 1911. It looks like the gem’s curse continues.
Rumors abound that Evalyn during times of financial duress has pawned then later repurchased the Hope Diamond several times.
04:17
Returning to New York, the 1931 Metropolitan Opera season began without one sparkling regular Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II, also referred as the Dowager Mrs. Vanderbilt. 80 year old Alice Vanderbilt remains at her Newport cottage the Breakers until Thanksgiving.
She has been alternating the last few years between her New York mansion and the Breakers. Extending her stays at each to hide her depleted fortune. After several children and a competitive showing off with Alva Vanderbilt now Belmont, the once large family fortune has dissipated since Alice’s husband Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s death in 1899. Alas, her eldest son William Vanderbilt died in college before her husband, and after him two more sons Alfred Vanderbilt on the Lusitania and Reggie Vanderbilt due to alcoholism leaving behind his young daughter Gloria Vanderbilt.
05:08
Alice spends her time mostly between her daughters the artist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and youngest Countess Gladys Vanderbilt Szechenyi. In New York, Gertude and her recently deceased husband Harry Payne Whitney relocated Alice further up Fifth Avenue to the former Gould mansion. Though Alice forever refuses to use a Fifth Avenue address, preferring the adjoining street. Her former chateau at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue has been torn down and replaced with the store Bergdorf Goodman much like how the former Caroline Astor home which has been replaced twice by the first Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and now the Empire State Building.
05:49
Alice is also avoiding mingling with her surviving son and current heir Neily Cornelius Vanderbilt III especially due to his wife queen bee Grace Wilson Vanderbilt. Already Grace regularly uses her own box at the Met, unlike her mother-in-law who is sharing her parterre again this season. Neily and Grace’s son “Neil” Cornelius Vanderbilt IV is still recovering from a very bad pr year with conflicts with Mussolini, a Reno divorce, and a spat with New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno.
Meanwhile never letting woes overcome her, Grace Wilson Vanderbilt gladly enjoys the festivities of the Met and the winter social season in New York. Upon returning from Newport in late October, Grace hosted one of the first big events of the season dinner for 150.
06:37
After another Metropolitan Opera performance, supreme hostess and opera singer Cobina Wright entertains while wearing a chic black velvet dress with large sparkling diamond earrings and an accompanying diamond necklace. With her husband William May Wright, aka Bill, they entertain a party at Club El Patio. A happening spot with several Thanksgiving parties, including another party hosted by the former Mrs. Mary Duke Biddle, the recently divorced cousin of Doris.
07:07
On Thanksgiving Day, Barbara Hutton is still traveling from Europe on board the Canadian-Pacific liner Empress of Britain and is set to arrive the Friday after. Another fellow traveler is Sir Jehangir Hothari of Karachi, reported to be one of the wealthiest men in the world. Since her broken engagement to millionheir Phil Plant, Barbara has been linked to Anthony Drexel, Jr. (actually the 4th) and quite possibly the handsome Park Avenue lad James Blakeley, son of Broadway actress and singer Grace Blakeley Hyde.
On the upcoming Saturday November 28th, 1931, Barbara’s most ardent recent admirer Prince Girolamo “Jerome” Rospigliosi elopes with Minneapolis heiress Marian Snowden in Italy, to her family’s fear and disapproval.
07:54
Sounds a little reminiscent of another debutante heiress Louise Van Alen’s nuptials earlier this year in May. Now Princess Louise Van Alen Mdivani and her husband Prince Alexis Mdivani are traveling about and will likely end up in New York when their in-law Spanish painter Josep Maria Sert arrives at the second Waldorf-Astoria for his newly installed Don Quixote murals.
Back in Newport, Rhode Island, Louise’s mother and society queen Daisy Van Alen hosts a dinner party at Wakehurst. Eldest son James “Henry” Van Alen has a recent newborn son. Second son William “Sam” Van Alen is in California and soon to be onto Honolulu for his honeymoon with Elizabeth “Betty” Kent. They were married back in August at Sonogee in Maine, the current estate of Betty’s family and the former estate of the Van Alen’s Aunt Louise Vanderbilt – Daisy’s maternal aunt after whom she named her own daughter. Aunt Louise Vanderbilt used to host Thanksgiving for newspaper boys at her Newport cottage Rough Point, now owned by Doris Duke.
08:56
Other efforts in charity throughout the week up and down the coast and across the nation, financier E.F. Hutton and his wife Post Cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton contribute to many private Thanksgiving meals. Already they opened soup kitchens, but for this holiday they continue to provide more meals to others. Marjorie’s work with the Salvation Army also must have helped in the well organized and coordinated effort in handing out 2 boxes to each needy family. 6,000 boxes of food are distributed in the Palm Beach area, 100,000 boxes in New York City, and still more 300,000 across the nation.
09:36
Meanwhile another soup kitchen benefactor Al Capone has spent the last 4 weeks in Chicago’s Cook County Jail due to tax evasion of $1 million over a 5 year period. His attorneys are working on his appeal for an otherwise potential 10 years in Leavenworth, where older brother Ralph Capone is currently serving for his $300k tax evasion charge. For the holiday, Al Capone treats his fellow prisoners to 700 pounds of candy. Warden David Moneypenny approved the candy but denied Al’s request for cake, thwarting any special stuffing possibilities. The 1400 prisoners did have chicken, cranberry, and pumpkin pie. From the varying cells, many shouts, “Thanks, Al.” He waves back nonchalantly while he remains to himself as a somewhat model prisoner reading voraciously from popular westerns to detective novels then onto the classics.
10:29
Capone was not too thrilled for the day but grateful to feel a bit of his old self through the charitable act. Though no visitors are allowed on holidays, Al did get a chance to visit with his sister for a few minutes. In his large secluded cell on the 5th floor, Capone is served his own specially prepared and examined plate of turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and a few dainties. His previous Thanksgivings had been in the sunshine of his Miami Beach home.
10:56
The bright and airy yesteryear contrasts with the dark and gloomy concrete cell. There tension and anxiety permeate throughout the jailhouse. An execution looms for midnight. At the last minute, the governor’s office sends over the notice denying reprieve.
While some can count themselves lucky or fortunate, many must prepare to face uncertain and more turbulent times ahead. Whether troubled blessings or blessed troubles, either can be quite confusing to navigate. Only time will tell which is which.
11:31
[Music – Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
11:47
Getting dizzy yet? All the twisted and winding connections of those past, present, and future… The small ripple effect of tiny events compounded over time. The butterfly flapping its wings that causes a tsunami on the other side of the world. The ever-sticky links in a large complex spiderweb vibrate warning signs of danger and trouble in their midst.
It all seems trivial the exchange of estates, the crisscross of social interactions, the dance exchange of marital-divorce partners, and yet all ever so poignant. The tale of one repeats in another. Different dynamics or eerily similar. Directly or indirectly impacting each other. When you know the entirety of these whole tales, you might question certain previous assumptions of an individual person or the overall desirability of that lifestyle. Of course, wealth affords certain luxuries, but it also multiplies miseries.
12:45
Every person and family who repeatedly appears in these tales are being told for a very specific reason. Any special featured guest also adds to those plots – either reaffirming how that world operates AND / or most likely a foreshadowing of future troubles for several of our main characters. It’s so easy to dismiss the troubles of only one and far too simple to Monday morning quarterback what they could have done differently when certain facts are only exposed sometimes decades later. When these stories are pulled together and shown in parallel, it’s quite illuminating. Forbidden loves, con artists, fraudsters, tax dodgers,… the list goes on and on and on. It becomes strangely all too common and far more complicated.
13:35
I am telling the lies as they occur and will make the revelations as they surface to the public. Yes, some characters may know the immediate lies, but most are unsuspecting. It’s a very layered and intricate tale. It is interesting though to see in newspaper articles the updates for several overlapping stories during this one particular week, especially tying into earlier storylines like: the soup kitchen with E.F. Hutton, Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton, and Al Capone only months later; the state of marriages for Cobina Wright and Evalyn Walsh McLean, the debutante activities for Doris Duke, Barbara Hutton, and Eva Stotesbury’s granddaughter; and how tiny cracks about how even the wealthy are becoming impacted by financial distress are shown through opera attendance.
14:23
There is after all a fascination with true crime tales, though these rarely involve murder but plenty of other “lesser” crimes with all too pernicious effects. What I want is for you to experience the slow descent into hell that is only realized far too late. If you want to avoid a similar fate, then you need to understand the vulnerabilities and the red flags.
Masks and public images are used to hide many things. Cons, liars, and fakes succeed more when they are likeable and familiar. Their nefariousness takes far more time to come out and often with much confusion. Some are merely unfortunate, but as things progress they fall into corruption. Others might have never cared to begin with, more like true sociopaths. And wealth attracts so many like moths to the flame.
15:16
Divorces, remarriages, real estate, lost fortunes, broken hearts, betrayals, family disputes, shattered dreams,… around and around it constantly goes. One’s good fortune often comes at another’s expense. Sometimes it is merely the change in times, and others downright sinisterly.
Can you guess what is happening beneath the opulent splendor and facades? How grateful should one be when betrayals and problems surface?
15:47
[Music – If This Is Only The Beginning by Billy Ternent, Album Elegance]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
16:08
Life likes to throw a lot of curveballs. Good things come with complications. Good intentions can lead to endless entanglements. Psychology articles stress the importance of gratitude especially through tough times, and yet toxic positivity prevents productive healing and resolution.
So many adages float about these days –
Bad times make tough people, tough people make good times, good times make soft people, soft people make bad times,…
One thing I have both hated and agreed with – is that most things are a matter of perspective. Yes, your attitude towards your troubles will greatly impact its overall effect on you. Many things require letting go or taking a less rigid interpretation of what has occurred or should have been.
16:56
However that doesn’t mean there are not situations that are just downright difficult. Accepting a loss, a death, or some other life changing event or situation will cause problems. It is natural to feel the wind knocked out of you. You don’t need to be grateful or positive in the worst moment of despair during a difficult trial or problem. You need to be able to address your feelings and have time to adjust. Later, you can determine if you can pull a positive out of it, but you don’t have to do it immediately.
Sometimes in the immediate you need to be in fight mode, you might have to shift into pure survival without expending unnecessary energy, or you might need time to consider and figure out if there are any options or what will be lesser of all evils.
17:42
It is good to know that one day things might get better, if just not permanently stuck in darkness. But when the crisis is here, you have to deal with the crisis as best possible for that situation. And you might make some mistakes, that is okay. It happens. When things settle a little more, then you can start to do the work needed to cope, refocus, and recalculate your life forward.
I know several people can get stuck, and it can start from good intentions but when you need to face things you need to see the negatives too. Maybe this rings a little more true for me after a really rough last year and the current round of ongoing frustrating events and situations. I don’t need to be positive or grateful about those situations. Trust me, I will find a way to benefit from them later. But right now, I have to battle and keep a clear head. I don’t need to waste time or energy in the wrong directions or second-guessing things or myself. I need to feel my emotions, listen to their guidance without unhinging, keep my energy focused, and tackle each obstacle one by one until they are gone or over.
18:56
Getting up and moving on will be a struggle, but staying in a dark place forever is not an option. I refuse to give the negative that much power to endlessly and continuously hurt me. I have to minimize it, though that’s not the same as never being hurt.
I’ve done this before. Far too many times, I will get through it AGAIN. I can’t explain the specifics right now but will when time and distance make it safer to do so and if only to help people in similar predicaments. I wish the best for you through your own journey.
19:30
Alas, our characters have far more to go and many stumbles to take, and it is during the period we are covering that the path is paved towards many more lifelong troubles.
Will they be able to turn their troubles into blessings? Or are their blessings far more troubling than first perceived?
19:50
This story has lots of twists and turns and all related to two versions of the same grand hotel. Interested in learning more in a different form?
My two live webinars on the Waldorf-Astoria hotels are returning to New York Adventure Club. Part 1 on Thursday, December 1st, 2022 goes back into the Astor family history and another dispute, while Part 2 on Thursday, December 8th, 2022 moves ahead into Cobina Wright’s future. Both webinars are at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. Weblinks are available at www.nyadventureclub.com and the News | Events section at asthemoneyburns.com. The fee is $10 each with one week access after.
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.
If you enjoy As The Money Burns, then please share, like, & subscribe.
Hook
20:43
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
New ventures bring new opportunities for those with talent. An artist travels to see his work on display, while a singer attempts to transform a different skill into a fortune.
Until then…
Credits
21:03
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.
21:33
THE END.