Episode 79: Ransom Or Reward
The most famous kidnapping case of all time has a long reaching impact. Will the owner of a cursed jewel become another victim?
Obscure former airmail pilot Charles Lindbergh becomes an instant international celebrity with fame and fortune. In March 1932, his son the world’s most famous baby Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is missing. The whole world is ready to jump in and help from politicians, officials, priests, and even criminals. Hope Diamond owner Evalyn Walsh McLean recruits former FBI agent Gaston Means to help with the recovery.
Other people and subjects include: Pola Negri, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Dwight Morrow, Al Capone, Mary Pickford, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, Rose Douras, Edward “Ned” McLean, President Calvin Coolidge, J. Edgar Hoover, Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Sr, William “Bill” Condon, Feldman, Federal Kidnapping Act of 1932 – the Lindbergh Law, Little Lindbergh laws, Julius Caesar, Pat Crowe, Edward Cudahy Jr & Sr, Charley Ross, Christian Ross, Walter Ross, Clarence Darrow, Nathan Leopold, Richard Loeb, Bobby Franks, Marion Parker, William Hickman, John Lynch, Charles Marvin Rosenthal, Edward Doheny, Frank Sinatra Jr, John Paul Getty III, J. Paul Getty, Patty Hearst, Symbionese Liberation Army, Stockholm Syndrome, brainwashing, President Jimmy Carter, President Bill Clinton, Mel Gibson, 1996 Ransom film, Ron Howard, America’s Most Wanted, John Walsh, Adam Walsh, Jaycee Lee Dugard, JonBenet Ramsey, Steven Stayner, Madeleine McCann, Boardwalk Empire, Stephen Root, dognapping, Lady Gaga, ransom, reward,…
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.
Monday, March 13th, 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 an end.
Monday, March 20th, 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: March 03, 2023
Length: 28:41
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: The Eyes Of The World by Louis Levy, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 2 Music: A Foggy Day by Carroll Gibbons, Album Sophistication 3
Section 3 Music: Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
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 079 – Ransom Or Reward
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.
00:30
Story Recap
Racial tensions in Hawaii erupt into a murder trial, and a former millionaire writes a bad check then is sentenced to hard labor at a workhouse.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:46
Ransom Or Reward
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
The most famous kidnapping case of all time has a long reaching impact. Will the owner of a cursed jewel become another victim?
01:01
[Music – The Eyes Of The World by Louis Levy, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:17
The world celebrates a fantastical feat.
Preparing for over a year, a former airmail pilot goes from obscurity to the biggest instant celebrity of almost all time. Issues with lacking bigger sponsorship means he himself puts $2000 (about $34k in 2023) of his own hard-earned money into his historic flight.
From May 20th – 21st, 1927, Charles Lindbergh flies the Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris. The harrowing and exhaustive journey tests endurance and science. The lack of sleep the night before, rain delays, a muddy runway, complications with visibility due to fog, faulty gadgets forces reliance only on a compass for directions, star navigation too disorienting, fighting off hallucinations, dozing off to barely jerk awake back into safety, icing on the wings, storm clouds, his only personal items five sandwiches and some water…
02:22
Anticipation and excitement travel around the world. The first solo nonstop transatlantic flight took 33 hours and 29 minutes. He circles the Eiffel Tower before landing. Paris highways fill with automobiles racing to the Le Bourget Aerodome airfield. Upon landing, Lindbergh is greeted by a crowd of 150,000 storming the field. In jubilation, they shake the plane more frightening than during the flight and pull him from his aircraft with his feet never touching the ground for over 30 minutes as he is passed from person to person.
03:00
Literally overnight, the previously unknown Lindbergh becomes an international sensation. Global fame on an unprecedented scale. He immediately embarks on a mini European tour celebrating his achievement with a borrowed suit. Yep – he didn’t even carry any luggage to keep fuel reserves safer. Lindbergh wants to do a world tour flying via the Spirit of St. Louis, but President Coolidge insists on a return aboard the ocean cruiser Memphis for the hero and the plane’s safety. Upon return to New York, Lindbergh receives a ticker tape parade along Broadway with a crowd of four million and a banquet at the original Waldorf-Astoria hotel in June 1927.
Lindbergh is deluged with offers totaling in worth over $5 million (nearly $86 million today). Even William Randolph Hearst offers $500k (that’s $8.6 million in 2023) + 10% of the gross for Lindbergh to star in an aviation movie costarring Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies.
04:07
On a December 1927 tour in Mexico with humorist Will Rogers, Lindbergh meets the US Ambassador to Mexico Dwight Morrow and his daughter heiress Anne Morrow. Lindbergh and Anne marry in May 1929. Anne earns her pilot license in March 1930 and herself makes a solo flight. She is the first American woman to earn a first class glider pilot’s license. She partakes in some of her husband’s adventures exploring and chartering air routes between the continents. She is also a writer of meritable note in her own right.
04:42
Their first child and son Charles Lindbergh, Jr. is born on June 22nd, 1930, sharing a birthday with his mother. Their little one is referred as Charlie, and the press dubs him the Eaglet after Lindbergh’s nickname the Lone Eagle. Within hours of his birth, Charlie is immediately celebrated with a song published about him. The world’s most famous baby is endlessly documented.
Before the historic flight, Lindbergh came from a more modest upbringing. Of course, he has made a fortune since, but nothing compared to his wife’s family – her father Dwight Morrow is a politician and longtime partner of JP Morgan Co and is estimated to be worth $19 million (a staggering $414.9 million in 2023) when he dies suddenly of a heart attack in October 1931, while the Lindbergh couple is on tour in China.
05:37
The Lindberghs ongoing popularity comes with a burden of privacy. The couple admit to using disguises to avoid attention. In 1931, they build a home in Hopewell, New Jersey on a 550 acre lot isolated and removed from intrusion. But their newly built home receives plenty of press.
Unfortunately, more fame descends the family, but this time it is for a tragedy.
05:57
Tuesday, March 1st, 1932
Around 1:00pm – Scottish nurse Betty Gow arrives at Hopewell to help with the 20 month old toddler who has been suffering a cold thus the family staying later at their weekend residence.
By 7:30pm – Nurse Gow and Anne secure the baby for the night. They close 2 of 3 shuttered windows, but the 3rd is jammed and the women are not strong enough to force it closed.
At 8:25pm – Anne joins Lindbergh for dinner. He arrives late that evening after missing another planned event at the new Waldorf-Astoria. They hear a clashing noise outside but think not much of it as a late winter storm rages on.
06:50
10:00pm – Nurse Gow checks on the baby but doesn’t hear him breathing in the dark room so goes over to check and finds the bed empty. Upon realizing he is not with his mother as she emerges from her bath, the nurse then checks to see if Charlie is with his father, who might be playing a joke on them. Alarmed, Lindbergh storms into the room then rushes out ignoring an envelope near the window sill.
Immediately, Lindbergh grabs his rifle and goes on a hunt around the premises.
07:21
10:20pm – the sheriff is alerted. Within an hour the authorities are on site. They search for evidence including fingerprints. Two sets of footprints are discovered. One set leads to an oddly shaped ladder nearby the baby’s window.
Inside next to the window sill, the poorly written ransom note says not to get the police or any publicity involved and requests $50k dollars (the equivalent of $1.09 million in 2023).
As if that is really going to happen.
Already within less than 2 hours, press airwaves announce the crime, and local reporters gather.
08:03
Wednesday, March 2nd, 1932
By 3am, the local tavern and hotel fill with those seeking more information.
By morning, newspapers splash the story across the nation. A crowd swarms the house ready to aid in a search party but unfortunately destroying evidence like the footprints. Reporters gather in the garage awaiting more details and news breaks.
Almost four months pregnant with her second child, Anne looks out the window watching the commotion below wondering where her firstborn might be and if the kidnappers will care for him properly. The baby’s medication and diet are released in the press as instructions for the kidnappers.
08:44
Lindbergh suspects an organized crime ring is behind the abduction. He plans to fly over the area and scout bootlegger camps for inspection. Quickly, Lindbergh concedes in the press he is willing to pay any ransom to get his son back.
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover gets involved as well as future CIA head William “Bill” Donovan and New Jersey Superintendent of Police Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr. (yep the Gulf War general’s daddy, junior is born in 1934).
09:15
Thursday, March 3rd, 1932
The case draws so much attention that those wishing to play hero for a hero or aid in any possible manner offer their assistance and comments. It seems like almost everyone is ready to pounce in on the action.
From his Cook County jail cell still waiting appeal on his 11 year sentence for tax evasion, mafia crime boss Al Capone offers a $10k reward (or $218k in 2023) for any information leading to the child’s recovery. Capone exclaims, “It’s the most outrageous thing I ever heard.” He further offers, “If I were out of jail I could be real assistance.”
09:55
The House Judiciary Committee convenes in Washington to propose legislation making kidnapping a federal crime and felony if the victim is transported across state lines – the future Federal Kidnapping Act of 1932 also known as the Lindbergh Law.
Former FBI agent turned private investigator with plenty of underground connections Gaston Means calls up a local judge in Washington, D.C., offering assistance and a potential connection to the crime – weeks before a mysterious Feldman approached Gaston about a “big kidnapping” about to take place. The judge advises that Gaston seek Lindbergh’s permission before involvement.
10:36
Friday, March 4th, 1932
At her home in Washington, Hope Diamond owner Evalyn Walsh McLean stares at the news headlines. She’s had plenty of her own recently due to her divorce battle with her soon to be ex husband Edward “Ned” McLean, owner of the Washington Post who is currently abroad with his mistress Rose Douras – the sister of Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies. Evalyn has already lost one young son in a car accident and more recently her mother in February 1932. Evalyn fears of a similar fate for her surviving children.
Compelled to do something and at the urging of another friend, Evalyn phones Gaston Means, despite their having previous bad blood over an earlier matter. Obviously already desiring involvement, Gaston jumps in and offers to contact the kidnappers and recover the baby.
11:31
Saturday, March 5th, 1932
Evalyn contacts Lindbergh along with the aid of Captain Land, a naval officer and Lindbergh’s cousin. After meeting Gaston, Land heads out to Hopewell, N.J., to get Lindbergh’s permission. It is agreed that Evalyn and Land will act as liaisons with Gaston to the underworld and the kidnappers. Codenames – Evalyn is No. 11, Gaston No. 27, Land No. 9, and a few others in the mix including a Catholic priest who will handle the delivery of the baby.
12:09
Sunday, March 6th, 1932
Despite a snowy blizzard and the car getting stuck in snow, Gaston with his wife Julie Means meets up with Evalyn at Evalyn’s Fairview home, a remote suburb location outside of Washington, D.C., preferred by the kidnappers who watch from afar. There Gaston states with the increased publicity the ransom has doubled to $100k (nearly $2.18 million in 2023). Evalyn requests an additional day to acquire the funds.
12:46
Monday, March 7th, 1932
Evalyn takes out a short term mortgage on her home on Oxford block. That evening in a brown carton box about 18 square inches and 6 inches deep tied with grocery twine, Evalyn hands over to Gaston the $100k ransom. He leaves with a promise and a plan in place.
Each day Evalyn remains at Fairview staring out the window.
Now the long agonizing wait begins…
13:21
[Music – A Foggy Day by Carroll Gibbons, Album Sophistication 3]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
13:35
The Lindbergh baby kidnapping is most likely the greatest Crime of the Century. Even when placed against other heinous 20th Century singular crimes, it ranks near the top due to its worldwide impact. It is not only the event that occurred but to whom and how long for the resolution, which to this day feels for some conspiracy theorists seem circumspect or questionable enough to debate if it is truly solved.
Though we know the result of this event, I will present the various elements within the timeline of our story to see its impact on those who feared similar incidents.
14:14
Kidnapping is definitely not a new crime, but by the 1930s in America it increased significantly in both attempts and actual occurrences and takes an even darker turn.
Kidnapping has long been a part of history with records going far into the past. Cilician pirates abduct both Roman politician and orator Marcus Antonius’ daughter Antonina in 99 B.C. and later a young Julius Caesar on his way to study in Rhodes in 75 B.C. Both are released upon payment of their ransoms. Julius insisted they double his price then later makes sure his abductors are apprehended and crucified.
Throughout time, more kidnappings occur, and the most noted ones have political significance or are the result of unsafe travels. Kidnapping is also used as a method to force forbidden, unwanted, or undesirable marriages. And of course, there are the mass abductions related to the slave trade. However for context and brevity, this episode focuses on individual persons taken for money or ransom, and even more so children and especially progeny of the wealthy or celebrities.
15:26
Prior to the 1920s, modern kidnappings are considered in the realm of Chinese brigands and river pirates, the mafia in Sicily, and Mexican bandits. In other words, circumstantial and geographically based risks far removed from the regular person.
During Prohibition and the Great Depression, kidnapping stories first involve gangsters and their rivals. Over time, the desired targets morph into the wealthy. Of course, money always makes someone a potential target, but the dire circumstances of the Great Depression pushes desperation into action. News runs across the nation with several recent sensational abductions of well-known persons.
16:07
Now in early 1932 reportedly over 2000 people have been abducted over the last couple of years. 300 of those in the New York area. For Chicago, the number is assumed to be 400 between 1930 & 1931.
Much like today, the high profile nature of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping brings out many others to comment or offer assistance. In addition to Al Capone and other crime figures, former kidnapper turned lecturer Pat Crowe offers to advise Lindbergh on getting his son back – the number one point pay the ransom not a reward.
Back in 1900, Crowe kidnapped 15 year old Edward Cudahy, Jr., whose father owns Cudahy Packing Company in the Omaha Stock Yards. In the ransom note, Crowe threatens to blind and disfigure his captive with acid if the ransom goes unpaid. Father Cudahy pays the $25k ransom ($890k in 2023) and receives criticism from the San Francisco Examiner newspaper for encouraging criminal behavior. Crowe will be caught after gold certificates used in the ransom are spent and traced back to him. During our story’s event, Crowe is a high profile lecturer touring the country and considered a modern day Robin Hood. By the way, Crowe will die near penniless in 1938.
17:28
Also in the above case, that ransom note alludes to another famous kidnapping – 4 year old Charley Ross in July 1874 Philadelphia. Charley Ross is the first American kidnapping for ransom to receive widespread press coverage. His father Christian Ross listens to the police, refuses to pay the ransom, and hires Pinkerton Detectives. The kidnappers are likely killed after a skirmish while robbing a judge’s home. Their bodies are identified by 5 year old Walter Ross, the older brother who witnessed the abduction. Charley Ross is never found. Though there are several pretenders claiming to be him that surface around 1934 – over 60 years later!!!
18:14
Two other child abductions receive attention in the 1920s. In 1924, 14 year old Bobby Franks is kidnapped and murdered in Chicago’s Hyde Park. His abductors are teenagers and first known thrill killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two bright students who wanted to commit the perfect murder but got caught. Their famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow wins them life without parole instead of death sentences.
18:40
In 1927 Los Angeles, the kidnapping and brutal murder of 12 year old Marion Parker catches the nation’s attention. A man withdraws her from school claiming her banker father is hurt. Her abductor William Hickman is caught during his flight to Oregon using the $20 gold certificates paid as part of the ransom. Hickman attempts to plead insanity called under the direction of supernatural deity “Providence” but will later tell a reporter he wants as much press attention as Leopold and Loeb. Hickman’s likely motive is revenge for Marion’s father testifying against Hickman on a theft and forgery case. Hickman is hanged at San Quentin in 1928 and will become a prototype for Ayn Rand’s protagonist Danny Renahan in her unfinished novel The Little Street.
19:27
In August 1931 New York, Charles Marvin Rosenthal is kidnapped and returned upon his mother paying his $50k ransom. In February 1932, Rosenthal marries shortly around the same time as tennis sensation Frank Shields. Certain weddings will notably provide security.
Hollywood has several threats. Recently a plot to kidnap Mary Pickford for a $250k ransom (or $5.5 million in 2023) is thwarted by private detectives. Other plots uncovered include as targets the former Mdivani princess and silent screen star Pola Negri, other movie stars, and even nearby Hollywood resident and grandson of oil tycoon Edward Doheny.
20:11
Chicago goes on alert to the underworld’s rising kidnapping racket after 50 year old John Lynch is kidnapped and released a week later after $175k of his $250k ransom is paid in August 1931. A publisher and a partner at the Daily Racing Form, Lynch declares he will aid in catching and convicting his abductors. Allegedly the ransom was handed to liaison Al Capone. Kidnapping gangs become a major concern. In 1931, 49 people pay ransoms. Mostly associates of bootlegging, gambling, hijacking, and other criminal associations.
20:49
As kidnapping becomes a lucrative industry for gangdom, the menace arises across the nation. One overwhelming to local and state officials. The Federal Kidnapping Act of 1932 passes in June also referred as the Lindbergh Law. In 1934, amendments provide exception for parents abducting their children while adding capital punishment in cases where the victim is not released unharmed. Other states will add Little Lindbergh Laws for acts that do not cross state lines. But the trend only continues.
21:21
In 1963, Ole Blue Eye’s son Frank Sinatra, Jr. is kidnapped and released days later after the $240k ransom is paid ($2.3 million in 2023). In contrast, when John Paul Getty III is kidnapped in 1973 Italy, his grandfather J. Paul Getty refuses to pay the ransom until his grandson’s severed ear is sent to a newspaper.
21:46
Granddaughter of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Patty Hearst is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in February 1974 just a few weeks shy of her 20th birthday. Ransom demands a release of 2 SLA members from police custody and the Hearst family distributing food to the poor. Patty’s involvement in a deadly bank robbery and fugitive status result in her 1975 arrest and trial. Patty’s case is studied for Stockholm Syndrome and brainwashing. President Jimmy Carter commutes her sentence, and later President Bill Clinton pardons her.
Large amounts of money always come with danger, and growing desperate times force the wealthy to further increase security measures.
22:32
[Music – Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
22:48
The 1996 film Ransom directed by Ron Howard stars Mel Gibson as a bereaved and angry father fighting to get his son back. The most memorable scene is when Mel’s character on live television pours two million dollars on the table – the requested ransom and instead offers it as a reward and bounty for the kidnappers setting off a chain of antagonistic and violent events. In the end, Mel luckily gets his child back. However that method would likely guarantee resulting in the least desirable outcome.
That fictional scenario highlights kidnapping for monetary reasons, but what happens for those whose children have no other information?
23:29
The popular long running show America’s Most Wanted lasts 24 seasons from 1988 to 2011. It is revived in 2021. The original host John Walsh became an advocate after his son Adam Walsh’s abduction and murder in 1981. John had offered a $100k reward ($330k today) for his son’s return and had found the attempted recovery an abysmal process. Over the more than 1000 episodes, the show helps return dozens of missing children and capture over 1,400 murderers, fugitives, and wanted criminals. It even features two other well-known abductions Jaycee Lee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart.
24:10
Recovery of kidnapped children can be both affirming and disheartening. Steven Stayner resurfaces after 7 years to save another kidnapped boy Timothy “Timmy” White in 1980. At the time, Stayner is considered the longest “safe” recovery, however Stayner’s story is complicated decades later when his eldest brother Cary Stayner is convicted of kidnapping and serial murder. Elizabeth Smart is rescued after 9 months between 2002 to 2003, and Jaycee Lee Dugard with her two children is rescued from her captors after nearly 18 years from 1991 to 2009. All those cases involve ulterior motives beyond money, but it is the victim’s young age which catches national and international attention. Their safe returns lauded in contrast to the bleak realities of their captivities.
25:03
Other sensational child cases are not so lucky. Two of the most profound and unsolved cases are JonBenet Ramsey in 1996 and Madeleine McCann in 2007. The latter has never been found, and a recent pretender brings her story back into the light now 15 years later.
Over the last decade or two, there has been a rise in international kidnappings. Many tales of Americans traveling abroad kidnapped and held at ransom. The rise of Uber encouraged as a better and safer manner of travel as the digital record is considered a deterrent versus a random undocumented taxi in more dangerous countries. The insane and unrealistic ransom amounts highlight the disparities between colliding worlds and economic realities.
25:48
Recently in Los Angeles even pre-pandemic, there has been a rise in dog napping. Areas servicing wealthy or celebrity clientele find pups missing only to later be returned after paying a ransom. In February 2021, Lady Gaga’s two French bulldogs Koji and Gustav are taken after her dogwalker is shot in the chest. Other pets are chosen for their value on the black market, particularly desirable specialty breeds like French bull dogs, Pomeranians, and golden doodles.
26:17
Some things read like movie plots and of course movies and television do refer to both real and fictional cases. Former FBI agent Gaston Means appears in Season 3 & 4 of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire portrayed by Stephen Root. For that show, Gaston’s storyline deals with Prohibition era politicos and gangsters. Let’s just say he’s a pretty slippery fellow.
Already our heirs and heiresses have increased their security as the Great Depression gets darker, but with the Lindbergh kidnapping the threat becomes more realistic and deadlier in nature. Our tales are far from over, and there are many twists, turns, and connections to follow.
And plenty more threats to come…
27:02
March 13th, 2023 is the 130th Anniversary of the original Waldorf Hotel opening, the beginning of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel empire. Come check out my two webinars on the Waldorf-Astoria hotels returning to New York Adventure Club – Part 1 on Monday, March 13th, 2023 and Part 2 on Monday, December 20th, 2023 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. Topics include plenty of presidents, royalty, celebrities, underworld figures, and yes even Lindbergh’s banquet. Weblinks are available at www.nyadventureclub.com and the News | Events section at asthemoneyburns.com. The fee is $10 each, live with one week access after.
Monday, March 13th, 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 an end.
Monday, March 20th, 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
27:52
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
Secrets are unleashed when two wealthy industrialists find themselves in different dire straits only to make the same permanent fatal decision.
Until then…
Credits
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.
28:41
THE END.