Episode 87: Blankety-Blank
While reporting on the upcoming presidential election, an undercover heir faces an angry mob of those hit hard by the Great Depression.
#FranklinRoosevelt, #NeilVanderbilt, #presidentialelection1932, #presidentialelection2024, #disinheritance, #angrymob, #elephantintheroom, #DemocraticPrimaries
June 1932, Cornelius “Neil” Vanderbilt IV is on 15 city tour in Indiana to cover the upcoming 1932 presidential election when he faces an angry mob pushed hard by the Great Depression. Will incumbent President Herbert Hoover or New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt win the election?
Other people and subjects include: Vincent Astor, James “Jimmy” HR Cromwell, Ogden “Oggie” Mills, Brigadier General Cornelius “Neily” Vanderbilt III, Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, Elsa Maxwell, William Randolph Hearst, disinheritance, ambitions, journalism profession, glamour, dealing with problematic dates and chronology, Democratic Primaries, Chicago Convention, Al Smith, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, elephant in the room, gorilla in the room, social ties, polarization, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Ron DeSantis, presidential elections 1932 – 2020 – 2024
Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Extra Notes / Call to Action:
New York Adventure Club www.nyadventureclub.com
Thursday, July 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.
Thursday, July 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.
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Publish Date: June 08, 2023
Length: 20:03
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Skirts by Billy Cotton, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s
Section 2 Music: Organ Grinder’s Swing by Jack Payne, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 3 Music: One Two, Button Your Shoe by Jack Hylton, 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 087 – Blankety-Blank
Outline
Brick through window
Presidential campaign 1932
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
A financial crisis forces Evalyn Walsh McLean to pawn the Hope Diamond, while the Stotesburys close Whitemarsh Hall for the summer to prevent an uprising.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:47
Blankety-Blank
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
While reporting on the upcoming presidential election, an undercover heir faces an angry mob of those hit hard by the Great Depression.
01:01
[Music – Skirts by Billy Cotton, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:18
June 15th, 1932 outside Gary, Indiana
As darkness envelops the night sky, a fairly beaten up 5 year old big blue Packard putters along the road.
Inside the Blue Elephant as nicknamed by its owner, an intrepid reporter is on a trail to uncover how well the presidential election is going. Maps fill the side seat marked with destinations. Remnants of food, bottles, and other signs of a long ongoing road trip scatter along the floor board.
01:52
Getting bleary eyed, he starts to consider where to stop for the night. He is in the middle of a 15 city tour in Indiana to see who might have a better chance at winning the upcoming 1932 presidential election – incumbent President Herbert Hoover or new challenger New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The reporter is on the side of Roosevelt. It’s been 2.5 years since the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression shows no signs of going away any time soon. In fact, it has been getting worse, a lot worse. Continual bank failures started with small banks in rural communities in the west and middle America, but have since spread out all over.
One thing is for sure America needs change.
02:41
9:00pm
A distant whistle pierces through the air.
Then a brick smashes through the window landing near his feet. He swerves and pulls over to the curb.
The reporter lightly fingers the gun in the car side pocket. He slowly looks around to see only black, but the hair on his neck senses men approaching.
He shouts out, “What’s the big idea?”
A menacing voice replies, “Just to teach you, you blankety-blank millionaire, not to drive around in that bloody car of yours.”
“What’s wrong with my car? Anyone who wants it is welcome to it for $300. It’s five years old and it has been driven over half a million miles.”
A long silence, then the now less menacing voice grumbles, “Our mistake I guess. We thought you were a rich guy.”
“And if I were?” The reporter is miffed at the implication and now the inconvenience and expense over his broken window.
“All rich guys ought to be strung up.”
“But who are you?”
“We’re the fellows that’ll do the stringing.”
03:56
Not wanting a fight and better to cut this interaction short, the reporter drives off leaving behind the disgruntled Americans. As he checks into his hotel, he relays to the clerk his experience. Frowning, the clerk remarks about the extreme poverty surrounding Gary these days and even much worse might happen any day now. Four more years of Hoover isn’t the ideal.
The reporter thinks about how his friend Ogden Mills probably might fare if he drove his custom built royal blue Rolls Royce in Gary, Indiana. Oggie might have to revise his recent remark on how the average American worker would bide their time, tighten their belts, and remain law-abiding disciplined people.
04:39
The reporter signs his name in the book – Neil Vanderbilt. That’s right Cornelius Vanderbilt IV – an heir to one of the largest fortunes in America. How would those men felt about him had they known the truth? What kind of outcome would that have been?
Neil could care less about wealth. He plans to make his own fortune, though that is proving to be a bit more difficult.
05:06
Yes, Neil is a member of the extremely wealthy set. But as an heir, well that may be more in name only. He has been as much the headlines as the actual person reporting them. 1931 began with Neil in a little hot water when a story involving Mussolini re-emerges. Then last summer 1931, Neil was the topic du jour as the “World’s Most Unluckiest Man” for his continual misfortunes. He gets another divorce in Reno which led to a spat with New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno. That summer, Neil also filed bankruptcy for the second time – and one of the few remaining assets listed was his blue Packard nicknamed “Blue Elephant.”
05:49
As for being a Vanderbilt, the son of Brigadier General Cornelius “Neily” Vanderbilt III and socialite queen Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, his parents were disinherited by the Vanderbilts due to their disreputable marriage, and only after Neily’s brothers had all passed away did Neily finally get his remaining portion of the wealth. Grandmother and dowager widow Alice Vanderbilt also has secretly fallen on hard times so is unlikely to provide more assistance. Neily and Grace have already informed their children Neil and daughter Grace they will not inherit anything implying that the children have displeased their parents too. Neil has been both disowned and disinherited several times. The main reasons – his previous failed marriages and his choice of profession – newsman.
06:35
And Neil is going to cause further upset by supporting the Democratic nominee – Franklin Roosevelt. He won’t be alone. Vincent Astor and James “Jimmy” HR Cromwell are also proud supporters.
There are always outliers striving for their own individuality. No matter their circumstances, and sometimes to spite their circumstances.
07:00
[Music – Organ Grinder’s Song by Jack Payne, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
07:17
The tales I am telling are very intertwined, twisted and complicated in one sense while very simple and relatable in another. The complications arise mostly out of human nature going awry and against best intentions.
It is by no means a small thing to want to make a mark in the world. It is a very basic human drive. Those born into wealth share ambitions similar to those who come from nothing. As well as those in the middle of those extremes too can have the exact same ambitions. All have their benefits and drawbacks.
07:50
· Wealthy – upfront resources & connections, but might not have resilient survival skills after having a more comfortable life, too much to lose and more public humiliation
· Poor – nothing to lose and everything to gain, early life setbacks build resilience and boldness, yet complications with raising or managing large amounts of money, even when there is emotional support the surrounding community might not be very strategically helpful
· Middle – might have better balance and realistic plan for progress, however doesn’t have the higher connections for guidance and might not be hungry enough to overcome obstacles, and has things that might be lost at least more than someone of lower standings
08:36
Cornelius “Neil” Vanderbilt IV definitely has ambitions like many in his set. And like many people, he also had a certain desire to be in a more glamorized profession.
I know reporters aren’t glamorous like uber wealthy elite luxury, but glamor as in adventure and intellect and the hero-esque traits in needing to discover or expose things. Come on – it is one of those professions many are drawn to even with the reputation of low pay, long hours, and other craziness.
09:09
Neil would be both successful and a semi-failure in the news business. He wanted to rival newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst who would ironically become his boss and buy out Neil’s own paper.
Later, Neil will write 3 books about his life and family. Queen of the Golden Age (1956) focuses on the rise and life of his socialite mother Grace Wilson Vanderbilt. The Vanderbilt Feud (1957) and how his father Brigadier General Cornelius “Neily” Vanderbilt III is disinherited by his family. But it is Neil’s own 1935 autobiography Farewell to Fifth Avenue that is the source of the brick story.
09:50
Wow, looking at that date makes what I am about to say next a little more poignant.
I have said that one of the problems in these tales is how it relies on memories and small anecdotes with little or no dated references or somewhat worse incorrect chronology. When possible, I try to verify timelines while also trying to flesh out other details, such as Neil called his blue Packard “Blue Elephant” – that is located in the 1931 articles detailing his bankruptcy and divorce proceedings.
10:19
In Farewell to Fifth Avenue, Neil talks about his struggles in life and his ventures in reporting. Extremely proud of his coverage and support of future President Franklin Roosevelt. Last year, I was re-reviewing the book for information surrounding his divorce, bankruptcy, and fight with New Yorker comic Peter Arno – all events in 1931. That summer Neil is part of the Reno divorce colony with several newspaper articles detailing multiple antics. In addition, Neil’s old dispute with Mussolini also made the rounds. All those stories are covered in Episode 62: World’s Unluckiest Man.
10:57
Yet in his autobiography, Neil dates his presidential coverage in June 1931. A clear conflict in both geography and also American history. Presidential elections are on even years, every four years, that means 1932. Immediately, I had to stop in writing Episode 62 to confirm where and when and what is actually happening. There is no way Roosevelt would have had enough national public consciousness by the summer of 1931. However how he handles the Great Depression as governor will get him plenty of note by election time. As well, June 1931 would be impossible because the hint of Roosevelt for president only begins in November 1931, but Roosevelt doesn’t emerge as the presidential contender until the Democratic Primaries from March – May 1932, with the April 1932 Chicago Convention being the defining factor. Roosevelt’s main internal Democratic political party opponent is his predecessor and former 4 times New York governor Al Smith, another person who periodically intersects in our story. Luckily for me, I did find enough 1932 news articles detailing Neil’s 15 city tour regarding Roosevelt’s potential as the next president.
12:23
Okay, well people sometimes get their dates wrong. Famed gossip columnist and party hostess Elsa Maxwell is very fast and loose with her chronology written several years if not decades later, well some leeway as her stories are more about dynamics and situations than hardcore facts. I will revisit that in a few more episodes in relation to one of the bigger plot elements in our larger story.
12:48
But Neil is a reporter, and now as I write the date of his book 1935 – not 3 years later. Hmmm, what gives? I somewhat suspect that the repeated date mistakes are to cover up the less glorious moments of the 1931 summer, which don’t get detailed much in the autobiography.
I know this sounds a little bit trivial, but it is at the heart of human nature and ego. As both triumphs and humiliations often cloud our judgments and the need to make more pleasant self-aggrandizing or acceptable excuses for our failings. It is also why I am trying to stick with a chronological telling of these stories in microscopic details to highlight and correct misconceptions in retelling. Hindsight is 20/20 and easier to explain than the murkiness of the moment in trying to move forward into the unknowns.
13:44
As mentioned previously in another episode, the election of President Roosevelt will be one of the 10 defining moments of 1932, but during the summer it is an unknown. And the result of that election and FDR’s presidency will impact several of our characters lives, both directly and indirectly. Both in larger context of public life as well as personal dynamics and relations.
Also be aware, two other regulars in our story have strong FDR affiliation and support. Vincent Astor and FDR are distantly related cousins but very much involved. Astor will be supportive of FDR throughout his lifetime even loaning his yacht for FDR’s relief from polio. Stotesbury stepson James “Jimmy” HR Cromwell will try to cash in on his connection and support of FDR but will find complications on both sides of the fence.
14:35
Meanwhile as I continue my research, other adjoining headlines also serve as reminders and foreshadowing of future world events. Continually, I run across adjoining headlines for both Hitler and Gandhi. Two contrasting figures each trying to make their mark in the world.
The Great Depression had a profound impact worldwide, but each nation had to find their own way to deal with their individual circumstances. We know the long economic hardship in Germany from both the aftermath of World War I and now the larger Great Depression led to the rise of the socialist Nazi party and Hitler in Germany. Several of our characters will have both public and private connections or interactions to many of these larger figures and future events.
Life expands and contracts within the world we know. Ambitions can lead to great things or tragedy.
15:30
[Music – One Two, Button Your Shoe by Jack Hylton, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
15:48
There is an idiomatic saying the elephant in the room referring to something large, present, and obviously noticeable but nonetheless is intentionally and rather sensitively ignored. A similar statement is the gorilla in the room, but I will stick with the elephant due to other in story references especially when it comes to politics.
Sometimes it can feel like trying not to step on broken eggshells or glass trying to avoid getting cut. The subject of politics has become far too dicey and controversial as we veer down more and more polarizing paths. Each side becoming less and less willing to have a decent dialogue and compromising to a more neutral favorable middle. It’s only going to get worse as it always does when an upcoming choice feels so important.
16:35
We are a year away from our next presidential election. The potential contenders are already being debated, though the primaries are still months away. The last 2020 election impacted by the conditions surrounding the pandemic. Now we have a few major possibilities – among them, an incumbent president Joe Biden, a former president Donald Trump, a nephew of a former president and a son of an assassinated presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy, Jr., and a governor whose policies are grabbing headlines Ron DeSantis.
We will have to wait several more months to figure out who will lead the battle for either party, and many more months to learn who will be president as of November 2024.
17:19
The stakes are considerably high both back then and today. Will the next presidential term see improvement or further deterioration? How will our social ties evolve or devolve if circumstances continue in their present divisive directions?
Future concerns but other matters will become more personally pressing as summer returns with all its distractions. Our heirs and heiresses have plenty to do, but reversals and scandals are not in the far too distant horizon. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
17:55
Brief note: apologies for the recent delays in publishing new episodes. In addition to the slightly longer length of certain episode topics, I have had a barrage of technical issues which I am still trying to resolve, as well as a few personal situations (mostly positive) that do not help with delays. The latter are most certainly welcomed, as the overarching lesson within these stories is making sure to keep and maintain strong personal connections. A wealth greater than gold. Hopefully, I will soon be able to overcome the current technical issues, yet as life enjoys throwing curveballs then a different one will emerge soon after.
18:32
If you haven’t caught them yet, my two webinars on the first and second Waldorf-Astoria hotels return to New York Adventure Club. Come check out – Part 1 on Thursday, July 13th, 2023 and Part 2 on Thursday, July 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.
Thursday, July 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.
Thursday, July 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
19:15
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
Two heiresses reunite on an ocean liner. Their paths and love lives are crossing over in more ways than one.
Until then…
Credits
19:32
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.
20:03
THE END.