The Gilded Age was a rich time in American literature. In this episode, we explore a few of the more prominent and popular authors of the era who were writing about everyday life and the lived experiences of women, people of color, and many others during this historical time period. Exploring their work and activities in the 1880s gives us a more well-rounded view of what was actually happening in the U.S. at the time of the Gilded Age.

What inspired this episode?

Fictional Peggy Scott has been trying to get her work published in a magazine or other publication, but she has faced challenges along the way despite her obvious talent. We started to wonder what writers were prominent in the time, with a particular focus on women and black women like Peggy.

What we discovered was a rich body of American literature that was being written at this time. We couldn't feature all of the most popular Gilded Age authors, but we did have a chance to talk about some of the writers who were especially impactful, including Ida B. Wells, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Sarah Orne Jewett, and many others. They wrote about a variety of topics including politics, daily life of women and families, travel, various worldviews, and more.

About "The Gilded Age" Episode 4: A Long Ladder

Continuing to pursue her dream of becoming a published writer, Peggy meets with New York Globe editor T. Thomas Fortune. He hires her to write an article about politics.

When the van Rhijn’s English butler, Bannister, visits the Russell house to pick up Ada’s runaway lap-dog Pumpkin, he throws the Russell’s butler, Church, off kilter when he lightly mocks the culinary choices and table settings at the Russell house.

Sylvia Chamberlain, a widow tarnished by rumors that she was her late husband's mistress, attempts to befriend Marian.

Bertha's ladies’ maid Turner unsuccessfully attempts to seduce George by showing up in his room in the middle of the night. He adamantly refuses her, casts her out of his room, though surprisingly does not fire her on the spot, citing the fact that she is valued by his wife.

While visiting her parents in Brooklyn for her mother’s birthday, viewers quickly see that Peggy’s parents are, as expected, fairly well-off, with a nice house and a staff of their own. Peggy and her father get into an argument. They’re interrupted when Marian drops by unexpectedly. She wrongly assumed that the Scotts were poor, and so she arrives with a pair of used shoes to donate to them, which offends the family.

After the Aldermen agree to reinstate the law that will allow the station to be built, George offers to help Alderman Fane recover further from the incident with the stocks if his wife, Aurora, could help introduce Bertha into society. Cue… Aurora and Bertha’s slow rise to BFFs. Aurora agrees to take Bertha under her wing, arranges for Bertha to attend a luncheon that Ward McAllister is attending. He is a close friend and ally of Lina Astor, the “queen bee” of NY society, ringleader of the “old money” circles she’s having a hard time breaking into.

Aurora also invites Bertha and Marian to a show at the Academy of Music. At the concert, Marian runs into Tom Raikes and she sees that he’s attending the opera as a guest of an old money, wealthy New York family. When he chats with her, Marian tells Tom that he needs to win over her aunts before they can take their relationship further.

If you love watching historical shows like The Gilded Age, it's likely you also enjoy the fashion and costumes, the elaborate sets and art design, and the overall vibes of the time period. Inspired by one particularly beautifully-shot scene in this episode, we are going to take a deep-dive into some specific aspects of the art and fashion of the 1880s. We explore how The Gilded Age costumers and set designers seem to have taken heavy inspiration from paintings and portraits of the era by artists like John Singer Sargent, James Tissot, and Giovanni Boldini, as well as a very popular fashion house at the time, Worth. We'll also try to answer a common question: are the costumes on this television show historically accurate, especially the vivid color palettes? And in doing so, we'll go down a quick rabbit hole and talk about the famously toxic colors of the time period and how our perceptions of color today are shaped by the era.

/ What inspired this episode?

One of the greatest things about watching a historical drama like The Gilded Age is seeing how the show's creators interpret the time period through set design, costume design and the other visuals that help with the world-building. In this episode, we start looking into the art that was popular in the 1880s, and in particular portrait paintings which would have been commissioned and collected by the American elite like Mrs. Astor (and the fictional Bertha Russell).

From there, we can see how portrait paintings from the time period inspired the costume designers on this series. Many of the costumes used on the show reflect changing tastes and purchasing habits for clothing in the time period.

We also look into how color was used in clothing (and elsewhere) during the Gilded Age. Despite the very colorful palettes used in the show that some fans question the realism of, many of the colors used in fashion and design at the time were even more vivid, thanks to the newly-created, vivid synthetic dyes on the market.

/ About "The Gilded Age" Episode 3: Face the Music

Ada meets a former male friend who shows some interest in her. When Agnes discreetly informs the man that Ada has no money, he leaves.

Meanwhile, after only a few encounters, Tom Raikes gives a (sort of) marriage proposal to Marian, though she does not provide him an answer. She knows that her aunt Agnes would not approve of the match … Agnes certainly has her doubts about Mr. Raikes and his intentions in New York calling him “an adventurer”.

After coming to a Gentleman’s Agreement with the town Alderman about passing a law to allow his station to move forward, George is surprised to learn that the law will be repealed. He immediately realizes that the Aldermen are shorting the stock. To prevent his company from going under, George risks his personal fortune to buy back as much company stock as possible to keep the value artificially high, thus driving the Aldermen into financial distress.

Privately, Bertha talks to George and demonstrates unwavering support for his plan to counter the Aldermens’ ploy, understanding he is risking their fortune to save his company.

Mrs. Morris visits Bertha and pleads to her to ask her husband to “show mercy” on the men as they face financial distress. Bertha lets Mrs. Morris that she did not do anything to help her previously, so why should she help her now?

The Aldermen beg George to stop artificially inflating the value of the stock to save them from financial ruin, but he doesn’t shirk. Facing financial destruction, Mr. Morris ends his own life.

/ Sources Consulted

The amount of sources I consulted for this episode is too long for the show notes! Please visit our website gildedhourpodcast.com for links to sources referenced or consulted in this episode.

In our second podcast episode, we investigate the downstairs spaces of the Gilded Age. Who were the people who were hired as the servants in the breathtakingly large homes built by the ruling elite? What was life like as a servant to New York City’s wealthy families?

About The Gilded Age Episode “Money isn’t Everything”

Tom Raikes, the lawyer who helped Marian settle her father’s estate in Pennsylvania, has moved to New York City. He is clearly interested in Marian, but Marian’s Aunt Agnes tells her to be wary of the man.

Aspiring writer Peggy has sent query letters to publishers without receiving any replies.

Town Alderman Patrick Morris and his wife are invited to dinner at the Russells’ at George’s request, though they lob barely-concealed insults towards Bertha during their visit.

George makes a deal with Mr. Morris, in which Morris and other Aldermen will buy George’s company stock then pass a law allowing George to build a new train station in the city, resulting in wins for everyone.

Socially ambitious Bertha, still keen to break the ice in New York society, lets Mrs. Morris know that she and Mrs. Fane could use her ballroom for their upcoming charity bazaar. However, they ignore Bertha’s offer and decide to hold it in a hotel instead.

Bertha, George and their children attend the bazaar. George scolds Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Fane for snubbing his wife. He makes a mockery of the bazaar and buys everything for sale, immediately ending the event. The episode ends with Mrs. Astor nonchalantly returning home, noting to her daughter Carrie that yesterday she would have said that Mr. Russell was a nobody, but she acknowledges he’s a force to be reckoned with.

What Inspired this Podcast Episode?

It’s fun to imagine ourselves as one of the elites in this time period, wearing gorgeous clothes and living in fabulous mansions, but the reality is that many people worked as the staff to keep the glamorous Gilded Age homes operational and comfortable for the families that lived in them.

We look into the various jobs that male and female staff held “below the stairs”, such as the roles of ladies’ maid, valet, butler, head housekeeper, and the most dreaded job… the scullery maid. We also talked about how much they actually got paid (and what that means in today’s dollars). This gives new perspective on exactly how little most domestic workers – who were often immigrants – were paid during the era, versus the vast fortunes that just a small handful of their employers, the elites, were spending.

This starts to shed some light on the vast wealth disparity of the era. Although it’s a time remembered for prosperity, the wealth was certainly concentrated in the hands of just a few.

This is our first episode, and inspired by the failed soirée of one of the show's main characters, Bertha Russell, we take a glimpse into the wild, glamorous, and at times unhinged real-life parties that the Gilded Age New York City elite would host to dazzle society, New York, and the world.

About this episode

The episode of "The Gilded Age" that our episode is based on is the premier of this streaming television series, originally airing back in January of 2022. The show's premier served to introduce audiences to the vast cast of characters and historical realities of Gilded Age (1880s) New York.

This episode begins with two sisters, Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook, who are welcoming their niece Marian, a young woman leaving Pennsylvania after her father's death when she was left with no inheritance. By chance, she meets Peggy Scott, an apparently well-educated young woman who helps her when Marian's purse and train ticket are stolen. When Peggy can’t make it the rest of the way home to Brooklyn after their long journey, she stays with Agnes and Ada and Marian at their lush home on 61st street. Agnes later offers Peggy a job as her secretary. This causes waves with the van Rhijn house staff, some of whom are not used to working with a black woman.

Meanwhile, a wealthy business owner (and apparent robber baron) George Russell moves into an elaborate, brand-new mansion across the street from the van Rhijn house with his socially ambitious wife Bertha and their young adult children Larry and Gladys. It is clear through several conversations that they are considered “new money” and therefore lesser in status by the established social elite like the van Rhijns.

Agnes's son, Oscar, meets Larry Russell at a party hosted by a real life Gilded Age socialite, Mamie Fish. Upon his return to New York, they meet Marian.

Bertha Russell tries to break into high society by hosting a lavish "at home" party; Marian secretly attends, knowing Agnes, who considers Bertha inferior in status to such an extent that she refuses to socialize with her, will disapprove. No one noteworthy shows up from society; especially not the leader of society, Lena Aster. Bertha vows to still prove herself and “make everyone sorry” for excluding her.

What inspired this episode?

The show's episode ends with Bertha Russell's failed party when no one showed up, serving to teach her just how hard it was to crack into high society.

We wanted to look into what, exactly, Gilded Age parties were all about, and the truth is wilder than anything that has been shown on this television series so far! We chat about the incredible and over-the-top - some would say ostentatious - parties that the society elite would hold.

Sources used in this episode