14. Party Favors Included Gold Pencil Cases
If you wanted to be anybody in New York’s high society during the Gilded Age, you had to be in the good graces of Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor. Mrs. Astor – or better known as the Mrs. Astor – was descendent of the original Dutch aristocracy who had come to New York as the city’s original settlers. As such, she recognized the importance of her role as the gatekeeper of New York’s elite upper crust.
Even after she was manipulated into including the new rich onto her notorious “list of 400,” which specified who was high society and who was not, she was the person behind many of the city’s social events. Many were hosted at her mansion on Fifth Avenue, which incidentally is today marked by the Empire State Building.
Unfortunately, her parties tended to be a bit dull, seeing as she was quite fastidious about etiquette and the rules of how one should behave in society. However, whether you liked her parties or not, a calling card from Mrs. Astor signaled that you were “in.” You would be crazy not to go. And all of her partygoers were richly rewarded, as she was known to give out elegant, luxurious party favors, which included figurines imported all the way from China, gold pencil cases, and leather bags.