1. Ostentatious Costume Balls Signaled the Rise of the New Rich
Before the Gilded Age, the social life of New York City’s wealthy elite was governed entirely by Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, one of the wealthiest people in the world whose family had a long history of deep pockets. When the newly-rich robber barons were finding that they had more money than families like the Astors, people like Mrs. Caroline Astor had to find creative means of keeping them out of high society. She composed an infamous “list of 400” that listed the only 400 individuals who were considered genuinely upper class in the New York hierarchy.
Alva Vanderbilt, who married into the newly wealthy Vanderbilt clan, was desperate to get onto Mrs. Astor’s list, so she threw an elaborate costume party that was considered to be the social event of the year. The costume balls of the Gilded Age rivaled those of Europe, where aristocrats and nobility dressed like historical figures and, behind a mask, danced the night away in unparalleled splendor. The ball that Mrs. Vanderbilt threw was to be no exception. The catch is that she didn’t invite Mrs. Astor until she put her name onto the list.
So in a way, the lavish costume balls that the wealthy threw were akin to debutante balls today, because they signaled the arrival of the new rich into New York’s elite.