Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly
Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy B.
Speaker 2: Wilson.
Speaker 1: So I finally started watching and quickly got all up
Speaker 1: to speed on The Gilded Age.
Speaker 2: I still haven't watched it. There's only two seasons right now,
Speaker 2: so it's pretty easy to blaze through it. Yeah. I
Speaker 2: binged it all very quickly, in the course of like
Speaker 2: a week. It is as spectacular as everyone says. Thus
Speaker 2: the binging, and it put me in mind of a
Speaker 2: topic that I've had on my list for a minute,
Speaker 2: and that is the Bradley Martin ball. This ball happened
Speaker 2: in the years following what's been going on in The
Speaker 2: Gilded Age for anyone that's watching, and it probably, although
Speaker 2: who knows, falls too late on the timeline for the
Speaker 2: show to get into it in any upcoming seasons. I've
Speaker 2: also debated about doing one on Lord McAllister, but I
Speaker 2: I just don't know if I want to. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's fabulously interesting, but a lot of people have covered
Speaker 2: him in a lot of ways, so that's really more
Speaker 2: of the hold up there than anything else. But the
Speaker 2: Bradley Martin Ball, which has not been on the show,
Speaker 2: and I don't know if it will make it there,
Speaker 2: because it happens I feel like a decade after. What's
Speaker 2: going on in the main plot right now. Is sometimes
Speaker 2: referred to as the last big moment of the Gilded Age,
Speaker 2: and it was very ostentatious. This event sparked so much
Speaker 2: debate and in some ways ridicule about it. Some people
Speaker 2: have said helped usher in the crumbling of New York's
Speaker 2: Victorian era society culture and it being considered really important.
Speaker 2: But before we get into the details of this historic ball,
Speaker 2: we're going to start by talking briefly about its hosts,
Speaker 2: Bradley and Cornelia Martin, and the social scene of New
Speaker 2: York at the end of the nineteenth century. Bradley Martin
Speaker 2: was born December eighteenth, eighteen forty one, in Albany, New York.
Speaker 2: His parents were Anne Townshend Martin and Henry Hull Martin.
Speaker 2: Henry was a prominent banker and both he and Anne
Speaker 2: were from old money. They were very active in Albany's
Speaker 2: wealthy social scene. Bradley attended Union University in Albany and
Speaker 2: served with the Union in the US Civil War was
Speaker 2: a first lieutenant in the National Guard's ninety third Regiment.
Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty nine, Martin married Cornelia Sherman. His brother
Speaker 1: Frederick Townshend. Martin described the two meeting in his book
Speaker 1: Things I Remember This Way quote. My brother Bradley married
Speaker 1: Miss Cornelia Sherman on January twenty sixth, eighteen sixty nine.
Speaker 1: He had made her acquaintance at the wedding of Elliott Shepherd,
Speaker 1: who was then acting as aide de camp to Governor
Speaker 1: Reuben Fenton. Miss Sherman was one of the bride'smaids, and
Speaker 1: my brother fell in love at first sight with the
Speaker 1: charming girl. Bradley became a very successful lawyer, and he
Speaker 1: amassed quite a nice fortune. And then when Cornelia's father died,
Speaker 1: he left a great deal of money that was actually
Speaker 1: something of a surprise. No one knew he had as
Speaker 1: much money as he did, but it made the Martins
Speaker 1: extremely rich. In eighteen eighty one, the Martins started living
Speaker 1: a multi national life. They leased the estate of Balmacan,
Speaker 1: on the shores of Scotland's Loch Ness. This was a
Speaker 1: haven for wealthy guests who visited the Martins for the
Speaker 1: hunting season, and they enjoyed Balmacon's twenty eight thousand acre
Speaker 1: deer forest. Bradley Martin's New York Times obituary said that
Speaker 1: the Martin's routinely had as many as seventy guests staying
Speaker 1: with them in Scotland, as well as those guests staff.
Speaker 1: This estate was described in the US papers as quote
Speaker 1: an irregular pile of buildings. Yeah, every time you see
Speaker 1: someone write about it, they're kind of like, this is
Speaker 1: interesting in the way that they don't don't want to
Speaker 1: describe it as like a weird mess. The Martin's daughter,
Speaker 1: Cornelia Martin, married the Earl of Craven, and that connected
Speaker 1: the family to London society. While the groom brought a
Speaker 1: title to the marriage, Cornelia brought the money her father
Speaker 1: gave her seventy five thousand dollars a year as an
Speaker 1: allowance once she was married. This also connected the Martin
Speaker 1: family to London's social scene, and that gave their state
Speaker 1: side standing in society a boost. To contextualize the Bradley
Speaker 1: Martin Ball of eighteen ninety seven, we first need to
Speaker 1: talk about patriarch's balls. This was essentially a system set
Speaker 1: up by the infamous society arbiter, Ward McAllister, and many
Speaker 1: of the wealthiest old money families of New York. So
Speaker 1: think people like the Astors, the Van Rensselers, Livingstons, and Shermerhorns.
Speaker 1: These balls had.
Speaker 2: The stipulation that each of the patriarch families had to
Speaker 2: invite five men and four women to the ball as
Speaker 2: a means of establishing New York society. And then it's
Speaker 2: from this group that Ward McAllister developed his list of
Speaker 2: the four hundred, that was the people he deemed worthy
Speaker 2: to be considered New York High society. The Martins attended
Speaker 2: their first Patriarchs Ball in eighteen eighty three, and soon
Speaker 2: they were on ramped into the high society. As the
Speaker 2: old names were increasingly commingled with new ones. The four Hundred,
Speaker 2: as they were called, were accustomed to very opulent gatherings,
Speaker 2: and while the Bradley Martin Ball was in that tradition,
Speaker 2: it was over the top by any measure.
Speaker 1: The idea for the Bradley Martin Ball was, according to
Speaker 1: the story, actually kind of benevolent. Once again, we have
Speaker 1: Frederick Townsend Martin's account of how the ball got its start.
Speaker 1: He wrote, quote every year, my brother Bradley and his
Speaker 1: wife spent their winters in New York. When they entertained largely.
Speaker 1: One morning at breakfast, my brother remarked, I think it
Speaker 1: would be a good thing if we got up to something.
Speaker 1: There seems to be a great deal of depression in trade.
Speaker 1: Suppose we sent out invitations for a concert and pray.
Speaker 1: What good will that do? Asked my sister in law.
Speaker 1: The money will only benefit foreigners. No, I've a far
Speaker 1: better idea. Let us give a costume ball at so
Speaker 1: short notice that our guests won't have time to get
Speaker 1: their dresses from Paris. That will give an impetus to
Speaker 1: trade that nothing else will. Directly missus Martin's plan became known,
Speaker 1: there was a regular storm of comment, which arose, in
Speaker 1: the first instance, from the remarks made by a clergyman
Speaker 1: who denounced the costume ball from the pulpit. There's also
Speaker 1: speculation that Missus Martin wanted to throw the most lavish
Speaker 1: ball ever seen in the city, and in doing so
Speaker 1: out do her peers in society who'd hosted their own
Speaker 1: opulent events. This ball was to be huge, too large
Speaker 1: to be hosted at a home, so the Waldorf was
Speaker 1: selected for the location. As to the exact number of
Speaker 1: guests involved, that number fluctuates pretty wildly based on the source.
Speaker 1: While some say that Missus Martin would simply not have
Speaker 1: had more than six hundred, other accounts say she sent
Speaker 1: out twelve hundred invitations. We'll get to a possible explainer
Speaker 1: on that discrepancy.
Speaker 2: In a moment.
Speaker 1: While the intent may have been economic stimulus, there was
Speaker 1: an early bit of sour grapes over how specifically money
Speaker 1: was being spent for this event. This came from the
Speaker 1: musicians of New York who felt completely slighted when Missus
Speaker 1: Martin hired the Marine Band of Washington for her fete.
Speaker 1: In a quote in The New York Times, Alexander Bremer,
Speaker 1: president of the Music Mutual Protective Union, said quote, we
Speaker 1: were all congratulating ourselves over the coming ball of Missus
Speaker 1: Bradley Martin that is to be given on such a
Speaker 1: magnificent scale, and which will put money into circulation among
Speaker 1: people who need it very badly. We believe in the
Speaker 1: very wealthy spending their wealth and enjoying themselves, and thus
Speaker 1: giving hundreds and thousands of working people an opportunity to
Speaker 1: earn money and maintain their self respect instead of being
Speaker 1: obliged to accept charity. Now we have in our union
Speaker 1: in this city about twenty eight hundred musicians who are
Speaker 1: struggling from day to day to make a living for
Speaker 1: themselves and their families. We calculated on getting at least
Speaker 1: one thousand dollars for our union musicians from this ball.
Speaker 1: But imagine our disappointment when we were told that missus
Speaker 1: Bradley Martin had engaged or would engage the Marine Band
Speaker 1: to play at the ball. Bremmer went on to praise
Speaker 1: the musicians of New York as being as good as
Speaker 1: any found anywhere, even in Europe. We'll talk more about
Speaker 1: criticisms of the ball in just a bit, and coming
Speaker 1: up right after a quick sponsor break, we will dig
Speaker 1: into the press coverage of the Bradley Martin Ball and
Speaker 1: all the juicy details of the events planning and how
Speaker 1: they were shared in the papers. The days leading up
Speaker 1: to the Bradley Martin Ball were covered in detail in
Speaker 1: the press. The New York Times rode on February seventh,
Speaker 1: quote for nearly three weeks, New York Society has made
Speaker 1: the coming ball its one topic of discussion, with the
Speaker 1: result that the usual entertainments of the winter season have
Speaker 1: sunk into comparative insignificance. English, French and German history of
Speaker 1: the period from fifteen hundred to nineteen hundred, which has
Speaker 1: been selected by Missus Martin as that to which the
Speaker 1: costumes of her guests must conform, has been searched in
Speaker 1: quest of facts and information. Old wardrobes have been ransacked,
Speaker 1: and costumes milliners, dressmakers and wig makers, and even jewelers
Speaker 1: have been besieged by a small army of people bidden
Speaker 1: to the ball, and who have labored assiduously to attire themselves.
Speaker 1: As was ever Solomon in all his glory.
Speaker 2: The arrangements of what the attendees could expect were shared
Speaker 2: in detail, so even people who weren't going to be
Speaker 2: in attendance knew all the specifics and of course had
Speaker 2: plenty of opinions about them. Even the schedule was included,
Speaker 2: the ball was to begin at all eleven pm, with
Speaker 2: guests arriving through the manager's door to the Waldorf. The
Speaker 2: write up made it clear that this entry was one
Speaker 2: used for logistics, and the guests would not see any
Speaker 2: decorps in the first five rooms they walked through. The
Speaker 2: finery was all reserved for the party proper. Some of
Speaker 2: this was because guests themselves were not expected to arrive
Speaker 2: party ready in the wintertime. Instead, the Martins had hired
Speaker 2: a team of hairdressers, milliners, costumers, etc. To help everybody
Speaker 2: put the finishing touches onto their attire. The accommodations for
Speaker 2: the guest transformations were spread across fifteen rooms, so the
Speaker 2: stylists had plenty of space to prepare everyone. Those dressing
Speaker 2: rooms also offered spots where, once the party was underway,
Speaker 2: guests could take breaks.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think one of them was set up as like
Speaker 2: a smoking lounge for gentlemen and things like that. On
Speaker 2: February ninth, The New York Times ran another article, this
Speaker 2: one about all of the priceless items that would be
Speaker 2: on display in the costumery of the ball's attendees. It
Speaker 2: opened with quote, there is no estimating the value of
Speaker 2: the rare old jewels to be worn at the Bradley
Speaker 2: Martin Ball. All the jewelers who deal in antiques say
Speaker 2: they have been cleaned out of all they had on hand,
Speaker 2: and people still keep calling for old buckles, snuffboxes, lorgnettes,
Speaker 2: diamond or pearl studded girdles, rings, and in fact every
Speaker 2: conceivable decoration in gems. The rest of the article walks
Speaker 2: through some of the finery that people would be wearing.
Speaker 2: It also notes that a lot of people would be
Speaker 2: taking their priceless family jewels and heirloom pieces out of storage,
Speaker 2: and that there was no way to estimate how much
Speaker 2: all of these were worth. Some had been passed down
Speaker 2: for hundreds of years from European aristocracy. There was a
Speaker 2: rumor that some of the guests were so worried about
Speaker 2: their family jewelry that they were having the real gemstones
Speaker 2: from them taken out to be replaced with imitations. A
Speaker 2: representative from Tiffany's assured the press that this was not
Speaker 2: the case, stating, quote, it is ridiculous to suppose that
Speaker 2: the quality of people who have these rare and costly
Speaker 2: gems whatever, think of attending such a historic function in
Speaker 2: sham ornaments. Don't you believe a word of it. So
Speaker 2: far as we are concerned, we never set bogus jewels
Speaker 2: at all, and we certainly have not been asked to
Speaker 2: substitute rhyme stones by any of missus Martin's intended guests.
Speaker 2: People who are accustomed to these costly things are not
Speaker 2: afraid to use and display them. According to the Times,
Speaker 2: there would also be priceless lace everywhere at the ball. Again,
Speaker 2: much of it passed down through wealthy families. One expert
Speaker 2: on textiles that the paper consulted was quoted as saying
Speaker 2: that replicas of some of the laces would go for
Speaker 2: fifty dollars a yard. Again, replicas, and then when it
Speaker 2: came to the originals, quote, you couldn't buy them for
Speaker 2: five hundred dollars a yard. The papers published lists of
Speaker 2: who was attending and what they would be wearing. A
Speaker 2: Brownick was to be attired as George Washington. Missus John
Speaker 2: Jacob Aster was going to be Marie Antoinette. She was
Speaker 2: one of several that was the most popular costume, and
Speaker 2: there were to be multiple Louis the fourteenths, fifteenth and sixteenths.
Speaker 2: Bradley Martin was to be one of the many Louis
Speaker 2: the fifteenths, although sometimes he's listed as having been dressed
Speaker 2: as Louis the fourteenth though not mentioned in the press beforehand.
Speaker 2: Missus Martin dressed as Mary Stewart and wore a very
Speaker 2: old and very valuable necklace as part of that costume.
Speaker 2: Some costumes, such as one that was intended to be Pocahontas,
Speaker 2: would be considered completely inappropriate by today's standards. The most
Speaker 2: comedic section of the article on what people would be
Speaker 2: wearing focused on the issues that the gentsleman.
Speaker 1: Guests would face.
Speaker 2: It elaborates quote to begin with, the costumer's edict has
Speaker 2: gone forth that all gentlemen who attends to appear in
Speaker 2: a Louis Catour's outfit must begin by turning a barber
Speaker 2: loose on their mista dashes, with plentipotentiary powers to remove
Speaker 2: them to the last hair. Apparently, some men formed a
Speaker 2: pact that none of them would acquiesce to this requirement.
Speaker 1: Listen.
Speaker 2: If you have ever thrown a costume party with specific rules,
Speaker 2: you know this exact discussion because I have been there.
Speaker 1: Listen. But the bigger issue was apparently the shape of
Speaker 1: men's legs. The Times laid out this problem. Quote trouble
Speaker 1: number two is of a rather more delicate nature, as
Speaker 1: it will unmask delusions about the anatomy of certain gentlemen's legs.
Speaker 1: As a rule, it is an easy matter in these
Speaker 1: days to disguise any defects of this kind. But it
Speaker 1: can't be done at all, so the costumers say, with
Speaker 1: those extremely delicate and dainty silk tights which the modern
Speaker 1: cavaliers must wear. All sort of devices have been attempted,
Speaker 1: even down to the buckram covered pads that Ward McAllister
Speaker 1: used to affect. But they will not work, and much
Speaker 1: lamentation is abroad in the social world. They're at Any
Speaker 1: manufactured legs will be palpable at sight, but the raw
Speaker 1: material would be more horrible. Still, many of the cavaliers
Speaker 1: have not yet finished losing sleep over this problem. Oh no,
Speaker 1: they'll find out I have skinny quads like I.
Speaker 2: Are they are They only talking about the legs, though,
Speaker 2: because there's just other parts of the body that's gonna
Speaker 2: be in the very thin fitting hose. I yes, I
Speaker 2: think so, because the one person that shows up in
Speaker 2: thin fitting hoses got thrown out. Yeah, okay, then okay.
Speaker 1: I think they're worried that people will know their calves
Speaker 1: are not manly.
Speaker 2: Okay, I just I could just imagine it being a
Speaker 2: euphemism anyway. The day of the ball, the Chicago Tribune
Speaker 2: published a breakdown of the estimated cost of the whole thing.
Speaker 2: Line items included they like the ballroom rental for the
Speaker 2: night at one thousand dollars, a small ballroom for receiving
Speaker 2: at five hundred dollars, a buffet supper at six thousand dollars,
Speaker 2: a regular supper to be available from twelve thirty to
Speaker 2: five AM at twelve thousand dollars, and the Ketillion Favors
Speaker 2: at twenty thousand dollars. The largest line item was costumes,
Speaker 2: which the paper estimated at one hundred and sixty eight
Speaker 2: thousand dollars. The total the Tribune came up with for
Speaker 2: everything was two hundred and thirty six thousand, six hundred
Speaker 2: and twenty five dollars, but the Tribune said this was
Speaker 2: a conservative figure. The actual cost of the ball is
Speaker 2: often quoted as having been more like four hundred thousand dollars,
Speaker 2: which is already a whole lot of money. In very
Speaker 2: rough estimates, that would be more like ten million dollars
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four. Yeah, and to be clear, that
Speaker 2: costume line item was not for everyone's costumes. That was
Speaker 2: like the stuff that the Bradley Martins were providing for
Speaker 2: people to help with all of their cars. When the
Speaker 2: evening of February tenth came. The weather didn't really cooperate.
Speaker 2: There was a massive snowstorm, but the ball went on
Speaker 2: as scheduled. This made carriage traffic in New York absolutely awful,
Speaker 2: according to Robert Mussegrosso writing for New York History in
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety four, and my apologies if I mispronounced that name.
Speaker 2: Another thing that literally stopped traffic was people exiting their
Speaker 2: carriages as they passed by Gilbert's photo studio on the
Speaker 2: way because they wanted pictures of their attire. Gilberts is
Speaker 2: said to have stayed open all night, and as a consequence,
Speaker 2: the upside is that today we have some very good
Speaker 2: photographs of the attendees. Arriving at This ball was unlike
Speaker 2: anything the attendees had ever experienced. Frederick Martin described a
Speaker 2: scene this way quote The best I can describe the
Speaker 2: Bradley Martin Ball is to say that it reproduced the
Speaker 2: splendor of Versailles in New York, and I doubt if
Speaker 2: even the was solet ever witnessed a more dazzling site.
Speaker 2: The interior of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel was transformed into
Speaker 2: a replica of Versailles, and rare tapestries, beautiful flowers, and
Speaker 2: countless sits made an effective background for the wonderful gowns
Speaker 2: and their wearers. I do not think there has ever
Speaker 2: been a greater display of jewels before or since. In
Speaker 2: many cases, the diamond buttons worn by the men represented
Speaker 2: thousands of dollars, and the value of the historic gems
Speaker 2: worn by the ladies' baffles. Description the power of wealth,
Speaker 2: with its refinement and vulgarity, was everywhere. It gleamed from
Speaker 2: countless jewels, and it was proclaimed by the thousands of
Speaker 2: orchids and roses, whose fragrance that night was like incense
Speaker 2: burnt on the altar of the golden calf.
Speaker 1: The reception of guests alone took almost two hours before
Speaker 1: the official party activities began. There was dancing, and then supper,
Speaker 1: and then at three am the cotillion. The martins did
Speaker 1: not leave until six am. Many guests had taken rooms
Speaker 1: at the Waldorf so that they wouldn't have to travel
Speaker 1: to or from the ball.
Speaker 2: One slightly scandalous costume was worn by artist Athos Cushing.
Speaker 2: He addresses a fifteenth century Italian falconer, and, according to
Speaker 2: the New York Times quote was in fact thought to
Speaker 2: have gone rather too far in his impersonation. He wore
Speaker 2: tights and a short jacket, and he had a stuffed
Speaker 2: falcon attached to his arm. Apparently, although this was historically accurate,
Speaker 2: this outfit was skin tight and thus rather revealing, and
Speaker 2: he caused such a commotion that Missus Bradley Martin asked
Speaker 2: him to leave.
Speaker 1: Yes, she apparently lost her breath for a moment before
Speaker 1: she collected herself and said that was inappropriate. Once this
Speaker 1: entire party was over, accounts went to press. It was
Speaker 1: described as a triumph, also as a circus, as something
Speaker 1: beautiful and exquisite, and as ridiculous. The New York Times
Speaker 1: noted that many guests seemed to leave as quickly as
Speaker 1: they could, calling for their carriages before the ktillion even began.
Speaker 1: It also stated that the six hundred in attendance was
Speaker 1: a much lower number than hoped for, and this may
Speaker 1: be part of the confusion over how many invites were
Speaker 1: sent out. It's not clear if maybe there was a
Speaker 1: retrofit of how many they had invited to make it
Speaker 1: look like less people had declined than had actually done so.
Speaker 1: But it also describes this whole affair, This New York
Speaker 1: Times write up as quote the climax in this form
Speaker 1: of entertainment thus far reached in the metropolis. Coming up,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about the various opinions that religious leaders and
Speaker 1: everyday people and even tax assessors had of this whole event,
Speaker 1: and we will get to it after we hear from
Speaker 1: the sponsors that keep the show going. Bradley Martin Ball
Speaker 1: quickly became a flash point in public perception of how
Speaker 1: rich people operated. Cornelia Martin's intentions may have been good,
Speaker 1: and the ball certainly did help bolster trades people in
Speaker 1: the costuming, catering, and related business sectors, but that was
Speaker 1: just a small slice of the population of New York.
Speaker 1: To most people, the whole thing just looked wasteful and
Speaker 1: decadent and self indulgent. Given how many attendees had chosen
Speaker 1: to look to the court of seventeenth century France for
Speaker 1: costume inspiration, it became a sort of fitting echo of
Speaker 1: out of touch wealthy people thinking they were helping the
Speaker 1: lower classes by having fun instead of engaging in more
Speaker 1: meaningful charitable works. The press wasn't all bad, though. The
Speaker 1: Boston Daily Globe ran a commentary about the ball on
Speaker 1: the front page two weeks before the event, under the
Speaker 1: headline on Volcano's Edge, where some think the Bradley Martin
Speaker 1: guests will dance, it ran information that had been collected
Speaker 1: regarding the actual impact the ball was having to working
Speaker 1: people in New York. One costume shop had reported that
Speaker 1: they had so many orders it had created work for
Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty seamstresses. The shop owner is quoted
Speaker 1: as telling Bradley Martin of their staff quote, they are
Speaker 1: happy because they need work, and your ball has furnished it.
Speaker 1: Every woman probably represents a family and maybe its chief breadwinner.
Speaker 1: So the good does not end with these one hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty people, but in many cases benefits two and
Speaker 1: three times that number. The write up also explains that
Speaker 1: many of the attendees purchased art reproductions so that costumers
Speaker 1: could copy the clothing in them, hinting that the art
Speaker 1: market also saw some movement because of the ball. The
Speaker 1: opening of this.
Speaker 2: Multi page look at the economics of the Ball also
Speaker 2: noted that, in addition to expected beneficiaries of additional work
Speaker 2: like wig makers and boot makers, even errand girls were
Speaker 2: making a lot more money in the weeks leading up
Speaker 2: to the Big.
Speaker 1: Night, The Globe got quotes from all people on the matter.
Speaker 1: Francis Peabody Junior was quoted as saying, quote, I believe
Speaker 1: in hospitality. The rich should be very hospitable, but ostentation
Speaker 1: without hospitality is essentially vulgar. Mister Peabody also mentioned his
Speaker 1: two big problems with the ball, noting that such an
Speaker 1: extravagance would take away attention from the real issues of
Speaker 1: the poor, and also that there were likely people who
Speaker 1: might be inspired to live beyond their means as a
Speaker 1: result of normalizing such events. Mister Edwin D. Mead stated
Speaker 1: to the Globe, quote, wicked, wasteful, and wanton luxury is
Speaker 1: one of the greatest sins and dangers in our American
Speaker 1: life today. And I repeat it with emphasis now when
Speaker 1: such an illustration of it is proposed.
Speaker 2: One man said, quote, I wish this ball costs ten
Speaker 2: times whatever it will cost. It will get the money
Speaker 2: into circulation. Why the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick
Speaker 2: maker get much of the money and they need it.
Speaker 2: If the Martins pay their bills, I don't feel I
Speaker 2: have any right to criticize. There were other people who
Speaker 2: felt like the ball was doing as intended, giving work
Speaker 2: to people who would need it, and who would then
Speaker 2: spend that money throughout their communities. One of the lengthier
Speaker 2: responses from Rabbi Charles Fleischer examined more deeply the ethical
Speaker 2: issues of the money that the Martins were spending. He
Speaker 2: spoke to the paper about every man having the right
Speaker 2: to himself and that not being something other people should
Speaker 2: infringe upon. He then continued, quote, I am not blind
Speaker 2: to the fact that these expensive functions give employment to
Speaker 2: quite a little army of workers. If I thought that
Speaker 2: the question had only this temporary interest, perhaps I would
Speaker 2: not hesitate to say, eat, drink, and be merrier than usual,
Speaker 2: dress and entertain more lavishly than ever. For every unusual
Speaker 2: extravagance puts more money into circulation and gives added opportunity
Speaker 2: of employment. Your indulgence in luxuries will enable many a
Speaker 2: wretch to earn the bare necessities. But my view of
Speaker 2: the question is a large one. Even in these times,
Speaker 2: we must not expect to revive business and set the
Speaker 2: wheels of industry in motion by artificial means. You might
Speaker 2: as reasonably expect to sail a boat when becomed by
Speaker 2: the wind which results from your whistling for it. After
Speaker 2: being questioned for clarity, the rabbi responded, if the fortune
Speaker 2: that will be spent and wasted at the ball was
Speaker 2: put into some permanent investment that would continue to give
Speaker 2: employment and to yield returns, the gain to the world's
Speaker 2: wealth and the benefit to labor would be incalculably larger.
Speaker 2: Even before the ball happened, According to Bradley's brother Frederick,
Speaker 2: there was criticism from the city's religious leaders. He quoted
Speaker 2: one minister who included mention of the ball in his
Speaker 2: Sunday sermon, quote, you rich people put next to nothing
Speaker 2: in the collection plate, and yet you'll spend thousands of
Speaker 2: dollars on Missus Bradley Martin's ball.
Speaker 1: Reverend William S. Rainsford urged invitees in his congregation to
Speaker 1: skip the ball, noting that social conditions were already both
Speaker 1: awful and a hot button issue, and hinting that it
Speaker 1: would make them look really bad to attend. When he
Speaker 1: was questioned by a New York Times reporter about the sermon,
Speaker 1: he stated that what he said in his church was
Speaker 1: between him and his parishioners, But he also noted to
Speaker 1: the reporter that while spending for the ball quote, might
Speaker 1: benefit a large number of well to do people, and
Speaker 1: through them the poorer people. He thought such benefit was
Speaker 1: overbalanced by the discord which would or might be created.
Speaker 2: On March fifth, The New York Times ran a brief
Speaker 2: piece quoting doctor Samuel Johnson's opinion of the ball, which
Speaker 2: read quote, A man cannot make a bad use of
Speaker 2: his money, so far as regards society. If he does
Speaker 2: not hoard it, or if he rather spends it or
Speaker 2: lends it out, society has the benefit. It is in
Speaker 2: general better to spend money than to give it away.
Speaker 2: A man who spends his money is sure he is
Speaker 2: doing good with it. He is not sure when he
Speaker 2: gives it away. A man who spends ten thousand a
Speaker 2: year will do more good than a man who spends
Speaker 2: two thousand and gives away eight. Public opinion about the
Speaker 2: Martins and their massive ball had become so vitriolic in
Speaker 2: the days leading up to it that there was concern
Speaker 2: there might be a riot outside of it, or even
Speaker 2: a violent attack on the attendees invit. Theodore Roosevelt, who
Speaker 2: was on the board of Police Commissioners in New York
Speaker 2: at the time, skipped the ball while his wife attended
Speaker 2: because he wanted to be outside with his police force
Speaker 2: ready to lead them in case something happened. I read
Speaker 2: one theory that he didn't really want to go to
Speaker 2: the ball, and this was a good excuse, but we
Speaker 2: don't know.
Speaker 1: There were two hundred police officers covering the area, as
Speaker 1: well as a number of plane closed policemen. No problems
Speaker 1: ever really arose, other than people on the street being
Speaker 1: kind of irritated by all the commotion. It hadn't helped
Speaker 1: that a huge chunk of thirty third Street had been
Speaker 1: closed to pedestrians the night of the ball, so that
Speaker 1: the carriages of the wealthy attendees could more easily make
Speaker 1: their way. This was presumably also a security measure, given
Speaker 1: the large number of valuables that were walking in and
Speaker 1: out of the event. The sent a message that rich
Speaker 1: people were more important to the city than average citizens. Roosevelt,
Speaker 1: because of his.
Speaker 2: Role with the police, dismissed these complaints as nonsense, and
Speaker 2: stead in a statement to the press that anyone with
Speaker 2: business on the street had been able to pass, and
Speaker 2: that the police were trying to avoid accidents from onlookers
Speaker 2: obstructing traffic on the clogged street more than anything else.
Speaker 2: He insisted they would have done the same thing for
Speaker 2: any event, regardless of the grandeur. As for Frederick Martin's account,
Speaker 2: though he did mention the combination of refinement and vulgarity
Speaker 2: in his description, he also said to the ball, quote
Speaker 2: I cannot conceive why this entertainment should have been condemned.
Speaker 2: We Americans are so accustomed to display that I should
Speaker 2: have thought the ball would not have been regarded as
Speaker 2: anything very unusual. Everyone said it was the most brilliant
Speaker 2: function of the kind ever seen in America, and it
Speaker 2: certainly was the most talked about, not just talked about,
Speaker 2: but also satirized. On March twenty sixth, just forty five
Speaker 2: days after the Ball, a new burlesque musical opened at
Speaker 2: the Olympia Music Hall titled Missus Radley Barton's Ball in
Speaker 2: Greater New York. This work, created by Oscar Hammerstein, got
Speaker 2: mixed reviews, while one syndicated review said, quote all the
Speaker 2: manifold resources of the Olympia were concentrated in the music
Speaker 2: Hall with a superb production. In the opinion of competent critics,
Speaker 2: the production equals in splendor anything of the kind ever
Speaker 2: seen in New York. Other critics were far less kind,
Speaker 2: with one commentator noting quote on the whole it was
Speaker 2: without a redeeming feature, and Hammerstein got embroiled in a
Speaker 2: back and forth with the press about it. Alas, the
Speaker 2: libretto to this has not survived and there seems to
Speaker 2: be no real information about the contents of the play itself. Yeah,
Speaker 2: even historians of Hammerstein are like, we don't know, we
Speaker 2: don't know what was in it.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be fun?
Speaker 2: Though? Oh?
Speaker 1: The dream? That's my dream for unearthed? One day in
Speaker 1: the wake of this ball, the Martins found that they
Speaker 1: faced a significant increase in their taxes. Their property in
Speaker 1: New York was reevaluated and determined to be word double
Speaker 1: what it had previously been assessed at. This was not
Speaker 1: a case where all of the high end homes of
Speaker 1: New York simultaneously got reassessed and went up in value.
Speaker 1: It was the Martins alone, and they felt this was
Speaker 1: retribution for the Ball. This led to a lengthy dispute
Speaker 1: with New York authorities and large tax sums being paid
Speaker 1: by the Martins. And having that issue after also having
Speaker 1: endured constant criticism from the press, really soured Bradley and
Speaker 1: Cornelia Martin on New York society life. In the spring
Speaker 1: of eighteen ninety nine, Martin sold his home in New
Speaker 1: York with the address twenty and twenty two West twentieth Street,
Speaker 1: that is in the Flatiron District, and he hosted a
Speaker 1: much smaller farewell dinner for their closest friends, eighty six
Speaker 1: of them, before leaving the US for good. They purchased
Speaker 1: a home at for Chesterfields Gardens in London, and from
Speaker 1: that point on Bradley and Cornelia lived exclusively in the
Speaker 1: British Isles. They continued to spend summers at their Scotland estate.
Speaker 1: Bradley Martin died in London on February fifth, nineteen thirteen,
Speaker 1: after a short case of pneumonia which developed at the
Speaker 1: tail end of about of the flu. Even then, sixteen
Speaker 1: years after the Ball, his obituaries ran with subtitles like
Speaker 1: gave great Ball in eighteen ninety seven. When he died,
Speaker 1: he left his entire estate, which was valued at between
Speaker 1: ten and fifteen million dollars, to his wife, Cornelia, much
Speaker 1: to the chagran of American tax assessors, because he had
Speaker 1: established legal residency in England that massive accumulation of assets,
Speaker 1: which consisted of railroad bonds, stock and cash, was not
Speaker 1: taxable in New York according to newspaper records of the time.
Speaker 1: His wife, Cornelia died seven years later. Yeah, and all
Speaker 1: of that bad press, some people have said, kind of
Speaker 1: harkened the of New York society. I could talk about
Speaker 1: this ball forever because it fascinates me. It's such a
Speaker 1: weird and sort of wonderful. But also what kind of
Speaker 1: situation in the meantime? Listener mail? I have delightful listener mail.
Speaker 1: Oh good our listener Jen who writes Hi, guys, longtime
Speaker 1: listener here And whilst I've threatened to write in before
Speaker 1: the episode on Margaret E. Knight tipped me over the edge.
Speaker 1: You speak about industrial mill accidents and I specialize in
Speaker 1: Lancashire dialect weaving songs and ballads from Manchester and Lancashire,
Speaker 1: UK from the nineteenth century. Shuttles were certainly dangerous and
Speaker 1: this is reflected in the songs. In Poverty Knock there's
Speaker 1: a verse about a shuttle flying out and giving a
Speaker 1: weaver a clout, and Sam Fitten of Oldham caricaturist and
Speaker 1: weaver drew an image of a weaver being hit in
Speaker 1: the head with a shuttle and a caption of e
Speaker 1: how nice, Oh, how nice in the cotton factory times.
Speaker 1: I have dedicated my life to making the songs relevant
Speaker 1: to a modern popular to keep the flame of local
Speaker 1: history lit, and most recently have written a manuscript using
Speaker 1: the songs to understand the contemporary garment industry in Bangladesh today.
Speaker 1: My work is here. You can go to Jennifer Ballads
Speaker 1: dot com if you want to check that out. Jennifer
Speaker 1: also writes, keep up the good work. I love driving
Speaker 1: the van and listening to you both. I don't have
Speaker 1: a pet, but here's a picture of my boyfriend and Puffin.
Speaker 1: She also answers to Tiffin and she has the sweetest heart.
Speaker 1: Puffin looks like a husky or malamute and is gorgeous
Speaker 1: and looks like a big baby, which I love all
Speaker 1: the best, And she writes all my best, Jen, thank
Speaker 1: you so much. I love knowing that there's someone out
Speaker 1: there working to make sure this stuff, which we talk
Speaker 1: about as historical past events, yes, stays relevant to people
Speaker 1: and is easy to draw the line from things that
Speaker 1: happen in history to things that are happening today, because
Speaker 1: that's really kind of our whole jam and it's cool
Speaker 1: and I love it. I haven't gotten to go check
Speaker 1: out your work kitchen, but I will after this.
Speaker 2: I only clicked on the url, but I do already
Speaker 2: know the song Poverty Knock because I used to hang
Speaker 2: out with a lot of Renaissance festival performers and folk singers,
Speaker 2: and I think the like, unless that's your jam, unless
Speaker 2: that's like the circle that you move in. I feel
Speaker 2: like the place that people might have encountered that song
Speaker 2: is on a chumble Wamba album, which if the only
Speaker 2: chumbawamba song you know is tub Thumpin' that one.
Speaker 1: That one.
Speaker 2: There's just a whole catalog of songs about like anarchy
Speaker 2: and labor and all of that, including a whole album
Speaker 2: called English Rebels Songs that includes a version of Poverty
Speaker 2: Knock on there. I actually like that song quite a lot,
Speaker 2: so I was very glad to get an email about it.
Speaker 1: Nice. Nice. If you would like to write us an email,
Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com.
Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media as Missed
Speaker 1: in History, and if you have yet to subscribe, you
Speaker 1: can do that right now. It's super easy on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 2: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
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Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.