At many points during America's Gilded Age, it seemed the center of that glittering yet confined

social world lay somewhere between Fifth and Madison Avenues in the palaces of New York City.

But the Gilded Age East Coast elite, at least those in that tiny top tier, like the famous Aster's and Vanderbilt,

were a nomadic group, dividing time between mansions in the city, lengthy stays in Europe,

and time in one of the great enclaves outside the city, such as the subject of our show today.

That was, well, as at least one writer has called it

Fifth Avenue, Sir Mayor. That world to which the moneyed migrated for at least a few weeks

every summer was, of course, Newport. The town with colonial origins on the Rhode Island coastline

was where one found, not palaces,

at least as the elite ironically described them, but cottages.

But who are we kidding?

These grand homes with sweeping lawns stretching down to the sea were among some of the grandest homes

late 19th century America had ever seen.

And in most cases, they were in attempt for this sliver of society to forge an instant identity by

copying the centuries-old cultures in Europe.

Our show today takes a very special and truly unique look inside the world of the great

houses and the lavish lifestyles that made up the Newport Social scene in the last

third of the 19th century and very early years of the 20th.

So I invite you to put on your finest satin gown from Paris for perhaps a ball at the breakers

or pristine whites for a game of croquet out on the lawn for our Insiders look at Newport.

Music Hello, I'm Carl Raymond, the host of the Gilded Gentleman History podcast, where every two weeks we journey into corners light and dark for a look at America's Gilded Age, Francis Belipoc, and England's late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Many people, when they try to imagine the world of Newport Society in the Gilded Age, think of the grand houses,

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