11 REAL HOUSEWIVES of the GILDED AGE

So what do you do when it’s the late 1800s, you’re a wealthy heiress, and you’ve never worked a day in your life? What do you do as the wife of a rich tycoon, when your only job is to maintain a very posh life, and appear as rich as possible?
Well, you’re about to find out!
Today we’re heading back to the gilded age. This time, so you can learn all about the women who ruled the American elite.
These are the women who were not only made of money, but they dominated high society, and were no less ruthless than their robber baron husbands. Though they may have concerned themselves with what most might call “rich people problems”, we still think you will find their stories quite compelling.
So come along with us as we introduce you to each grand dame, and reveal to you exactly how they spent their days, as well as their money.
Without further delay, here are 11 real housewives of the gilded age.
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11 REAL HOUSEWIVES of the GILDED AGE
• 11 REAL HOUSEWIVES of ...

[@tcardenas7249]

More housewives/high society videos please!!! From all different times in history. My favorite video by far!

[@fancyfancy6471]

“Gilded: covered or highlighted with gold or something of a golden color. 2. having a pleasing or showy appearance that conceals something of little worth.” Describes the times so well.

[@KINGCABA-if4nk]

Great video, it’s makes me understand more of the gilded age tv series. Women rules the society whilst the men rules the industries & banks.

[@schmancy2978]

Thank you!

[@sofiabravo1994]

But women weren’t able to make up the rules no power or influence muh something patriarchy 😂

[@tammyvincent9417]

These are the "historic" Real Housewives of New York.

[@ninaelsbethgustavsen2131]

These women were not "Housewives". They each were the "Mistress of the House". Pampered and spoilt, they had servants for every little purpose. A real housewife does her own chores.

[@michaelplunkett8059]

They had to be very effective managers. Social obligations and calendars and manage a staff of 100 running 3 large homes including renovations.

[@sofiabravo1994]

But if you think of it very superficially, they were wives who lived in their homes and spent most of their lives there so that’s why it makes sense to call them housewives not that they actually took the responsibilities of taking care of the house

[@sofiabravo1994]

And that’s why I really like the distinction between housewives and homemakers or domestic workers, because it actually gives more specific information of the role.

[@nishashawn2021]

​@sofiabravo1994 No, they were society women. Very different from a homemaker.

[@charleshamilton9274]

As if you rightfully define, “real.” You make me ill with your witless existence.

[@shars.555]

Everything 'fancy-smancy'... "Fawnsy-Smawncy". 😂😂😂

[@shars.555]

British humor. I love it. Thanks for this video.

[@QueenWendyLu]

So Alva Vanderbilt was a supporter of women’s rights, and she forced Consuelo into a loveless marriage.

[@schmancy2978]

It seems she had a change of heart in her later years (after her own unhappy marriage and divorce). It is also known that she made amends to her daughter and they reconciled.

[@michaelplunkett8059]

She evolved.

[@katherinek2709]

She actually did a lot to atone for that later and seems to have recognized she was in the wrong. She supported her daughter's divorce case on the grounds of non-consent (exposing herself as a villain) and her owning up to her failures helped give further generations space to move forward. She was complex and interesting.

[@narvelancoleman8597]

As interesting as they were... their snobbery and thinking they were better than anyone not of their status; was absolutely revolting and utterly sinful!! I admire Ms. Whitney, for pursuing her gift of art!

[@eleonoragv]

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Arabella Huntington, Isabella Stewart Gardner ...extraordinary women!!! Chapeau !!! Thxs a million for this video"""

[@OnlyJalenPhd]

Such a cool dive!!! Loved it!

[@LSTEdD1]

Wonderful video! As a former guide at The Breakers in Newport it was wonderful to hear the stories of theses very interesting women. One note... it is still a mystery where the priceless paintings are, including a Vermeer and a Rembrandt, that were stolen from The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The paintings’ empty frames remain on the walls of the museum.

[@schmancy2978]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! The Isabella Stewart Gardner heist is quite fascinating. Not sure how they got away with such large paintings???

[@danialeatherman8934]

There’s a real good Netflix special on the heist They know who did it but they are all dead. And no one knows where the art is. According to the special of course

[@LSTEdD1]

@@danialeatherman8934 Thank you. I have seen bits of it and you remind me to look it up again.

[@PatriciaMei-qt1cy]

@danialeatherman8394 Would be remember the name of the Netflix show about the heist? Thank you!

[@danialeatherman8934]

@@PatriciaMei-qt1cy Fount it as we say in TN. It’s This is a Robbery! I am sure you will enjoy

[@tturner12341]

I’ve been to so many of these mansion and museums over the years. From the Huntington to the Gardner museum in Boston. I think I’ve been to every private museum in the country. Plus all the Newport mansions.

[@faithray-zf2ob]

Come visit the Ruth Livingston Mills mansion at Staatsburgh Historic Site

[@nacholulu]

Wonderful video; thank you!

[@garrengroom3831]

Thank you for including Gertrude at the end.

[@jro6681]

I love your channel. I just thoroughly enjoy your stories. I have been binging on them all day. Thank you for all of hard work❤

[@schmancy2978]

Thank you. Much appreciated!

[@Linda98671]

Thank you, very interesting information.

[@mantronixtube]

it’s also so lovely that the whitney still has her radical spirit

[@lynebjornson2928]

Thank you. I enjoyed it, very much.❤

[@schmancy2978]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@marlenaAKAmarz]

Brilliant channel … OBSESSED

[@asa3409]

Most interesting fact to me was about Williamsburg. Great video!

[@PatriciaMei-qt1cy]

What a wonderful video. I learned so much. The great fortunes of that age really did set the stage for American history of that time. I would love to learn more about Margaret Whitney. What an immense talent. I had no idea that the Whitney museum was established by such an artist. Fascinating and important. Thank you so much for this truly amazing work!

[@LinCalTron]

Well done video. Thoughts on including Clara Congdon from Glensheen in Duluth?

[@ellenmoore2489]

I thoroughly enjoyed this 😊❤

[@schmancy2978]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!

[@LJB103]

I'm glad that you included Isabella Stewart Gardner on this list, but I would also have included Bertha Honore, aka Mrs. Potter Palmer of Chicago and Eva Stotesbury of Philadelphia. When Arabella married Collis Huntington they moved into his Park Ave mansion - then they built the mansion on the corner of 5th Ave and E 57th Street. William Astor built the Waldorf to spite his aunt. Her son then built the Astoria to upstage his cousin. Then they were merged to become the Waldorf-Astoria. Tessie Oelrichs had the real money in her marriage, not her husband. The home that the Rockefellers razed for MOMA was the same house where Huntington had set up Arabella Worsham.

[@schmancy2978]

Thank you! We looked into Mrs. Potter Palmer and Eva Stotesbury. Will try to include them in a future video. Also agreed about Mrs. Astor. She had a special way of inspiring her son and nephew to get them to reach their “highest” potentials.

[@LJB103]

@@schmancy2978 Another name that popped into my head was Mary Lily Kennan (first Mrs. Henry Flagler and then Mrs. Robert Worth Bingham. Her money kick-started the Bingham fortune in Louisville). Eva Stotesbury and Mary Flagler could be the "The Real Housewives of Gilded Age Palm Beach."

[@Condesamontes]

My Mother’s only “European” line is Stewart from Scotland. She hails, generations ago, from an illegitimate child of an important man. They landed in VA and then went up the coast. It amazes me that children of wealth and privilege, who were illegitimate, were given a pile of money and sent to America.

[@heathermichael3987]

A pet lion 🤦‍♀️

[@LSTEdD1]

Arabella Huntington’s son founded the wonderful Hispanic Society in New York City. It’s a museum housing beautiful Spanish paintings including Joaquin Sorolla’s wonderful murals of the regions of Spain.

[@bahiyyahmoore4851]

was he Hispanic?

[@LSTEdD1]

@@bahiyyahmoore4851 No, he just had a great interest in Hispanic art, and I believe Philippine art.

[@elaineschildmeyer3877]

I liked #11 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney for using her artistic gifts to create sculptures and not just become a slave to upper crust society. Also, #7 Louise Whitfield Carnegie for her and her husband’s philanthropic work.

[@Tristan0712]

Louise Whitfield Carnegie fascinated me the most by far! Thank you so much for this 😊

[@jennhanna8126]

wow!, what a bunch of power houses! they really don't make them like they used to! lol haha, i would have loved to hear more about their families(children) etc. great video, thank you for sharing i really enjoyed it!

[@mantronixtube]

wow … i grew up going to the huntington library … driving on huntington drive which is a massive very very major street …. i never knew this history ! she was WILD ! so cool ! maybe she was in the san gabriel valley at the same time as charlotte perkins gilman … this was so amazing thank you so much ☺️

[@schmancy2978]

Thanks for sharing!

[@acerrome9672]

Fascinating time in history, makes feel like going back in time to see the lifestyle of these people, - the Victorian era, better known as Gilded age. Thanks for sharing.

[@schmancy2978]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.

[@areplica-]

The Whitney is one of the best museums in ny

[@jonathansavage9843]

10 . Very cool art.

[@sephmanatac8569]

No wonder the old money ladies are disgusted by the lifestyle of the new money ladies 😮😅🤣

[@Aegar_Targaryen]

I actually didn't know about the Mayflower and Livingston after watching the series The Gilded Age, I didn't know that America had a history like that...

[@noregrets7469]

I gotta admit that they all fascinated me🌹

[@FireHosing]

It is very interesting to capture a snapshot of the lives of these families. I thank God I am not a part of this high society culture.

[@kentbrasloff3945]

I'm delighted to live a few blocks from one of Gerty's wonderful sculptures. The Washington Heights-Inwood War Memorial, also known as the Inwood Monument, is a World War I (WWI) memorial monument sculpted by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, with a base by Albert Randolph Ross. Another Whitney "wife", Frances Janeway Whitney, was equally modern and creative. Divorcing in the 1950's, she rather scandalously went into trade, opening a millinery salon! Many years later she re-created some of her designs for Barney's. In between, she created kinetic art pieces, sculptures, mobiles, jewelry, drawings, and paintings. In fact, she debuted a collection of some type every single year from 1946 until her death in the early 2000's. When adding a pond to her country home, she got down in the hole to direct the driver of the land-mover to be sure the edges were just the shape she wanted.

[@Shelly-mz9yf]

Umm... her history utube channel says different on timeliness and situations. Love both y'all would you consider discussing??😀

[@Lisabug2659]

They would be appalled at “society” today

[@buttercxpdraws8101]

It’s exactly the same! What are you talking about??

[@tammybenaytv4631]

Society is synonymous with high society. High society lives as they have always lived. Mostly out of the public eye and they only interact with each other. They now or never cared what the commoners are doing. It is still today almost impossible to enter high society if you were not born into it.

[@deadlykitten.5908]

No 1. Definitely

[@taylorguerinwilkens9808]

Seems odd to go out of your way to say that Isabella Stewart Gardner's museum is "still just as she left it in 1924" when it very famously is not.

[@girle5584]

Gertrude Whitney had spirit and spunk and unleashed what was inside her. Ahead of her time.

[@dapdne4916]

Reminds me of Anderson Cooper (son of Gloria Vanderbilt Cooper, creator also of Vanderbilt Jeans. Horray). What about the Corning family (Cornell?)

[@cindys1819]

I have one thing to say about all of them...Bow Wow.....

[@balthazarification]

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney-one of the only ones who has a standing, revered monument to her name which thrives in NYC with her grandaughter and great-grand daughter today.Probably because she came from money, and education, understood money and what it could do, had real solid, society connections and an inherent knowledge that her art would stand the test of time .

[@SmokyMountainBlessed]

interesting

[@hanagloriaedelblum5693]

I enjoyed the historical contexts of where we got values we see until yoday.

[@sandracavataio8995]

I enjoyed it very much. You didn't mention the Rothschilds

[@warrenlewis3977]

There should have been NO homeless and hungry people in New York while they were alive.

[@carag2567]

There should be no homeless or hungry people ever.

[@terryimber23]

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was the protagonist in the poor little gloria Vanderbilt custody battle. I think even the briefest profile of her role in the social register should have mentioned this crucial fact about her. What’s more, the late gloria Vanderbilt gives Gertrude Whitney credit as having mentored her own artistic pursuits.

[@lexirae7889]

How empty would life have been for these women? Money can make many aspects of human existence more pleasant, but, it won't give your life meaning, in & of itself.

[@miguelgonzales7762]

What about Ms. George Russell ( Bertha ) ?

[@schmancy2978]

Thanks, but she a fictional character.

[@miguelgonzales7762]

Thanks 😊 for this video ❤

[@baylorsailor]

14:34 that's not Abby Rockefeller.

[@2615ParkAvenueAssociates]

Would Huguette Clark, and her astonishing art collections inherited from her father Senator William A. Clark, and added to by herself, fit into your category? She certainly outlived them all and still had a 300 million dollar fortune upon her death.

[@schmancy2978]

Yes, most certainly. Though we have Huguette lined up for a future video.

[@valeriereyes5552]

I'm so glad you mentioned Huguette Clark! Her story is fascinating. I had the opportunity to visit her summer home she shared with her mother in Santa Barbara. The home is truly magnificent and the grounds are absolutely beautiful. I look forward to this channel creating a video about her. 😊

[@2615ParkAvenueAssociates]

Thank you for the kind comment. Her story certainly is fascinating and remarkable; there are so many facets to her story. Are you aware of the book by Bill Dedman and her cousin called, "Empty Mansions"? You might enjoy reading it. @@valeriereyes5552

[@Mythoughtonpoliticaltopics]

These are the role models that these young people need to follow. I love this channel

[@seeleunit2000]

... Are you serious ? These people were never role models and aren't people you'd want to be role models. These women were mainly very wealthy housewives who had a lot of time on their hands, with often loveless marriages. These are the types of people who wouldn't so much as look at people such as you or me; it's amazing you want anyone to model themselves after these people.

[@schmancy2978]

The most exemplary are Louise Carnegie and Alva Vanderbilt (in her later years).

[@Mythoughtonpoliticaltopics]

@@seeleunit2000 look no one is perfect no one. But the mess I see out here with the women yes I say these ladies where role models . Back in that time .Now these women out here are not role models. They go half dress. Their mouth is a mess curse like no one business. Do not take care of themselves. .

[@Mythoughtonpoliticaltopics]

@@seeleunit2000 Ok what is your point? To me is sound like u are jealous? Becaue everyone else think the same way I do. Being jealous get you know where. This is history. Learn from it.

[@tamaragerasimova2405]

Late 19th hundert! (18….) 18th hundert is 1760,for example😢

[@AmeliaAbroad]

If I would have been a rich gilded age lady I would have wanted to be like Mrs fish I would want the wild party life like you’re so rich you don’t have any worries what a life

[@LadyCat183]

Not a word about any of their flaws.

[@rosepelzel4244]

They all seem to look alike!

[@gloriapasewaldt5364]

Please cut out the mudic beats in the background next time.

[@Suntan38]

Can you even imagine being born into so much $$$ and upper-class snobbery. Imagine NEVER in your life concerned with $$$ 😮

[@Agapy8888]

Most of the opulent homes were not built by the horse and buggy era. Founded doesn’t mean built.

[@skbnvacaville]

Madeleine Force Astor was the best of them all~ totally without guile or pretense. (Read The Second Mrs. Astor)

[@tammybenaytv4631]

Is that the one that got beat up by the boxer she stole from his wife and then died young. How was she the best? She didn’t even leave John Jacob anything when she died. She all but abandoned him and left him to live alone while built a new life with her second and third husband.

[@Robyn-by6qt]

The Vanderbilt family gave back in various philosophical ways .

[@Shelilah41]

The last woman.

[@user-tq9pv1zw6x]

Real housewives of the gilded age? These dames sure as hell aren't housewives!

[@judithl.morton9178]

And have babies.

[@jennslifeinhuntingtonwv2678]

I live in Huntington, WV. It was named after Collis P Huntington. Even though he never lived here. He saw it from the train and bought the land.

[@jerrold3685]

Like this but sounds like AI narrorator.

[@conclavecabal.h0rriphic]

The AI narration makes this impossible to finish watching this.

[@SJTJ]

The voice KILLS me. Only made it 20 secs in

[@swissuz]

These are not housewives by definition. Gilded by marriage only.

[@vaska1999]

Upper class, wealthy women. Not housewives by any stretch of the imagina.

[@jakecavendish3470]

They all look highly flamable

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

Go horseback riding and make ceramics

[@francisfischer7620]

What a lot of foolishness!

[@katewebber1131]

They really not that good looking, money speaks for sure😢😢😢

[@F_Y_F_T_Y]

I don't like any of these woman lol

[@tammyvincent9417]

They're not trying to impress you