Social History
Social History• December 18, 2017

Palm Beach Social History: Casa Apava: Architectural Flashback

With past and present presidential links garnering much of the Palm Beach limelight, it may be fitting to recount the work of the youngest son of President James Garfield, architect Abram Garfield, who designed Casa Apava. Although today it is best known for its Billionaire’s Row location, impressive measurements and astronomical price, the secluded oceanfront […]...

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Romanesque Revival: Addison Mizner’s Riverside Baptist Church

Social History• November 1, 2017.
Addison Mizner’s influential style continues to shape Palm Beach and Boca Raton’s architectural ambiance. And yet, what some consider Mizner’s magnum opus, his only religious building, remains far-removed from this protective limelight. One of 16 churches and more than 2,000 contributing buildings comprising Jacksonville’s Riverside Histori... READ MORE
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Nikola Tesla: A SoHo story

Social History• September 22, 2017.
Now here’s a different sort of SoHo story. Tesla. Not the car company. Not the heavy metal band. The inventor Nikola Tesla. Back in the 1880’s and ‘90s when SoHo was descending from its prosperous heights, a young man from a village in Croatia, in his mid-20s, had three laboratories located in the SoHo: one […]... READ MORE
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JOHN RINGLING NORTH – CIRCUS KING

Social History• July 18, 2017.
John Ringling North was a combination of Circus King, showmanship, brassy flamboyance, huckster salesman and perennial Playboy, and was a good enough show to compete with the acts and spectacles he produced under the Big Top for the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey combined shows. Against all the odds, he brought the family circus into […]... READ MORE
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Palm Beach Social Diary: Uncommon Lives

Social History• March 30, 2017.
Uncommon Lives: David & Gertrude! Emily! Charles! Gertie! George & LaLa! Palm Beach’s seasonal social cha-cha-cha may be drawing to a close but apparently islanders will still need to adjust their calendar and logistics for the comings-and-goings of POTUS45, especially those living within the perimeter termed “the zone.” L... READ MORE
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Architectural Illusion: Villa Giardino at Palm Beach

Social History• March 22, 2017.
Architectural Illusion: Villa Giardino at Palm Beach During the early 1930s Ohan Berberyan moved his Spanish Art Galleries shop from Worth Avenue to Peruvian Avenue where he recreated a Venetian Gothic showroom with formal Italian gardens to house his palatial Aubusson tapestries, Savonnerie carpets and ancient artifacts. At the time, Peruvian Aven... READ MORE
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This was Then: Malcom Forbes’ 70th, Part II

Social History• February 22, 2017.
Photographs by Mary Hilliard Malcolm Forbes was the most celebrated magazine publisher of his day although there were others far richer and with larger media empires. Forbes was famous for his lifestyle, which was viewed as a kind of flashy irreverence. He appeared to be the ultimate WASP who could “get down” with the best […]... READ MORE
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This was Then: Malcolm Forbes’ 70th Birthday, Part I

Social History• February 21, 2017.
Malcolm Forbes is a name that only vaguely, if that, resonates with anyone under fifty today. Yet when he died 27 years ago at the age of 70, he was one of the most famous personalities in America as a result of his flashy talent for his great publishing success as well as other business […]... READ MORE
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America First: Howard Major at Palm Beach

Social History• January 12, 2017.
America First: Howard Major at Palm Beach Architect Howard Major was Palm Beach’s leading advocate for an American-based classical building style during the post-WW I boom when Spanish and Italian reproductions became commonplace. Foreshadowing today’s “America First” populist sentiment, Major believed a mix of Old World styles should never... READ MORE
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Aristocratic Artist: Albert Herter at Palm Beach

Social History• August 23, 2016.
Aristocratic Artist: Albert Herter at Palm Beach “Well, Albert Herter simply has no right to exist. To begin with, he was born to wealth and social position; he is handsome and attractive in manner, and he has exceptional talent. You see, his career knocks the props from under those accepted saws about the impetus of […]... READ MORE
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Otto Kahn’s Palm Beach

Social History• February 27, 2015.
At Palm Beach, where most everyone was a somebody at some time somewhere for something, prominent Jewish personalities are not customarily included in the telling of the resort’s history. By recounting their lives, it enriches our appreciation for the complex social order that once existed when notables like Otto Kahn made Palm Beach their re... READ MORE
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Resort Life, Chapter XXXVIII: January 1970 – December 1970 Palm Beach + Boca Grande + Down East + Brittany + Ireland

Social History• March 24, 2014.
On New Year’s Day 1970, maestro Leopold Stokowski was visiting Palm Beach. Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin was due for a vacation at The Breakers. Dina Merrill and Cliff Robertson were put up at Mar-a-Lago. Alvin and Lilly Fuller were ensconced in their new Chinese-style house with a ten-tier pagoda by the pool.  During the holidays... READ MORE
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Resort Life, Chapter XXXIII: August – December 1967 Down East + Palm Beach + Naples + Virgin Islands

Social History• January 14, 2014.
By 1967, Brooke Astor had already made a name for herself.  Following her short-lived five-and-one-half year marriage to Vincent Astor, and his ensuing death in 1959, she spent the next more than four decades dispensing as much as $200 million.  As head of the Astor Foundation, she became New York’s most generous godmother. Having transforme... READ MORE

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The Fresh Air Fund held’s annual A Midsummer Night’s Dream Benefit; Save Venice and American Foundation of Savoy Order hosted a joint cocktail reception; Northern Westchester Hospital’s 2019 annual benefit; An evening reception to raise awareness for the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood; Jean Shafiroff hosted a gathering to celebrate the Mission Society’s impact on New York City.
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And guess who gets the Christmas blues ... But not until she’s made a lot of the parties before, and after she’s stopped to get some rest.
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