Social History
Palm Beach• January 7, 2020

A Debutante’s Diary, Part I: 1919-1920

Returning to Ellen Glendinning Frazer Ordway, whose photo memoir began with her 1919-1920 coverage “A Debutante’s Diary, Part I” of young of Society making their debuts...

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The Last Voyage of the SS Ile de France

Social History• January 3, 2020.
Re-visiting Scott Houston McBee’s tour of the fallen SS Ile de France, launched in 1926 with a maiden voyage on June 22, 1927 from Le Havre to New York and still considered one of the most beautifully decorated ocean liners built by the French Line... READ MORE
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Hetty Green: The Woman Who Loved Money

Social History• November 27, 2019.
Reviewing the amazing life of the Wicked Witch of Wall Street, Hetty Green, the woman who loved money... READ MORE
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Palm Beach Social Diary: Estee Lauder’s PB era

Across the Nation• November 20, 2019.
Forever Young: Estee Lauder’s Palm Beach era Helen Boehm invited Estee out to Wellington for an afternoon at the polo matches when Helen said she told Estee: “You should sponsor a polo team; it would be good for business.” According to Helen, Estee replied, “But what if my team didn’t win.” “MAD MEN” is back... READ MORE
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Resort Life: Chapter XXX, May 1966 – September 1966

Social History• September 2, 2019.
The Ritz, The Rolls & Rendezvous on the Rocks: Re-visiting Ellen Glendinning’s fabulous photo album from a Labor Day Weekend in Northeast Harbor 53 years ago in 1966... READ MORE
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THE OLD FALL RIVER LINE: NIGHT BOATS FROM NEW YORK TO BOSTON

Social History• August 30, 2019.
Leaving New York for a holiday, or business, for nearly a century it was the old Fall River Line, night boats from New York to Boston could make you wish for the ticket and the ride especially today. A trip and reported by Michael Grace taking us down history’s memory lane... READ MORE
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Mrs. Post’s Mar-a-Lago

Palm Beach• August 28, 2019.
A look back on the creation of Mar-a-Lago by Marjorie Meriweather Post Hutton, the biggest, most fantastic house in Palm Beach built in the heyday of the Roaring Twenties, now the property of the President of the United States, as its owner intended... READ MORE
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Palm Beach Social History: High Rollers: Gambling on Palm Beach

Across the Nation• April 12, 2019.
We re-visit Augustus Mayhew’s High Rollers: Gambling on Palm Beach — a wondrous, fascinating history of another time and another world... READ MORE
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The Gilded Cage: Tragedy at Palm Beach

Palm Beach• September 27, 2018.
“Men who club women and drag them by their hair,” were simply “clumsy, old-fashioned and unchic,” declared society referee Igor Cassini in his August 1949 syndicated column Cavemen in the Blue Book. Reflecting on the post-WW II era’s tolerance for domestic assault, the article’s perspective on “slaphappy lovebirds” and “the little... READ MORE
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The Coconuts! A Palm Beach Party History: 1920-2018

Palm Beach• May 23, 2018.
“There is to be a Tropical Ball given by a group of young men styling themselves The Cocoanuts at the Country Club tonight …” — The Palm Beach Post, February 18, 1920, page seven. On December 31, 1991 at The Breakers Golf Club several Coconuts offered conflicting timelines when a local reporter asked them to […]... READ MORE
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Higher Ground: Tall Timbers revives Livingstons’ Florida plantation

Palm Beach• April 27, 2018.
In 1958 prominent New York architect-turned-naturalist Henry L. Beadel repurposed his 2,400-acre Tall Timbers hunting plantation into an ecological preserve to conduct conservation studies on the estate’s vegetation and wildlife. Sixty years later, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy is Florida and Georgia’s largest regional la... READ MORE
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Palm Beach Social History: Casa Apava: Architectural Flashback

Palm Beach• December 18, 2017.
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 seclu... READ MORE
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Romanesque Revival: Addison Mizner’s Riverside Baptist Church

Palm Beach• 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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