12.29.11: A quiet holiday week | New York Social Diary

A quiet holiday week

The Giulio Verne, Prysmian's cable-laying vessel, on the Hudson. 3:00 PM. Photo: JH.

Thursday, December 29, 2011. Brisk, chilly, sunny day in New York, in a quiet holiday week (except for midtown near the tree at 30 Rock).

Then and now. T’is the season for the rich, the chic (sometimes/let’s not get carried away), and the shameless down there in St. Barth’s where every daddy and all his sugars are thinking about where they’re going to go on Saturday night, this coming.

A little birdie (actually a big birdie) reminded us of this by sending this photograph of the 536 foot Eclipse, the world’s largest private yacht at anchor, owned by the Russian Roman Abramovich. As you probably know, this is not Mr. Abramovich’s only yacht. He has one or two others. I read somewhere that he lost one in a poker game. Not sure if that’s true or not, but as they say: easy come, easy go.

Another kind of vessel, the 536-foot Eclipse, spotted yesterday in St. Barts by JH's brother, Jason.

On today’s Diary we are running the 8th in a series of the photo archive of Ellen Glendinning Frazer, 2nd installment of Part VIII: At Ease, 1942-1945.

This amazing treasure came to us fortuitously through our Palm Beach correspondent Augustus Mayhew. Mrs. Frazer (who by the time of this installment would marry her second and last husband Lucius Ordway) was a passionate amateur photographer. Cameras were not new as popular devices. George Eastman who founded Eastman Kodak in the 1880s, had invented the roll film in 1885, thereby launching the beginning of 20th century media and photography as a popular pastime (think cellphones – actually the digital camera has revived the use).

Throughout the 19-teens, '20s, '30s, '40s and '50s, many people regularly took photos of their lives, their trips, their friends and their families. Mrs. Frazer never regarded herself as anything but amateur but she took her interest very seriously. What she has left us is a document, a photo-diary of a time and a place that is otherwise completely lost in terms of imagery.


Ellen Frazer outfitted for the day's shoot at Mackay Point Plantation, Yemassee, South Carolina.

Ellen Frazer was a member of what was regarded strictly as “Society” in the first half of the 20th century. This was not something that one aspired to. Dreamed of, maybe, but it came through birth or marriage, and it pretty much stayed that way. She was a Philadelphian and the Philadelphians and the Bostonians (it was a social axis) were very Upper Upper versus the New Yorkers who were regarded by the former as “Upstarts.” Friendships often spanned generations – father to son to grandson/mother to daughter to granddaughter, and in some cases, rare though they are now, they continue.

By the dawn of radio in the 1920s, and the growing technologies this “Society” was changing too. New Yorkers, especially members of the old families and newer money, had begun to infiltrate although not completely. Again, the integration came through marriage. John Hay “Jock” Whitney’s first wife, Elizabeth Altemus, was a Philadelphian. His cousin C.V. “Sonny” Whitney followed suit. Consuelo Vanderbilt’s marriage to the 9th Duke of Marlborough gave her carte blanche to this crowd. Nelson Rockefeller married Mary Clark who was regarded at the time by her peers as having married beneath herself. Mr. Rockefeller's second wife Margaretta "Happy" Fitler, coincidentally, was also a Philadelphian.

The Philadelphians, like the Bostonians eschewed the Show of Money. It was considered vulgar. Yes, they had their fabulous mansions, their estates, their racing stables, their yachts and their private planes, but as you will notice from Ellen Frazer’s albums, there was very little pretentiousness or personal vanity in their presence. Nor did they care that much, it seems, about the way they looked other than to be dressed properly for whatever the occasion required.

However, the names that are sprinkled through this photo-memoir were some of the crème de la crème of American society. The DuPonts need no explanation. George Widener, then in his fifties, whom you see relaxing in his bathing suit, was a member of one of the richest families in the country. The family business was Philadelphia Traction company, cable and streetcar operations. He grew up in the 110 room Horace Trumbauer designed Lynnewood outside Philadelphia in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania – named for his mother’s father. George Widener inherited at age 23 when his father and his brother -- George Widener Sr. and Harry Elkins Widener died on the Titanic. The Widener Memorial Library at Harvard was named in Harry Widener’s memory.


	Stephen "Laddie" Sanford.

Gertrude Sanford Legendre who appears in many photographs through this archive, was a member of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet fortune – very famous in its day. Mrs. Legendre who had a famous (among her friends) plantation, Medway, in South Carolina was a big game hunter, environmentalist, explorer, and at the time these photos were taken had just completed a stint as a spy for the OSS in Europe. She outlived most her contemporaries, dying in 2000 at 98.

Her brother Laddie Sanford was a famous 10-goal polo player. The Jack Kelly in these photos had, among his children, a daughter named Grace who would become a famous Oscar winning movie star and later marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. George Leisure was a prominent New York lawyer who had trained under Clarence Darrow and later partnered in a Manhattan law firm with William “Wild Bill” Donovan who headed up the OSS (later becoming the CIA) during the Second World War.

Throughout these extraordinarily intimate albums run the gamut of American (and sometimes European) society of an era that exemplified the American version of what Thorstein Veblen, the American economist and sociologist dubbed the “Leisure Class.” They were rich. They married mainly among themselves – those from their own social circles. They were sportsmen and sportswomen in many cases. They rode, played golf, sailed, and traveled the world. Often horse people – hunters, breeders – several, such as George Widener owned famous racing stables. They were the heirs, sometimes founders of industries – not to be confused with modern day Private Equity, they actually created, not exported, the employment that made America rich and strong. They were bankers, lawyers, and a term that is now gone from our parlance, “sportsman.” (Laddie Sanford is an example of that.)

It wasn’t a small crowd because unlike middleclass America, they had mobility afforded by their financial advantages. Although as it is with any crowd of “friends,” there were a lot of friendships (also a lot of marriages and divorces within the same realm), lots of children, lots of dogs, and lots of good times together. What is notable, as Ellen Frazer captures so well, is the complete lack of pretense and vanity in their daily lives.

Lynnewood Hall, the boyhood home of George Widener.

You can see it in the ordinariness of their dress which was always appropriate for the moment they were in. They did not show-off or boast about themselves to each other; and those who did were rarely if ever invited back. You can see it in their cook-outs, barbecues, picnics. Almost just-folks -- except for these folks -- their personal phone book was the Social Register.

They were impressed with financial success, just like the rest of us, although a code of behavior is what distinguished them from the upstarts they usually avoided. They did everything that the rest of us mortals did but they also lived within the confines of social rules. A gentleman was a “good” thing. As was a “lady.” It referred to self-conduct in relationship to their fellows, as well as their peers.

And they had a good time. You can see it in the photos. All in all I’d even venture to guess that they had a much better time than most wealthy people we know nowadays. For as complicated as things must have seemed to them (the Great Depression, the Second World War, the developing technological feats and nuclear energy and warfare), it was a quieter, saner world in many ways. Entitlement was a word found more in real estate contracts.

A tea to kick off Lighthouse International’s annual POSH Palm Beach gala.

The Palm Beach that Ellen Frazer often photographs still exists in some cases, architecturally. Although sixty years ago, it was a smaller resort, more of a town, even a village, quite separate from the town on the other side Lake Worth where people went for their staples – food, liquor, dry-cleaning (when the butler and maid couldn’t do it), and where the day-staffers lived.

Today’s Palm Beach is a far more dynamic community in the national and and international scheme of things. It still attracts the wealthy, some members of the original families as well as the strivers (or what some people call the climbers). Like many wealthy members of communities all over the nation, there is a strong emphasis on charity and philanthropy.

For example, earlier this month, the chairmen and committee for Lighthouse International’s annual POSH Palm Beach gala and designer clothing sale were recently honored at a tea hosted by committee member, Nancy Paul, at Club Colette.

Nancy Paul, Mark Ackermann, and Arlene Dahl.

Melinda Porter, the Director of Operations and POSH sale coordinator, welcomed the guests, thanked Nancy Paul for her support, and acknowledged Marc Rosen and his wife, Arlene Dahl, who is serving as the honorary chairman of POSH Palm Beach events.

Mark Ackermann, Lighthouse International’s CEO, also came down from New York for the occasion and hinted at upcoming highlights this season. POSH Palm Beachreturns to Palm Beach for its fifth year with an exciting line up of activities, including the highly anticipated POSH Palm Beach sale in February.

On the 10th of January, Saks Fifth Avenue in Palm Beach will host a kickoff
cocktail reception for committee members and supporters. On February 22nd, there will be the black-tie gala dinner dance at Club Colette. Attendees will be treated to sneak peak of the POSH sale.

Melinda Porter and Myrna Daniels.

Marc Rosen and Frances Scaife.

The POSH Palm Beach sale -- which features clothing and accessories from socialites, celebrities, designers and fashionable retailers -- will take place on February 24 - 25 at Royal Poinciana Plaza, located at 340 Royal Poinciana Way, from 9am to 5pm.

Valet parking with be provided.

They’ve already gathered a fantastic inventory of designer clothes and accessories ranging from couture to casual. Donations are also greatly appreciated and continue to be collected.

For information about the gala, ticket sales to the gala and sale or to make donations, contact Melinda Porter at 561-828-1522 or MPorter@lighthouse.org.

Andrea Klein and Kim Campbell.

Kathy Bleznak and Norma Tiefel.

Mona de Sayve, Fern de Narvaez Tailer, and Ann Downey.

Nancy Kennedy.

Carla Mann and Barbara Geide.

Also: Society of the Four Arts trustees Annabelle and Denis Coleman honored the members of The Four Arts Gala Host Committee at a reception at their Everglades Island home. In attendance were Melinda and Thomas Hassen, Peggy and Dudley Moore, Kit and Bill Pannill, Hillie Mahoney, Sandy and Buddy Thompson, Jessie and Rand Araskog, Frannie Scaife and Tom McCarter, Susie and Ambassador Edward Elson and Steven Stolman, president of Scalamandre, one of the evening's co-sponsors.

Every other year, The Four Arts holds a gala dinner dance to raise funds for the organization’s special projects. This year’s gala, scheduled for February 23rd, will feature a Venetian Carnivale theme and is chaired by Melinda Hassen and Peggy Moore.


	Fitz Eugene Dixon.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the renovation of The Dixon Education Building, which the Four Arts is converting into a state-of-the-art adult education center and the home of its Campus on the Lake lectures and workshops.

Full Cycle. Support for the Four Arts extends back several decades to the philanthropy of Fitz Eugene Dixon, the nephew and heir of George Widener Jr. who died childless in 1971.

Mr. Dixon inherited his maternal uncle’s racing stable along with most of his fortune.

He also distinguished himself, like his uncle, as a major philanthropist, and as a sportsman in the contemporary sense investing in and owning the Philadelphia Eagles, the Phillies, the Flyers and the Wings and the Philadelphia 76ers where a few months after acquiring the team he brought in Julius “Dr. J” Erving, paying a then record $6.6 million.

Mr. Dixon died in 2006 at 83.