Vast Ephemera Collection of Prominent New York & Rhode Island Family in the Gilded Age
[Grand Tour][Nouveau Riche] Vast Ephemera Collection of Prominent New York & Rhode Island Family in the Gilded Age
Archive includes over 1100 "Calling Cards" and black-bordered sympathy cards, invitations to various social activities and several dance cards. Included are 23 three by five-inch cards with pasted down die-cut figures with prose written with attached pencil. Financial records include many cancelled checks, bills from the "Grand Tour", nine check registers and two expense registers, nearly 600 check stubs and deposit slips plus estate settlement details, family papers and more. Includes over 400 pieces of correspondence including some from the "Grand Tour". Includes a 29-page manuscript report titled "An American Princess" the Grand Niece of George Washington. Overall, in very good condition.
Collection from Abby, Louise and Mildred Williams of Bristol, Rhode Island and New York City (15 W. 22 Street). Abby Louisa Williams was the wife of Fielding L. Williams and mother to Mildred Lewis Williams, Louise Miller Williams and Fielding L. Williams, Jr. The family was descended from the Townes, Maclin and Boyd families and married into the Williams, Calhoun, Lyne, Lewis, Bullock, Johnson and Swepson families. This branch of the Williams family was likely relatively affluent and nouveau riche yet not at the top end of the social register.
The collection documents activities of an affluent northeastern United States family during the "Gilded Age"; a period of rapid economic growth and prosperity. Part and parcel to this period were opportunities for young adults to make the "Grand Tour" of Europe, attend numerous balls, concerts and social activities plus participate in social organizations such as the Daughters of the Revolution. Like many rich New York families, the Williams' summered in Rhode Island--in this case Bristol Rhode Island.
The calling card collection is alphabetized and is chock-full of noted families of wealth including de Peystser, Coit, Coles, Flanagan, Herreshoff, De Wolf, Haskell, Jay, Van Cortlandt, Chisolm, Barclay and hundreds more. Includes a card from Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan and The Misses Morgan at 219 Madison Avenue in New York City. This description would have been finished a long time ago except I dove deep down the rabbit hole of exploring these calling cards.
A very fun and enlightening archive from an over-the-top period in United States social history. . Item #1614
Price: $2,950.00