Shoes are beginning to look like this again. I have led such a sheltered life in recent years that I hadn't realized that shoes (and perfumes) have been carefully calibrated to attract the bleary attention of some lout in a bar. You only need to walk from the taxi to the bar stool and then provocatively entwine your leg around the bar stool.
The interesting thing about this ad is that it mentions stores in Huntington Park, Highland Park, East L.A. and Stockton. Glamour must have been spread more widely in 1959.
Now - let's meet some more new friends!
Vogue, this month - as I should have mentioned last week - attends "A New York party for Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands; a debutante ball in a Kansas museum; a centennial gala in Denver; and in New York, a whirl of parties and luncheons for visiting Italians."
Some then-and-now differences: movie stars aren't invited; neither are fashion designers, or if they are, it's because they're nobility first and designers second. Young girls are left at home, unless they're Princesses.
Catching up with Princess Beatrix:
From left to right, we've met Mrs. E. F. Hutton, but we aren't sure if she is the second or the third Mrs. E. F. Hutton; and we've met Mrs. James H. Van Alen, horsewoman, and tennis museum founder. Shall we shake hands with the lady trying not to laugh?
It is the house of Mrs. Arthur A. Houghton, but she is not giving the party. She is dressed like Mamie Eisenhauer.
Hmm . . . this is either the first, second, or third Mrs. Arthur A. Houghton. In 1973 a fourth was created. Mr. Houghton, and this is rapid NYT research, appears to have been the son of Corning Glass Arthur Houghton. He donated his New York house to the United Nations to serve as the residence of the Secretary General. So - it's probably this house. Yes, 3 Sutton Place.
Ah, here she is: Elizabeth McCall Cain, who was married to Mr. Houghton from 1944 to 1972. She was only 39 in this photo.
And next, annoyingly "centre," here is Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands.
PRINCESS BEATRIX IN NEW YORK
Click for video.
She was 21 in 1959, studying law and history at the University of Leyden. She had an apartment near campus and did her own cooking.
Her trip to America was a huge deal. It was part of the celebration of the 350th anniversary of Henry Hudson sailing up the Hudson River, an event that, for me, has never moved beyond a chapter of a fifth-grade history book. According to the NYT, 200,000 people came out to see her motorcade. In New York, she bought 15 classical albums at Sam Goody's, talked to regular people and avoided the press.
Princess Beatrix "surprised reporters" because she did not want to shop. Instead she spent three and a half hours at the Met, with her uncle, the "Far East curator." Later she ditched "The Music Man" on Broadway and saw "Destry Rides Again," starring Andy Griffith, instead. Interesting choice.
Here is her wedding in 1966:
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| From the Royal Website |
Princess Beatrix became Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1980. I vaguely remembered that a member of the royal family had been in the news recently: In February, Prince Friso, her second son, was buried in an avalanche while skiing in Austria. He is now in a hospital in London, in a coma. Prince Friso was not in line for the throne because the Dutch government did not believe that his wife had been completely honest about her ex-boyfriend, a drug lord. That must have made for some interesting Dutch C-Span.
Saving your scrolling nerves, I repeat the photo:
Next to Princess Beatrix, we have Mrs. John H. G. Pell. Pell Grants? More or less. Step sister and/or sister-in-law of Claiburn Pell. First NYT hit is the announcement of a daughter born in 1931 to Mrs. John H. G. Pell, the former Pyrma Tilton, daughter of Mrs. Herbert Claiburn Pell. Never going to sort that out. Story points out that the infant is the great-great-granddaughter of the late John Bigelow, who turns out to have been Ambassador to Britain under Lincoln. Quite a lot of geneaology for one little paragraph. Well, here is some help - family reunion of Pells in 1979 and their long history in this country. Not as long as mine, I may add. (On paper, anyway.) Unlike the Pells, my more-or-less ancestors never met an opportunity they could make anything out of. So - good for the Pells. Although I would like to point out that eventually the family was able to produce a President of the Garden Club of Oskaloosa, Iowa, who did appear in similar photos in the Oskaloosa Herald, welcoming visitors from Ottumwa and points beyond.
More than 1,000 hits for "Mrs. John H. G. Pell!" She was everywhere - flower shows, debutante bashes, weddings, charities. She is a swan compared to the other women in the photo.
Two more ladies. And probably two more thickets of family trees.
Shake hands with Mrs. William A. M. Burden. If we can figure out which one. In my other life, I have often noted that if you want to perpetuate white collar crime and avoid punishment, spread your deeds across several counties and be sure and have several family members with the same name. This works for the higher rungs of society as well.
"Mrs. William A. M. Burden" gets 966 NYT hits. First up is an obituary of 1969 for Florence Vanderbilt Twombly Burden, age 87. Not this one, but the Vanderbilt says it all. From the obit, though, I learn that there are multiple Mrs. William A. M. Burdens" co-existing, probably, in 1959. Is this Leslie Hamilton who married into the family in 1950? Women looked so much older than their ages.
Based on the presence of William A. M. Burden, Ambassador, I think this must be the former Margaret Livingston Partridge, dare we presume? These Burdens produced the William A. M. Burden I thought was married to the woman in the picture, (now even I am confused) who then produced Wendy Burden, who wrote Dead End Gene Pool, which I cannot wait to read.
Let's move on to the bored, unhappy looking Mrs. Stephen Van Rensselaer.
Well, for one thing she is obviously some connection of Vogue contributing editor Mary Van Rensselaer Thayer. Perhaps this is why this story appears here at all. A scoop!
There have been Stephen Van Renssalaers upon this land for centuries. My best guess is that this lady in the picture is the former Lillie Langstroth of Honolulu, a Cal grad, who was married to this particular Stephen Van Renssalaer in 1946 in Piedmont, near Oakland, where I will be going tomorrow. The reception was at the Claremont Hotel, up the hill from my mechanic. It feels absolutely great to know this territory.
Perhaps she looks bored and unhappy because she's missing a Cal game.
And if I've got the wrong one, I don't want to know.
How good a time did Princess Beatrix have at this dinner, anyway?
Let's go to the movies!
* Earthlings endanger the universe; denizens of outer space intervene wiith the weaponized recently dead, much to the consternation of the local police.
* Bela Lugosi sadly walks around San Fernando ranch house; Eartha Kitt appears at the Mocambo (we just see the sign, but interesting shots of L.A.) I thought the ruler of the space invaders was a Shakespearian actor down on his luck, but he was actually drag queen Bunny Breckinridge, who was probably related to at least one of the ladies in the photo, as he was descended from a founder of Wells Fargo and all really rich people are related. Too bad this was his only film! "The earth people who can think are so frightened of those who cannot . . ." Beautifully spoken. Tor Johnson actually very good, by any standard.
* Mona McKinnon is sitting on the patio, with not enough light, reading the August 1956 Vogue and smoking Winstons in the scene in which her husband tells her to be sure and lock the door because there have been some strange things happening in that graveyard, what with the flying saucers and all. This is, I believe, is original research. What other scholar has employed freeze framing and zooming techniques, coupled with additional research, in order to ascertain this culturally significant discovery? What does it say that Vogue was chosen, and not Ladies' Home Journal or Saturday Evening Post? What does it say about the aspirational impulses of residents of the new suburbia? And can we any longer call Plan 9 a low-budget film? Certainly not!
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