Most Extreme Excesses In The Gilded Age

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  • čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
  • Rich families of the Gilded Age lived lives nearly unimaginable today. How so? One need only look around one's hometown and see where the enormous, glorious mansions of the late 19th century have either been turned into private or public museums - or are peeling and rotting away - to get a glimpse. In most cases, it is simply too costly to maintain them as private residences anymore. So, imagine just how incredibly rich the handful of mid- to late 19th-century families had to be to keep up such lavish appearances. The Gilded Age wealth disparity was so extreme that people today often compare them to what modern society terms the "one-percent" class.
    #GildedAge #RobberBarons #WeirdHistory
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Komentáře • 1K

  • @squigglesalamode3276
    @squigglesalamode3276 Před 2 lety +955

    I was able to tour the Breakers, Marble and Elm Houses in Newport and the opulence was insane. Every room was ornate and called you poor in thirty languages.

    • @monkeygraborange
      @monkeygraborange Před 2 lety +33

      The only word to properly describe those places is *TACKY!*

    • @kc8203
      @kc8203 Před 2 lety +12

      Did you happen to see the size of the kitchen & cast iron ovens at the Breakers?

    • @squigglesalamode3276
      @squigglesalamode3276 Před 2 lety +18

      @@kc8203 yes! All the copper pots and the sheer size of everything, it was honestly mind boggling.

    • @GroundersSourceOfficial
      @GroundersSourceOfficial Před 2 lety +22

      There's a Gilded Age mansion in my town, but it is tastefully decorated and is now a museum. But the photos of the past tell a different story.

    • @jessehinman8340
      @jessehinman8340 Před 2 lety +16

      @@GroundersSourceOfficial There were a bunch of gilded age mansions around where I live. Sadly all most of these were abandoned/demolished or turned into apartments or public service buildings. Such a heartbreak to see what happened to these magnificent estates.

  • @RandomBalo
    @RandomBalo Před 2 lety +807

    I customize private jets for a living. Let me assure you, the excessive shenaniganry is still happening. Sometimes all it takes is for one rich dingus to see another rich dingus' jet for a new work order to come in.

    • @originalcosmicgirl
      @originalcosmicgirl Před 2 lety +19

      What's the craziest thing you've ever installed?

    • @RandomBalo
      @RandomBalo Před 2 lety +87

      @@originalcosmicgirl it would be a combination of slightly crazy things. A stone floor in the galley.
      These little black disks that rise and spin to allow you to control music and media and lights for the when cabin from your seat.
      A full shower replacing the aft lavatory, two couches that fold out into a king size bed, etc etc. It's never a boring day at work but sometimes the wealth blows you away

    • @thegreencat9947
      @thegreencat9947 Před 2 lety +12

      @@RandomBalo what? No hot tubs?

    • @RandomBalo
      @RandomBalo Před 2 lety +59

      @@thegreencat9947 no hot tubs yet 😂. But don't say that too loud, they might get funny ideas

    • @thegreencat9947
      @thegreencat9947 Před 2 lety +13

      Balo....in one of the "Crazy Rich Asians" books,which is based on real live super rich Singaporeans....there was one. No turbulence allowed.😁

  • @MidnightBreezey
    @MidnightBreezey Před 2 lety +86

    Imagine living in a culture where earning your own wealth rather than inheriting it is a 'humiliation'.

    • @viperford6840
      @viperford6840 Před 2 lety +8

      we still do

    • @Amadeus8484
      @Amadeus8484 Před 2 lety

      You ever work a minimum wage job, you will soon wish you inherited a bunch of money. And unless you are deluded enough to think one day your minimum wage job will one day pay off, you will also learn to hate capitalism.

    • @canaisyoung3601
      @canaisyoung3601 Před rokem

      Uh...

    • @PrezVeto
      @PrezVeto Před rokem

      *subculture

  • @NewMessage
    @NewMessage Před 2 lety +447

    That's nothin'. Yesterday, I threw out a jar of peanut butter without properly scraping the bottom clean... and just, opened a new one.
    I'm minted, man.

    • @logicreversed18t
      @logicreversed18t Před 2 lety +29

      It's funny you say this, because just last night I tossed out some ketchup without taking the squeeze top off and using a butter knife to get the last bits.
      I thought, "Wow. I've finally made it. True financial independence."

    • @LubricatedWenis
      @LubricatedWenis Před 2 lety +38

      That’s nothin’ man, I don’t even lick the yogurt lids…

    • @amberswafford9305
      @amberswafford9305 Před 2 lety +15

      Y’all are all too rich for my comprehension.

    • @thegreencat9947
      @thegreencat9947 Před 2 lety +9

      You don't need to know about my shampoo bottles.

    • @garyhoelting5994
      @garyhoelting5994 Před 2 lety +7

      completely wreckless with your wealth.i mean to waste peanut butter so casually!!

  • @ZKT611
    @ZKT611 Před 2 lety +574

    Living in Newport, the leftover or abandoned mansions of the guilded age were basically our playgrounds, and living right next to the ones turned to museums was one of a kind experience

    • @Chickadeebunny
      @Chickadeebunny Před 2 lety +9

      That’s so cool

    • @roddydonn2328
      @roddydonn2328 Před 2 lety +6

      That’s awesome I really enjoyed imagining the difference in time. Makes me want to take a trip to see it for myself.

    • @donHooligan
      @donHooligan Před 2 lety +10

      @Serenity Hansberry
      if they would have just given it to some poor homeless sod, rather than let it rot....they could have changed history.

    • @carolyngenc5329
      @carolyngenc5329 Před 2 lety +11

      I was in Newport years ago and saw The Breakers and Marble House and some others. I've also been to Blenheim Palace in England where Consuelo Vanderbilt's father's money repaired it. Both fantastic. I'm sure you know that she was kept prisoner in The Breakers until she agreed to marry the Duke of Marlboro.

    • @Benni777
      @Benni777 Před 2 lety +4

      I wonder if any of the homes were/are haunted. They have to be, since there were so many ppl living in them back then 😆

  • @worldofdoom995
    @worldofdoom995 Před 2 lety +201

    Maybe an episode on the excess of Roman emperors or Chinese Imperial families would be interesting.

    • @BillOweninOttawa
      @BillOweninOttawa Před 2 lety +9

      Caligula had nothing on modern oligarchs.

    • @brucemarsico6
      @brucemarsico6 Před 2 lety +10

      Roman emperors and chinese family wealth was nothing compared to the incredible ostentatious lives of the Russian royals. Jewels and properties and gold and priceless art works. Finest of champagnes and wines.....maybe Putin is carrying on the tradition......

    • @BillOweninOttawa
      @BillOweninOttawa Před 2 lety

      @@brucemarsico6 Putin? You live in a country that has 2.3 million people in cages, most of them black or chicano. The wealth transfer is on full blast. Your homeless crowd the streets. Your oligarchs live like gods, while most Yanks are just one pay cheque away from homelessness. And yet here you are, completely convinced of your utter superiourity and the need to destroy Russia. You even tried to turn this video, which is on Yankee robber barons, into war propaganda.

    • @champagneproblemz
      @champagneproblemz Před 2 lety

      I agree

    • @LalinDissanayaka
      @LalinDissanayaka Před 2 lety +1

      Or the roaring 20s or something around Agatha Christie's time

  • @marstondavis
    @marstondavis Před 2 lety +303

    Reggie Vanderbilt commissioned a steam powered yacht to be built for his 21st birthday. It took a couple of years to build and outfit. When it was launched, on his birthday, he boarded it and inspected it from bow to stern. It had a 17-man crew, including the captain. He never went back aboard. He did keep it fully powered, ready to sail at a moment's notice. He stocked with the finest food and drink and had the crew on board 24-7-365. He kept it that way until he died in his mid 40's. How much do you think that cost just in coal, burning 24 hours a day for 20 plus years just to keep the steam boilers going, while going nowhere? I think that's amazing! Crazy, but amazing!

    • @johnmcglynn4102
      @johnmcglynn4102 Před 2 lety +31

      Well, he did provide steady employment for a few people.....to keep all that going, right?

    • @patricec.2957
      @patricec.2957 Před 2 lety +37

      what about Huguette Clark who maintained 2 mansions (Bellosguardo estate in Santa Barbara and Le Beau Chateau estate in New Canaan) without ever setting foot in them for over 60 years.

    • @Pickle8able
      @Pickle8able Před 2 lety +16

      Patrice C. Oh, how I envy the servants!

    • @MAA77723
      @MAA77723 Před 2 lety +12

      @@Pickle8able Oh yes, need to see a period time drama series on that!

    • @Parasiteve
      @Parasiteve Před 2 lety +18

      holy shit dude paying to keep a boat open all day and all year is insane. that money could help the poor but its being wasted on a fucking boat that was only used once lol.

  • @legithopecrew
    @legithopecrew Před 2 lety +300

    It is good to know that almost nothing has changed for the rich.

    • @TheBasher-_-
      @TheBasher-_- Před 2 lety +6

      It is and I hope it never changes as I hope to one day be rich. And I hope I won't be late to the party. 😂

    • @annemaria5126
      @annemaria5126 Před 2 lety +7

      Neither for the poor. What satisfied me is to realise that the group of rich people does not stay the same overtime; neither does the group of poor people. And most important, the rich children often become sad failures, because they find it hard to copy their parents, because being rich makes lazy and bored, because dna does not care about parents' expectations.

    • @barsbay7598
      @barsbay7598 Před 2 lety +2

      @@TheBasher-_- you're not gonna be rich like them bro

    • @TheBasher-_-
      @TheBasher-_- Před 2 lety +2

      @@barsbay7598 it's a joke 🤣

    • @sama847
      @sama847 Před rokem

      @@TheBasher-_- You’ll never be rich

  • @Baba_Wawa
    @Baba_Wawa Před 2 lety +87

    The Vanderbilt home or Biltmore Estate is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. I’ve been a few times & highly recommend it. They have guided historical tours, a winery, & candle light dinners that are not only educational but a ton of fun!

    • @alexiswaller3065
      @alexiswaller3065 Před 2 lety

      It's is now owned by the tacky Trump family.

    • @suzyfarnham3165
      @suzyfarnham3165 Před 2 lety +5

      @@alexiswaller3065 No it isn't??? They own MarALago on Palm Beach? It was owned by Marjorie Merriweather Post. Biltmore was built by George Washington Vanderbilt. It is still owned by the Cecil family? GWV only had 1 daughter and she married into the Cecil family. I am an Aussie and toured Biltmore in February 2020. I have now seen every Vanderbilt mansion still standing and Biltmore is by far the most beautiful.

    • @undomiel152003
      @undomiel152003 Před 2 lety +5

      @@alexiswaller3065 No it is not, a Vanderbilt still owns it and as a matter of fact, one of the wings in the mansion/castle is his private quarter--of course, that wing is closed to the public.

    • @LJB103
      @LJB103 Před rokem +2

      I also thought so until I had the chance to tour Henry Flagler's Palm Beach (he founded the city) mansion Whitehall.

    • @Baba_Wawa
      @Baba_Wawa Před rokem +1

      @@LJB103 I will have to look into that, I love history & getting to your historical buildings. Thank you for sharing that with me!

  • @dembrosstudios2076
    @dembrosstudios2076 Před 2 lety +207

    Similar to Newport, Lake Geneva Wisconsin was also known for their guilded age mansions. People went there after the great Chicago fire since there was a direct rail line. It's an interesting place to visit.

    • @33Donner77
      @33Donner77 Před 2 lety +3

      Currently the most expensive single family house in Wisconsin is on Lake Geneva.

    • @annemaria5126
      @annemaria5126 Před 2 lety +2

      Like the dutch traders, who fled dirty Amsterdam to built gorgious mansions, palaces, along the river Vecht. Later the rich built mansions on the edge of 'de Utrechtse Heuvelrug', a hilly sandy woody leftover from the ice-age gletscher, and the green valley watered by the river Rhine (Lek).

  • @guntherholbrook5627
    @guntherholbrook5627 Před 2 lety +27

    That amazing moment when you log on and Weird History uploaded a new video 14 seconds ago

  • @calendarpage
    @calendarpage Před 2 lety +177

    Andrew Carnegie, once the richest man in the world, began funding library construction in the late 1890's. Many cities and towns in the US can thank him for their first purpose built library, which are often still in use today. There was no income tax then, so fantastic amounts of personal wealth could be accumulated. Carnegie wrote 'The Gospel of Wealth,' telling those who became wealthy that they had an obligation to give to and promote charitable works, which many did.

    • @didiermarin2905
      @didiermarin2905 Před 2 lety +21

      Charity and philanthropy are the failures of policy

    • @donHooligan
      @donHooligan Před 2 lety +8

      @@didiermarin2905 but it's such a good tax write-off.

    • @ryanindypa
      @ryanindypa Před 2 lety +7

      He also was feeling guilty (rightfully so) for being apart of the south fork hunting and fishing club, after what happened in Johnstown. Johnstown was one of the first places to get his “purpose built” libraries.

    • @ammie8659
      @ammie8659 Před 2 lety +6

      My hometown has a Carnegie library. Beautiful neoclassical building. Still used as a library when I was a kid. Now an art gallery.

    • @ammie8659
      @ammie8659 Před 2 lety +11

      @@donHooligan What kind of a tax write-off since there was no income tax?

  • @TheNurulaulia
    @TheNurulaulia Před 2 lety +123

    This is really interesting 😉. I wish you could cover more about Gilded Age!

    • @alicerivierre
      @alicerivierre Před 2 lety +2

      Who knows? Maybe he'll get more info. to cover in the next video.

    • @g.b569
      @g.b569 Před 2 lety +6

      Yeah like more detail about the foods they ate and how many courses. I’d also like more detail about trips they might have taken

    • @karthymcg2104
      @karthymcg2104 Před 2 lety +3

      Oh me too! I would’ve loved to have lived as one of the very wealthy at that time: new money, please! Old money seemed too stuffy for my taste🤣

    • @jgallardo7344
      @jgallardo7344 Před 2 lety +6

      Isn’t there an HBO series about the Gilded Age?

    • @g.b569
      @g.b569 Před 2 lety +4

      @@jgallardo7344 Yes there is. It's written by the guy who also wrote Downton Abbey.

  • @thedaggonator
    @thedaggonator Před 2 lety +202

    This is so interesting. It’s interesting to see how the CEOs live.
    Wait… this ISN’T about the 21ST Century Billionaires?

    • @zlpatriot11
      @zlpatriot11 Před 2 lety +26

      We are living in the modern guilded age, thus I agree with you.

    • @Jinka1950
      @Jinka1950 Před 2 lety +5

      Most of them worked for it. Being rich is not a band thing. Money does a lot of good. I’ve never seen poor people give jobs.

    • @ElisonJackson
      @ElisonJackson Před 2 lety

      @@Jinka1950 one of the dumbest things i've ever read.

    • @nussnougat5462
      @nussnougat5462 Před 2 lety +26

      @@Jinka1950 "give jobs" and with that you mean which jobs? The beautiful working opportunities of an McDonalds?

    • @eddienash8645
      @eddienash8645 Před 2 lety +19

      @@Jinka1950 keep simping for billionaires

  • @jeffo2448
    @jeffo2448 Před 2 lety +33

    I currently live in Newport. I highly recommend touring the Breakers, Elms, and Marble House. Those 1%ers lived a lavish life back in the day…. Don’t forget to take a drive around Ocean Drive to see more crazy houses (including Jay Leno’s mansion).

  • @IPPSav
    @IPPSav Před 2 lety +57

    Shortly after the end of the Gilded Age, in 1916, a guy named James Deering built Villa Vizcaya (overlooking the Biscayne Bay in Miami). I guess the gilded fad was a little behind down in Florida. Anyway, Vizcaya is just as ostentatious as anything up North. Italian marble, gold plumbing fixtures, ten acres of formal gardens, and even a PIPE ORGAN spread out in hidden places throughout the mansion.

    • @1953childstar
      @1953childstar Před 2 lety +7

      "Vizcaya" is lovely.. When I was there, the guides told me that the bathrooms had either hot and cold "seawater" or filtered water.. Plus a "long distance " phone in a booth, for private conversations… You should visit Canada and see the mansions on the "thousand Islands". One which was very interesting was "Boldt Castle" which was unfinished due to the death of the builders wife..

    • @dayseyenavajo3925
      @dayseyenavajo3925 Před 2 lety +3

      Floriduh is still a swamp

    • @undomiel152003
      @undomiel152003 Před 2 lety +2

      I've been to Vizcaya many times since I live in Miami, but, as gorgeous as it is, it is nothing compared to many of the mansions built in the Gilded Age. As a matter of fact James wanted to build something luxurious but far from being as ostentatious as what his peers in the North were building. Now, having said that, if memory serves me correctly, Vizcaya did have the first toilets and full bathrooms with running water both cold and hot.

  • @laserbeam002
    @laserbeam002 Před 2 lety +22

    I live about an hours drive from the Biltmore House in Asheville NC. Been there three times and toured the house and grounds. It is an amazing place. The house is kept immaculate and the grounds well cared for. The tour guides are very well informed and are always willing to answer any question the tourist have. It's a wonderful day trip.

  • @topherman420
    @topherman420 Před 2 lety +61

    The Vanderbilt ball was a bit of an inspiration for the ball the Russell's threw in the show The Gilded Age (Mr Russell is also heavily inspired by the robber baron Jay Gould). The elaborate dance they had in the show was also inspired by that ball but the Vanderbilts had 6 rehearsed dances and all the guests and the hosts had very elaborate costumes, one woman actually had a stuffed cat for a hat and her dress had cat tails sewn on it.

    • @lotstodo
      @lotstodo Před 2 lety +2

      That car hat and tail dress would not be appreciated now days.

    • @ankhpom9296
      @ankhpom9296 Před 2 měsíci

      Stuffed cat and tails? Absolutely disgusting!

  • @goldengalsclazy
    @goldengalsclazy Před 2 lety +20

    The narrator honestly keeps me in stitches with his witty commentary! Marble House does sound like a place you'd eat pancakes. LOL

  • @ralphg3454
    @ralphg3454 Před 2 lety +51

    I just went to the Biltmore for new years it was unbelievable. Took me 2 1/2 hours to walk through it.

    • @email5023
      @email5023 Před 2 lety +1

      Same here.

    • @ladynikkie
      @ladynikkie Před 2 lety +8

      It's pretty much the American version of the palace Versailles

    • @seebeearr600
      @seebeearr600 Před 2 lety +1

      Same here

    • @spinstercatlady
      @spinstercatlady Před 2 lety +5

      Biltmore is so beautiful, as is Ashville NC in general. I live not too far up the road a ways in KY so I've been a few times, and Christmas is my absolute favorite season there!

    • @DrewElGringasho
      @DrewElGringasho Před 2 lety +5

      Asheville in general is beautiful, as are the surrounding mountains. The Biltmore is astounding. I spent 4 hours tripping on mushrooms in the gardens one time. Could have sworn I successfully traveled back in time to the 1890s. I WAS THERE MAAAAAN

  • @caseygarland3342
    @caseygarland3342 Před 2 lety +13

    Living near Asheville in NC, I have visited the Biltmore mansion many times…. It is an amazingly beautiful home with the gardens and vineyard to explore as well.

  • @starsantheoriginal
    @starsantheoriginal Před 2 lety +12

    As a born and raised Rhode Islander who now lives in North Carolina, I loved this episode so much hahaha

  • @Momsdailyagenda
    @Momsdailyagenda Před 2 lety +25

    Luv this channel! I love reading about the Gilded Age and learning new facts.
    I recommend going to the Newport Mansions for tours. It’s unbelievable the size of these homes, the decor and the landscaping. It is breathtaking!
    The series, The Gilded Age, Mr & Mrs Russell are based on the Vanderbilt’s. 👍

  • @chad735
    @chad735 Před 2 lety +23

    Live near biltmore. Been at least 10 times. It’s amazing every time. It’s insane how massive it is.

    • @glennduke5853
      @glennduke5853 Před 2 lety +1

      And some people, like me, couldn't care less!

  • @michaelfisher7170
    @michaelfisher7170 Před 2 lety +62

    I've seen The Breakers from the tourist walk, and I've been inside Biltmore House and yes, it is incredible what you can accomplish when you have endless rivers of money to spend. In the case of Biltmore, at least, I found it (sad? ironic? fate?) that poor George Vanderbilt III died rather shortly after its completion. He never even had the chance to enjoy the place.

    • @esmeraldagreen1992
      @esmeraldagreen1992 Před 2 lety +6

      Michael Fisher, I would say it was karma.

    • @brucemarsico6
      @brucemarsico6 Před 2 lety +1

      Like that Astor chap that went down with the Titanic. Wrong place at the wrong time.

    • @aarinisles
      @aarinisles Před 2 lety +10

      @@brucemarsico6 I believe there were a lot of poor people that went down with that ship as well. Not sure of your point. That “Astor chap” put his wife on a lifeboat and stayed onboard when he could have forced his way into a lifeboat. There is character in that decision. And that quality of character can come with or without money.

    • @sophie_arkenstone1484
      @sophie_arkenstone1484 Před 2 lety +2

      Seriously? “poor guy”? I’m sure he enjoyed so much in life that he needs no one’s pity.

    • @scothammond5736
      @scothammond5736 Před 2 lety

      @@esmeraldagreen1992 why karma?

  • @ArtisticlyAlexis
    @ArtisticlyAlexis Před 2 lety +25

    Newport, RI is _so_ beautiful! The other claim to fame for Newport is the oldest synagogue in America, Touro. George Washington wrote them around the Revolutionary War to thank them for their support. My big sis was married there.

    • @jeffo2448
      @jeffo2448 Před 2 lety +4

      And the “Whitehorse Tavern” is allegedly the oldest Tavern. Pretty cool spot to have a drink or grab a nice dinner!

  • @The7Reaper
    @The7Reaper Před 2 lety +41

    I went to the Biltmore house once for a school field trip and the trailer I lived in at the time could have fit into their living room.
    I personally don't think these people have done anything worth making more money in a day than any of us will see in a lifetime but whatever.

    • @carmenrosado-benitez258
      @carmenrosado-benitez258 Před rokem

      Disgusting age I see very few to the benefits of being rich and famous in the stupid age or any stupid age especially in the world where people starve.

  • @goatsandroses4258
    @goatsandroses4258 Před 2 lety +34

    "Giving to the needy was out of the question?" The Carnegies, Morgans, and Rockefellers were actually known for some types of philanthropy, and Julius Rosenwald established thousands of schools for African-American children. Certainly none of these families suffered for their charity, but they DID give.

    • @champagneproblemz
      @champagneproblemz Před 2 lety +2

      That's true, maybe they meant they didn't start giving until later in their lives?

    • @Amadeus8484
      @Amadeus8484 Před 2 lety +11

      Tax deductible just means that WE are paying for it. Charity is just the politically correct term for Laundering Money.

    • @allenatkins2263
      @allenatkins2263 Před 2 lety +4

      @@Amadeus8484 Yes, I would much rather the government decide how to waste money.

    • @Amadeus8484
      @Amadeus8484 Před 2 lety +4

      @@allenatkins2263 Government works just fine if its a democracy...

    • @allenatkins2263
      @allenatkins2263 Před 2 lety +6

      @@Amadeus8484 That may be the funniest post I have ever read. By that you mean as long as the majority gets to decide how my money is wasted, then it all works out?

  • @allisonjackson6142
    @allisonjackson6142 Před 2 lety +24

    Alva wasn’t married to Cornelius….? Her husband’s name was William, he was Cornelius’ grandson. How am I the only one that’s caught that?

    • @klskin
      @klskin Před 2 lety +3

      And George was the younger brother. Caught that too.

    • @jamesmcinnis208
      @jamesmcinnis208 Před 2 lety

      Maybe others aren't as interested in the Vanderbilt family tree as you are.

    • @ArasPundys
      @ArasPundys Před 2 lety +6

      @@jamesmcinnis208 But "Weird History" should at least try to get history correct.

    • @jamesmcinnis208
      @jamesmcinnis208 Před 2 lety +1

      @@ArasPundys Fair enough. (It was the "why am I the only one?" part that I was responding to.) It seems that lately I've been bombarded with CZcams videos of some interest that are full of inaccuracies and mispronunciations, which diminish my interest because I wonder what else they got wrong that I didn't catch.

    • @michaelplunkett8059
      @michaelplunkett8059 Před 2 lety

      His older brother was also Cornelius.

  • @morganschiller2288
    @morganschiller2288 Před rokem +6

    I was a welder and worked for an ultra luxury interior design company. I built a $300,000 laundry basket 🧺 a 1.5M big screen baffle, or a very large, very heavy cinema sized screen frame. I also welded up a brass/nickel plated medicine cabinet that was 100,000’s Insane. Fun work, but totally insane

    • @marquiesriley6479
      @marquiesriley6479 Před rokem +1

      “$300,000 laundry basket”…..
      Holy shit!….😂😂

    • @missyouwish88
      @missyouwish88 Před rokem +1

      Please tell us more about that laundry basket

  • @orion8981
    @orion8981 Před rokem +6

    The Biltmore estate is mind-boggling. Definitely worth a visit if you haven't been.

  • @bitteralmonds666
    @bitteralmonds666 Před 2 lety +50

    We are currently living in a second gilded age 🥷🏽

    • @williamcarter1993
      @williamcarter1993 Před 2 lety +1

      we really are. Bezos, Buffett, and the like have untold millions and billions while the rest of us flop around like a pile of rats

    • @TheKrazysexykool
      @TheKrazysexykool Před 2 lety +1

      Yes we are

  • @pamelamays4186
    @pamelamays4186 Před 2 lety +150

    Also: What was a typical day like for the help staff of the Gilded Age rich?

    • @bigbossimmotal
      @bigbossimmotal Před 2 lety +14

      The Historical Society of Newport, RI now owns most of those mansions, they give daily tours (in season) for a very reasonable fee. The tours are absolutely wonderful! A great walk thru the history of America, rich, and poor. The tour guides get very detailed about what each day was like for Masters of the House, and their Servants. Most homes were only occupied by the owners for a couple chosen months per year, the rest of the time, they packed up their silver, locked up the good China, and toured their other mansions. So the remaining staff would basically live like kings for 10 months, minus the silverware and china.

    • @brucemarsico6
      @brucemarsico6 Před 2 lety +5

      Help staff? What is that? You mean, the servants? Those that were created to serve their superiors? Who knows, who cares? There'll always be a steady stream of the lesser to cater to the those with the most.....

    • @esmeraldagreen1992
      @esmeraldagreen1992 Před 2 lety +15

      @@brucemarsico6
      And who do you think you are?
      Money doesn't make you a superior being
      Money doesn't make you happier, better looking, healthiest or smarter and those who tell rich people that it does are lying to their faces.

    • @brucemarsico6
      @brucemarsico6 Před 2 lety

      @@esmeraldagreen1992 No? Well...having lots of money makes one much more socially acceptable...whether that's genuine or superficial, that's not the point here....zo....while YOU'RE struggling through wal-mart over something trivial, I'M having another glass of sparkling Bourgogne while watching the sun set in Punta del Este....CIAO....
      Oh....and money can buy you good health, provide you with plastic surgery, perfect teeth...didn't you know?

    • @alicerivierre
      @alicerivierre Před 2 lety +3

      I don't know, but maybe a lot worse than today's society. Being a worker, servant or anyone below the bosses sucked back then, what with treatment, minimum wages that couldn't buy nice clothes and decent meals and shit. Man, and I thought today's retail businesses suck with how they treat employees...

  • @kirbster1005
    @kirbster1005 Před 2 lety +16

    So nothing's really changed, there's just newer stuff to buy now...

  • @Autumnh141983
    @Autumnh141983 Před rokem +3

    The Biltmore Mansion is by far the best place to visit! So much history and innovation there. If you ever go to Ashville, NC you need to go see it.

  • @davidchunkyonion
    @davidchunkyonion Před 2 lety +2

    Love this channel. Good information and always funny.

  • @mrs.g.9816
    @mrs.g.9816 Před 2 lety +42

    Starting when I was a little girl, I knew these rich people were not too nice. And I started being environmentally aware (before I knew the the term, "environment") when I learned about those poor egrets. These one-percenters were awfully selfish - insensitive to the welfare of other people and other creatures. But I still wish the NYC mansions weren't knocked down and replaced by drab, cold skyscrapers. A city gets its charm and grace from the old architecture.

  • @baylorsailor
    @baylorsailor Před 2 lety +13

    I live in a town in Northern NY that was booming during the Gilded Age. At one point we had more millionaires per capita than any other town in the US around 1890-1900. Unfortunately after WWII much of the town deteriorated and many of the opulent homes were torn down. But there are still a few surviving.

    • @slcRN1971
      @slcRN1971 Před 2 lety +2

      Seeing these once opulent homes torn down is a bit sad because of how beautiful they once were. All that money spent on opulent houses, which didn’t even stay lived-in for a great length of time. Sounds so utterly wasteful too.

    • @jamesmcinnis208
      @jamesmcinnis208 Před 2 lety

      How coy.

    • @pyrexmaniac
      @pyrexmaniac Před 8 měsíci

      Hello, fellow Buffalonian! Go Bills!

  • @grapeshot
    @grapeshot Před 2 lety +19

    Back then when you were rich you most definitely flaunted it. He also had a bunch of rich American mother's trying to sell their daughters off to European royalty.

    • @seebeearr600
      @seebeearr600 Před 2 lety +1

      Same.

    • @evirareid1500
      @evirareid1500 Před 2 lety +4

      It wasn't so much selling but definitely was buying into royal society.

    • @dingusdingus2152
      @dingusdingus2152 Před 2 lety

      In America there are, and always have been, lots of kulaks. Wealthy peasants with no taste. The bolsheviks considered them enemies of the people. In America vulgar displays of riches have always been de rigeur for the plutocrats.

  • @aarinisles
    @aarinisles Před 2 lety +5

    The reference to Neverland at the beginning of this video gives insight into what type video this is. To compare Neverland to, say, the designs and buildings of someone like Richard Hunt is like comparing F1 to NASCAR.

  • @pamelamays4186
    @pamelamays4186 Před 2 lety +5

    Excess suggestions:
    Exotic pets.
    Pampered children: fancy clothes, fancy toys, personal help staff.
    Private zoos.
    Private hunting preserves.
    Extravagant yachts.

  • @nicoleel2578
    @nicoleel2578 Před 2 lety +5

    Newport is so beautiful! I visit every summer. I’m also from NC and have been to the Biltmore many times, absolutely insane how big it is!

  • @Lady_Chalk
    @Lady_Chalk Před 2 lety +7

    Biltmore Estate is beautiful during Christmas.

  • @TheOffkilter
    @TheOffkilter Před 2 lety +88

    I disagree with calling this "the" Gilded Age. I think it should simply be called a Gilded Age because many economists, sociologists and others say that we have for effectively the last 20 years been living in another and arguably even more opulent Gilded Age today.

    • @ottomattix86
      @ottomattix86 Před 2 lety

      Ones gotta start it all

    • @KBzDvSt
      @KBzDvSt Před 2 lety +4

      @@ottomattix86 so “the first gilded age” then

    • @dominic.h.3363
      @dominic.h.3363 Před 2 lety +6

      The last 20 you say? Could've fooled me... especially with that itty bitty faux pas in 2008, that was called the worst recession since the great depression.

    • @andrewbetances1203
      @andrewbetances1203 Před 2 lety +10

      @@dominic.h.3363 Even the poorest person getting full government assistance is richer today then anyone in the last 2000 years. You can pretty much experience more then people in the past even imagine on almost nothing. Granted your not flying first class but McDonald's and traveling to anywhere in the world for very little is more then the richest back then could ever hope for.
      I'm talking about as far as modern times of course

    • @fanniek1694
      @fanniek1694 Před 2 lety

      That makes better sense

  • @didiermarin2905
    @didiermarin2905 Před 2 lety +15

    The weathly and super rich make me sick. What needless excess while many for homeless and hungry. Human nature never changes.

  • @email5023
    @email5023 Před 2 lety +7

    I toured the Biltmore in 2013. There were so many places where a big flat screen TV could be installed. Too bad they didn't have that back then.

  • @user-ew8vt1ur7j
    @user-ew8vt1ur7j Před 6 měsíci +2

    I visited the Breakers in RI and Hearst Castle in CA….both extremely ornate and ostentatious. While I enjoyed the tours, I will take my rinkydink two bedroom apartment that is warm and cozy over these monstrosities anyday.

  • @lindarutledge9104
    @lindarutledge9104 Před 2 lety

    I really enjoy your videos! Fun and informative 😊

  • @williamcarter1993
    @williamcarter1993 Před 2 lety +48

    from a dispassionate view the Gilded Age/later Victorian era looks so cool to live in- all the beauty and opulence. But then when you realize it's built on prejudice, disease, exploitation and the like it's not so nice looking. But if one could be a ghost or something, it'd be nice to go back to that era and just listen and look around

    • @alicerivierre
      @alicerivierre Před 2 lety

      Hmmmmm....I no's approve no prostitution, you hear?

    • @williamcarter1993
      @williamcarter1993 Před 2 lety +1

      @@alicerivierre what?

    • @Kaboomboo
      @Kaboomboo Před 2 lety +10

      That's why it was called the gilded age. Gilding something means you're just spraying gold paint on top of something, like a crappy piece of metal. And that's what it was. A nice 'looking' time, but covering up a very crappy life for others.

    • @evirareid1500
      @evirareid1500 Před 2 lety +3

      Yeah child labor is literal evil...

    • @PheOfTheFae
      @PheOfTheFae Před 2 lety

      Yeah but the reality is it wasn't any more common in that era than Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos level of wealth is today. Most people never would see such opulence unless they worked as a servant for a rich person, perhaps. And I'm pretty sure their day to day was pretty boring; if you have ever looked at old etiquette books and such they had to change clothes like four times a day for different meals and functions and sat hours at every meal, so most of your day was dressing and eating. Luxurious, sure. But it probably adds to their penchant to entertain themselves in weird ways, since their lives were so dictated in that way.

  • @legend7842
    @legend7842 Před rokem +3

    Who else had family that came from this time period? I also had received instruction from people who were born and raised in this era. My parents home built in the 1800s. The interior design unimaginable.

  • @Uzair_Of_Babylon465
    @Uzair_Of_Babylon465 Před 2 lety +2

    Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job

  • @ninarenee3956
    @ninarenee3956 Před 2 lety

    Great video! Such an interesting era ! This era is one of the most fascinating periods in recent history.

  • @gregoryambres1897
    @gregoryambres1897 Před 2 lety +31

    Giving to the needy was NOT "out of the question" in the Gilded Age. Philanthropy was founded during the Gilded Age (see Carnegie, Mellon, Astor, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, et al).

    • @DrumWild
      @DrumWild Před 2 lety +2

      Philanthropy and charity represent failures in policy.

    • @maggiemae7539
      @maggiemae7539 Před rokem

      @@DrumWild no it means they hid in charities. Their name also was used to get other peoples $

  • @vincentvangogodancer
    @vincentvangogodancer Před 2 lety +4

    Spoiler alert: We're living in a gilded age now. Billionaires can still do whatever they want.

    • @LJB103
      @LJB103 Před rokem

      You mean the 23 car garage at the Bill Gates house is an excess!?!

  • @btetschner
    @btetschner Před 2 měsíci

    A+ video!
    LOVE IT! What a eye-opening topic and video!

  • @gbritaney
    @gbritaney Před 2 lety +5

    More Gilded Age videos please. I would like to know more about the railroad tycoon.

  • @alicerivierre
    @alicerivierre Před 2 lety +69

    I love the Gilded Age. Sometimes I wish I lived in the 19th Cent., minus the filth, diseases, and prejudice that were around.

    • @williamcarter1993
      @williamcarter1993 Před 2 lety

      if you weren't a rich religious pale male it would have sucked for you. that excess was made off of human exploitation. and modern medicine was nonexistent

    • @ddrew1973
      @ddrew1973 Před 2 lety +4

      I think I was born in the wrong era...

    • @mikeseier4449
      @mikeseier4449 Před 2 lety +4

      Filth and disease I can do without, But prejudice is needed to keep certain people in their place.

    • @KBzDvSt
      @KBzDvSt Před 2 lety

      @@mikeseier4449 yeah prejudice is good for keeping failed abortions like you out of the gene pool

    • @EricMOTOWN
      @EricMOTOWN Před 2 lety

      @@mikeseier4449 fuckin yikes

  • @MegaNihilarian
    @MegaNihilarian Před 2 lety +4

    I toured the Flagler Museum in West Palm beach and Henry Flagler’s home is exactly like this with the rail cart outside. The Ringlings Brothers Manson was similar.

  • @auntvesuvi3872
    @auntvesuvi3872 Před 2 lety

    Thanks for this! 🏰

  • @onecoolcat2478
    @onecoolcat2478 Před 2 lety +1

    I love your channel. Any updates about your 70's project?

  • @jlshel42
    @jlshel42 Před 2 lety +5

    "Hold my tea." -Rich Brits of the same time period

  • @calibmatlock
    @calibmatlock Před 2 lety +14

    I can understand the costume parties and crazy meals but covering a bathroom in actual gold sounds so stupid to me.

    • @IRosamelia
      @IRosamelia Před 2 lety +2

      Oh hush you lowly peasant! 🤑

    • @kate_cooper
      @kate_cooper Před 2 lety

      So what would you suggest is a better use of all that gold? What would you do with it?

    • @IRosamelia
      @IRosamelia Před 2 lety +2

      @@kate_cooper bathing of course, like a famous duck does 👑

    • @dayseyenavajo3925
      @dayseyenavajo3925 Před 2 lety

      Marble…

    • @maggiemae7539
      @maggiemae7539 Před rokem

      As in ancient Babylon!

  • @SlimKeith11
    @SlimKeith11 Před 2 lety +2

    One of my fav movies, Being there, with Peter Sellers was filmed at the Biltmore. I highly recommend this brilliant film and it's a treat to see inside of the manse as well as a bit of the outside.

  • @michaelpage4199
    @michaelpage4199 Před 2 lety +2

    Great video. We have been watching this on HBO. Amazing.

  • @marlenesingleton8839
    @marlenesingleton8839 Před 2 lety +4

    That was very interesting. What amazes me so much was that they would always try to outdo the other one with what they would spend.

    • @ladynikkie
      @ladynikkie Před 2 lety +2

      Pretty much this is the original keeping up with the Jones' but way more excessive it's kind of sad

    • @bernardcassidy6497
      @bernardcassidy6497 Před 2 lety +1

      It was incredibly hard work, running these places and organising ever greater functions and constantly keeping yourself, front and centre of everything and always worried sick that you would be outdone by someone richer, hard to believe when they could have just chilled, kicked back and done nothing, humans need stimulus or chronic boredom and booze etc kicks in.

  • @angrybigfoot752
    @angrybigfoot752 Před 2 lety +7

    The builtmore is definitely beautiful. Most of the land around the estate is a massive tree farm.

  • @almaalma3871
    @almaalma3871 Před 2 lety

    I’m a huge fan of history and just came crossed with this Chanel. Love it 🎉

  • @N_0968
    @N_0968 Před 2 lety +1

    That’s a good topic! Love your videos.

    • @alicerivierre
      @alicerivierre Před 2 lety +1

      I love them too! He tells great and obscure historical facts!

  • @BillOweninOttawa
    @BillOweninOttawa Před 2 lety +9

    Applying gold leaf is called "gilding", hence the name for the age (coined by Mark Twain). Contemporary American oligarchs just as bad a this lot though.

  • @sonyajaffe1024
    @sonyajaffe1024 Před 2 lety +6

    I’ve visited the mansion with the golden toilet in Baltimore, Maryland couple months ago.Unfortunately due to covid restrictions, I was unable to have a picture of myself sitting on the 23karat gold toilet seat:(

    • @jgallardo7344
      @jgallardo7344 Před 2 lety

      What a crock! They wouldn’t let me walk through the Peabody Library because it was “unsafe” due to COVID, but Ravens and Oriole games were totally safe 🙄

  • @gettfoffmynews3315
    @gettfoffmynews3315 Před 2 lety +2

    That dude's hair in the thumbnail is an excess he could have lived without...

  • @dianasmith725
    @dianasmith725 Před 2 lety

    Great video. Super entertaining

  • @lyndseyfifield
    @lyndseyfifield Před 2 lety +4

    Citation needed on the repeated claims they did nothing for the poor. Many built hospitals and schools and funded health care and literacy programs… not to mention job training and giving major opportunities and huge sums to workers and tradespeople…

  • @jacktribble5253
    @jacktribble5253 Před 2 lety +14

    As crazy as all that was, it didn't even come close to some of the "Vulgar displays of wealth" further back in history and all of that stuff is still going on in many places right now. Even as I write this.

    • @kimberleysmith818
      @kimberleysmith818 Před rokem

      One of e Palaces of a Sultan in Morocco took up miles. Literally walking miles from one end of the palace to the other. That didn’t I voice gardens.

  • @chanel113
    @chanel113 Před 2 lety +1

    I love seeing the houses of this time. What about a video on the Pullman mansion and the way the neighborhood changed

  • @lindacoolbaugh962
    @lindacoolbaugh962 Před 2 lety +1

    I went to Newport and took a tour of The Breakers, awesome to see a fireplace bigger than my living room!! It was so surreal

  • @lynnobrien8159
    @lynnobrien8159 Před 2 lety +4

    Alva was married to William Kissam Vanderbilt, the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, whose picture you showed at the beginning.

  • @trixrabbit8792
    @trixrabbit8792 Před 2 lety +3

    Sadam Husain had a solid gold toilet. It disappeared during the sacking of Baghdad. Rumor has it that it took more than half dozen people to get it out of the palace.

  • @jgallardo7344
    @jgallardo7344 Před 2 lety +2

    4:20 The Evergreen Estate is near the corner of Charles Street and Cold Spring Lane in Baltimore. Situated in between Notre Dame and Loyola University

  • @AnarChic75
    @AnarChic75 Před 2 lety

    I laughed so hard 😂 I love being amused as I get informed. Thank you sir

  • @cathleendelorenzo205
    @cathleendelorenzo205 Před 2 lety +7

    Cornelius and Alva were not married, so they didn’t build a house together.

    • @jmc8076
      @jmc8076 Před rokem

      Both built in Newport as in-laws not as couple.

  • @lubazak636
    @lubazak636 Před 2 lety +3

    The rich are still the same. A contractor told me that two neighbors in a wealthy bedroom community near me, were demanding a more expensive bathroom than my neighbor, begging him to find the most expensive materials possible.
    New money also is involved in a lot of showing off; labels, 100,000$ Burkin bags, ect.

  • @whatadollslife
    @whatadollslife Před 2 lety +2

    the Conservatory of flowers in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was originally purchased for James Lick to be built at his Santa Cara California home ,before he passed away and it was donated to San Francisco and became a world tourist attraction after 1879

  • @scronx
    @scronx Před 2 lety

    You make it all very interesting and clever ;-)

  • @andrewwiggins3190
    @andrewwiggins3190 Před 2 lety +29

    I just turned 20 and want to devote myself into becoming a millionaire by 30, I already have £80k saved, £65k lump sum following the death of my father and £15k in personal savings. So far ive come across dropshipping, stocks, and real estate as the most popular means of doing so but i was wondering if any of you have any other suggestions, at this stage im just trying to learn about the most viable ways of achieving success within 10 years

    • @wildtxboy6083
      @wildtxboy6083 Před 2 lety +2

      THE REAL WEALTH WILL ALWAYS BE LAND,GOLD,NATURAL RESOURCES. THATS IT

    • @karynplumm878
      @karynplumm878 Před 2 lety +3

      I don't know what your definition of success is, but I can share what I've done. My Father died in 2014, His social security benefits and some cash were split between me and my brother. I spent about 16k of it to start a business and invested the rest through the wealth advisor who managed his investment for 13 years before he passed away. It is now worth over 750k. Becoming a millionaire can be done in 10 years. It feels like 60hr work weeks. Feel the pain of discipline early or feel the pain of regret later. I wish you well!

    • @24ever12
      @24ever12 Před 2 lety +3

      My only advise for you is to educate yourself on good investing books

    • @andrewwiggins3190
      @andrewwiggins3190 Před 2 lety +1

      @@karynplumm878 Thanks for sharing your story. I'm fascinated to know who this financial advisor is and if they work with someone outside of US?

    • @karynplumm878
      @karynplumm878 Před 2 lety

      @@andrewwiggins3190 I can't actually leave her details on here, you could do that yourself..her name is ''Stacey Lee Jamieson'' she's the one I work with, look her name up you would see all you need to know. you could leave her a message on her webpage

  • @BlessedAreTheCheesemakers

    "prostitution was legal for the rich"
    My dude, *everything* is legal if you're rich enough...

  • @sarahsmith4205
    @sarahsmith4205 Před 2 lety +2

    I visited the builtmore right after Christmas and it was just amazing I didn't wanna leave

  • @joeyjamison5772
    @joeyjamison5772 Před 2 lety +11

    _"Honesty is incompatible with amassing a large fortune."_
    -Mohandas Gandhi
    _"Behind every great fortune there is a crime."_
    -Honoré de Balzac
    _"Money is the loot of all weasels."_
    -Louis Rukeyser

  • @eddienash8645
    @eddienash8645 Před 2 lety +5

    Seems like not much has changed

    • @ladynikkie
      @ladynikkie Před 2 lety +1

      Pretty much just nowadays they're more wary especially with the social media age so they have to watch what they do or make sure the people they pay off at least keep their mouth shut.

  • @m.f.richardson1602
    @m.f.richardson1602 Před 2 lety

    Interesting.
    Thank you.💕👌

  • @tinytt854
    @tinytt854 Před 2 lety

    I liked this show. Can't wait for more.

  • @katem2411
    @katem2411 Před 2 lety +6

    So pretty much the same as now? 🤣
    This is what happens when wealthy people don't have to pay serious income taxes and inheritance taxes and don't need to follow any/many regulations about how they treat people who work for them.

  • @shadia4978
    @shadia4978 Před 2 lety +8

    The poor birds…. That was the worst. I guess they had much lower consciousness back then. I am totally traumatized by their treatments of those birds. Wish I had never heard such a thing😢

  • @kinda_chaotically_shey3945

    Love Weird History so much! Please please please do a vid on the Navajo Code Talkers of WW2!!!!!

  • @markfigueroa1681
    @markfigueroa1681 Před 2 lety +3

    You know it was a rager when your party is being talked about 150 years later

  • @Redneck322
    @Redneck322 Před 2 lety +7

    I really hope time travel is available in the next decade because I want go back in time to steal some cash during the old west and then put it in a bank account in Austin to collect interest over the 150 years to be able to withdraw the current day worth to live off of.

  • @LoriFoster
    @LoriFoster Před 2 lety +5

    Spending money does help working people and then the poor.🤷🏻‍♂️

    • @larry3491
      @larry3491 Před 2 lety +1

      In China and Hong Kong perhaps but not so much here.

    • @LoriFoster
      @LoriFoster Před 2 lety

      @@larry3491 I don’t know what you’re talking about money is money wherever it. Someone or some Corp builds a home or business and people are hired from the get go on all fronts. Then you have workers or home owners that pay tax and spend on upkeep. Poor people can’t hire if that’s your reasoning. I’m not rich and have worked for a corp for decades but that’s how it works. 😃 Have a good weekend! ✌️

  • @lauraguida8482
    @lauraguida8482 Před 6 měsíci +1

    2 ERRORS - The first one is at 1:18. You have the incorrect person married to Alva Vanderbilt. She was married to William Kissam Vanderbilt, not Cornelius. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was William's father. ERROR #2 is at 3:36. George Vanderbilt II was not Cornelius and William's father. George was William Kissam Vanderbilt's son and was Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt's grandson.

  • @alexriofrio5754
    @alexriofrio5754 Před 2 lety +2

    This shit barely been up for 4 min before people be commenting like " really good I formation." "Glad I watched it"

  • @1shotmilo14
    @1shotmilo14 Před 2 lety +6

    I love this channel this is the reason why I know so many useless facts. I guess they’re a bit useful to start a random conversation.

    • @alicerivierre
      @alicerivierre Před 2 lety

      One man's trash is another man's treasure, that's the old phrase!

    • @lukesnare8063
      @lukesnare8063 Před 2 lety +4

      Guess it doesn't make them useless then does it