Transcript

4.10.26 · History Hour

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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome. This is radioi's History Show, and I'm
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your reader and hosts this week Joseph Bolt, so glad
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to be with you for this time. And as always,
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we need to remind you that RADIOI is a listener
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research it and perhaps get it on one week to
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five nine four two two six three nine zero let
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us know what you're thinking. As you know, RADIOI is
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a reading service intended for people who are blind or
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have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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I'll cite the sources as we go along today, So
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let's get started. So today I thought we would look
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at the history of parties, and I don't mean political parties,
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I mean good time parties. So let's see what was
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happening a couple centuries ago and on through history here
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in terms of throwing the best parties in the world.
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Throwing a party in the nineteenth century was an exercise
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in extremes, ranging from Gilded Age glamour to grassroots get
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togethers after a long day in the field. At the
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start of the nineteenth century, many Americans were part of
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a rural agrarian community where daily life revolved around farming, homemaking,
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and survival. In the ensuing years, industrialization and immigration made
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major impacts on the country. Social and economic divides became
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more stark, with wealthy families in urban areas enjoying more
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leisure time and access to luxuries, while working class families
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and immigrant families often laboured long hours in factories, workshops,
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or on farmlands. For much of the century, having the
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time and resources for hosting elaborate parties was a privilege
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reserved for the upper class, but people of all walks
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of life enjoyed socializing well. Here's a look at how
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different groups of Americans partied. For the wealthiest patrons of
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the Western world, throwing a party in the nineteenth century
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was an elaborate affair designed to show off status. The
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Grand Ball was the pinnacle of high society entertainment and
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was often held in a lavish home or rented hall. Balls,
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like most upper class parties, were meticulously planned, and guests
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arrived dressed to impress and to dance, although there was
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minimum letting loose with the strict choreography. The evening often
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began with a polonaise, which is a stately march that
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showed off guests stunning attire, followed by waltzes and other
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types of dances. The image of the debutante ball, for instance,
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is one of aristocratic pomp, lavish white dresses, and delicate
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social codes. Deriving from the French word debutae, meaning to begin,
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Debutante balls have traditionally served the purpose of presenting young
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blue blooded women to society and the hope that they
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might marry into wealth and status. More widely, they have
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served as a means for the reigning monarch to meet
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their noble subjects, both loved and loathed by the young
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women in attendance, Debutante balls were once the pinnacle of
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high society and the social calendar. Though less popular today,
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television shows such as Bridge have renewed interest in their
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glittering traditions and equally fascinating history, and lavish balls are
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still held today for the Creme de la creme of society.
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So what is a deputy debutante ball and why were
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they invented? And when did they die out? Catholicism traditionally
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cloistered unmarried aristocratic women in convents. However, the Protestant Reformation
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in the sixteenth century in England and northern Europe widely
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ended this practice. Among Protestants, this created a problem and
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that unmarried young women could no longer simply be sequestered away. Moreover,
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since they couldn't inherit their father's estates, it was essential
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that they be introduced to the company of wealthy noblemen
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who could provide for them via marriage. This was one
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of the purposes of the debutante ball. By seventeen eighty
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it was customed to return from the hunting season to London,
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where the season of social events began. That same year,
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King George the Third and his wife, Queen Charlotte held
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a May ball for Charlotte's birthday, then donated the money
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raised to fund a new maternity hospital. To attend, parents
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of a young woman would request an invitation from the
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most senior member of the royal household, who was given
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the title Lord Chamber of the household. The Lord Chamber
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would then decide whether to extend an invitation based upon
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the judgment of her parents' character. Moreover, only women who
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had previously been presented to the monarch could nominate a
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debutante of their choice, which effectively confined the women in
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attendance to the upper classes of society. Queen Charlotte's Ball
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quickly became the most important social ball of the social calendar,
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and was followed by a season of six months of parties, dances,
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and special events such as horse racing. The first Black
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debutante ball is recorded to have taken place in New
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York in seventeen seventy eight, known as the Ethiopian Ball.
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The wives of free black men serving in the Royal
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Ethiopian Regiment would mingle with the wives of British soldiers.
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The first official African American debutante ball took place in
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eighteen ninety five in New Orleans, owning or rather owing
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to the city's large and upperly mobile Black population. These
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events were normally organized by institutions such as churches and
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social clubs, and were an opportunity for wealthy African Americans
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to show off the black community in a dignified manner.
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In the decades following the abolition of slavery, from the
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nineteen forties to the nineteen sixties, the emphasis of these
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events shifted to education, community outreach, fundraising and networking, and
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there were incentives such as scholarships and grants for participating dips.
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Before modern day celebrities, a debutante could be one of
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society's most notable figures and would be profiled in publications
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such as Tattler. It was also a fashion show. In
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the nineteen twenties, women were expected to wear an ostrich
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feather head dress and long and a long white train
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to be presented at Buckingham Palace. By the late nineteen fifties,
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dress styles were less rigid and more mainstream fashion focused.
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A young woman was allowed to flirt and go on dates,
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the latter of which would be strictly chaperoned. During the
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early days of debutante balls, however, virginity was a must,
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and men could be blacklisted for being too handsy or presumptuous.
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They risk being labeled as NSIT or not safe in
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taxis or MTF must touch flesh. Following the severe losses
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suffered During World War II. Wealth among the upper classes
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was often significantly dent by death duties. Since one season
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for one woman could cost up to one hundred and
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twenty thousand dollars in today's money, many war widows could
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no longer afford to pay for the outfit, travel and
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ticket expenses that being a deb required. Moreover, dead balls
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and parties were held in lavish townhouses and stately homes
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less and less. Instead, they were moved to hotels and flats.
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Since food rash name only ended in nineteen fifty four,
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the indulgent nature of the balls was markedly reduced. Finally,
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the quality of debutantes was perceived to have fallen. Princess
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Margaret famously declared quote, we have to put a stop
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to it. Retart in London was getting in, though lesser
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forms of debutant balls have survived. Queen Elizabeth the Second
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ultimately put a stop to the balls when she was
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in attendance as the Monarch in nineteen fifty eight. Post
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war financial factors played a part, as did the burgeoning
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feminist movement that recognized that it was antiquated to pressure
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seventeen year old women to marry. When the Lord Chamberlain
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announced the end of the royal presentation ceremony. It attracted
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a record number of applications for the final ball that year,
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one thy four hundred girls curtsied to Queen Elizabeth the
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Second over three days. Though the heyday of debutante balls
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is over, some still exist today. While rality of long
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white gowns, tierras and gloves remains, the requirements for attendance
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is increasingly wealth based rather than lineage based. For instance,
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the annual Viennese Opera Ball is famously lavish. The least
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expensive ticket costs eleven hundred dollars, while tickets for tables
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for twelve people are priced at around twenty five thousand dollars. Similarly,
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the Queen Charlotte's Ball was revived in the early twenty
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first century and is held annually at an extravagant location
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in the UK. However, organizers state that rather than serving
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as a way for aristocratic young women to enter society,
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its focus has shifted to networking, business skills and charity fundraiser.
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Whether it was a ball or a formal dinner party
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or a garden party, hosts ensued no detail was overlooked.
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Preparations took weeks starting with handwritten or engraved invitations careful
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social standing, but also, according to Florence Hartley's ninth or
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rather eighteen seventy two Ladies Book of Etiquette, that they
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be good conversationalists. Of course, table settings were quite particular,
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as was the actual act of eating. One eighteen sixty
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nine etiquette guide directed dinner party guests to not quote
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take a long, deep breath end quote after eating, lest
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you rudely appear fatigued by the whole ordeal. Not every
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nineteenth century party consisted of such formalities. Middle class families
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and rural commune unities took part in simpler, more communal,
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and free spirited celebrations. In the mid eighteen hundreds, Americans
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embraced the long running European tradition of picnic parties. Though
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they originated as indoor affairs, By the time the tradition
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made it overseas, these parties took place outdoors and weren't
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as wholesome as we might picture today. Americans saw picnics
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as a way to let loose and indulge. Author Mary
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Ellen w. Hearn wrote in her book Picnicking in the
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Northeastern United States eighteen forty to nineteen hundred. She goes
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on to say that even encouraged, they even rather encouraged flirtation,
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sexual games, and opportunities to indulge in a bit of
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hanky panky along with all that food. In RU communities,
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socializing was often tied to the rhythms of domestic or
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agricultural life. Quilting bees brought women together to stitch quilts
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while exchanging stories, skills, and of course gossip. The work
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culminated in a feast and possibly an impromptu dance, with
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others joining in. Husking parties, also known as frolics, saw
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neighbors gathering to mix work and play while husking corn
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for the winter. Before mechanical corn pickers harvested corn, farmers,
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of course, picked corn by hand. We all know shucking
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corn means tearing the corn hust from the ear of corn,
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breaking off the ear of corn from the corn stalk,
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and throwing that ear of corn into a wagon. Typically,
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this was done in October or early November, when the
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corn was dry enough to harvest and store. During these
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types of parties, songs would be sung and games played
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until the work was done, at which point the huskers
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would share a meal and gather late into the night
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while the younger workers scurried off looking for romance. Women
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were often well dressed at these husking parties, for they
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were all of the courting age and may have been
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hopeful to see their intended bow at the gathering. One
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beloved tradition involved the discovery of a red ear of corn.
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Finding one granted the lucky person a kiss from someone
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of their choice. When only men participated, the red ear
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earned a celibratory swig of whiskey or cider. Corn shuckings
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were prime opportunities for young people to meet and mingle,
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and many marriages began with a shared smile over a
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pile of corn. Unfortunately, these gatherings began to fade with
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the advent of modern harvesting technologies in the early twentieth century.
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Dance halls and their festivities were also an integral part
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of small community all over the US. Some still stand
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today testaments to the importance of these lively gatherings. Between
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eighteen fifteen and nineteen fifteen, some thirty million Europeans arrived
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in the US. Over time, their unique customs became the
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life of the party, leading to what are now among
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the country's most deeply established celebratory traditions. Irish immigrants stage
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one of the first recorded Saint Patrick's Day parades in
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the US in seventeen thirty seven. By the mid eighteen hundreds,
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they celebrated at homes and in the streets in wild
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reverie every year. German immigrants, meanwhile, many of whom settled
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in the cities of Milwaukee and Saint Louis, not only
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changed every holiday party in the US by introducing Christmas
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Tree to the country, but also revolutionized the way American imbibes.
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As their logger beer quickly grew in popularity, so too
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did their beer gardens. These lively hubs grew working folks,
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young families, in courting couples. They gathered to socialize and
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enjoy live music and relax outdoors in the open air establishments,
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all the while enjoying a brew. Of course. While the
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specifics have evolved, these customs remain at the heart of
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every good party. Sources for that story came from history
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facts dot com How to Throw a Party in the
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nineteenth Century, written by Nicole Villanovee in December of twenty
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twenty four, and History hit dot com the season, The
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Glittering History of the Debutante Ball, written by Lucy Davidson
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in September twenty twenty two, and finally the Forgottensouth dot
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Com recording at the Cornshuck, a cultural tradition in the South.
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No author or date was cited. Now. The following reading
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comes from history dot com an article entitled eight Parties
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So Wild They Made It into the History Books, written
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by Evan Andrews in May of twenty twenty five. First
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staged in seventeen twenty, the Manchu Han Imperial Feast Edithon
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was ostensibly a sixty sixth birthday party for the Qing
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Emperor Kanshi, but it was also an attempt to unify
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the ruling Manches Manchu's rather with China's Han population. Every
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days the banquets, twenty five hundred guests coffed wine and
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stuffed themselves silly with as many as three hundred different
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dishes and snacks. Along with dumplings, duck and roast pigs
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fattened with porridge, the menu also offered a selection of
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more obscure dishes, known as the thirty two Delicacies. These
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included such culinary oddities as bare paws, camel humps, birds nests,
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leopard fetuses, and monkey brains. The feast was the height
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of imperial opulence, and it was so popular that it
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was later copied multiple times during the Qing era. Even today,
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some of China's more ritzy restaurants will serve multi course
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Manchu Han inspired feast. In nineteen seventy one, a multi
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day banquet was held to celebrate the twenty five hundred,
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the two thousand, five hundredth anniversary of Cyrus the Great's
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founding of the Persian Empire. The elaborate birthday bash was
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staged in the shadow of the ancient ruins of Persepolis.
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As part of the preparations, the Shaw of Iran erected
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an oasis tent adorned with twenty miles of silk, flew
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in food and chefs from France, and imported fifty thousand
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song birds. The six hundred guests, who included the Ethiopian Emperor,
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the Prince and Princesses, a Princess rather of Monaco, and
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more than sixty other royals and heads of state, all
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dined on roast, peacock and quail eggs and sampled five
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thousand bottles of vented champagne. In between meals, they took
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in fireworks, displays, dance performances in a parade that featured
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soldiers costumed as great armies of Persian history. The celebration
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was supposed to signify the greatness of the Shaw's regime.
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He even had it documented in a propaganda film called
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Flames of Persia, but it ended up being the last
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gasp of Iran's millennium Old monarchy. By the end of
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the decade, growing discontent with his rule saw him overthrown
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in a revolution. All in all, the party cost one
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hundred and seventy five million dollars. Now, when King Henry
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the Eighth of England and King Francis the First of
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France hosted a joint summit in fifteen twenty in a
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valley near Calais, they were supposed to be nurturing friendly
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relations between their two nations. What happened instead was a
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competition in party form. For two and a half weeks,
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the royals attempted to upstage and outspend one another by
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hosting a spree of drinking, jousting, archery, and feasting. The
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banquets featured elaborate tents and pavilions, meet from over four
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thousand lambs, calves and oxens, and fountains that spewed wine.
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The highlight of the bender came near its conclusion when
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the two royals squared off in an impromptu wrestling match.
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Francis reportedly tossed Henry to the ground. Despite its steep
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price tag, it supposedly drained both nations treasuries failed to
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initiate an era of good feelings, and by fifteen twenty one,
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England and France were once again on opposite sides of
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a war. Now here's a party for the history books
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that happened right here in good old America. Presidential inaugurations
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are typically stead affairs, but the March fourth, eighteen twenty
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nine swearing in of Andrew Jackson nearly turned into a
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drunken disaster. After giving his inauguration speech, Old Hickory retired
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to the White House, which was hosting an open reception
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to allow the public to greet their new commander in chief.
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Before long, the Executive mansion was crammed with thousands of
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rowdy well wishers, some of whom climbed a top furniture
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and knocked over glassware in their struggle to catch a
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glimpse of their celebrity president. When Jackson's staff tried to
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control the rabble by serving alcoholic refreshments, the scene only
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grew worse. The chaos abated after the tubs of whiskey
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punch were moved to the White House lawn, but Jackson
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was forced to flee to a nearby hotel to avoid
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being crushed by his supporters. Well, the party's over this week.
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I guess it's time to close now. I sure hope
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you enjoyed today's show. I thank you for listening and
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giving me your time today. I'm your host, Joseph Bolt,
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and I'll be back next time with another chapter of
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Radio Eye history. Until then, happy parties and happy trails.