As The Money Burns

Latest Episodes:

Revelations & Resolutions Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

As another year begins, many lives are in flux amidst the changes occurring. Will their choices lead to better outcomes or more trouble ahead?

Elsa Maxwell throws another fabulous costume party before returning to Europe. Cobina Wright reconsiders her options for financial recovery. Louise Van Alen and Prince Alexis Mdivani’s wedding announcement upsets her family, and Lady Ribblesdale offers some consolation.

Other people and subjects include: Cobina Wright, Bill Wright, Jimmy Cromwell, Irene Hutton, Evalyn Walsh McLean, Birdie Vanderbilt, Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, Vincent Astor, Helen Astor, Prince Serge Obolensky, Ava Alice Astor, Henry Van Alen, Sam Van Alen, Daisy Van Alen, Rudolph Valentino, Pola Negri, Prince Serge Mdivani, Mary McCormic, Prince David Mdivani, Mae Murray, Princess Roussie Mdivani Sert, Josep Maria Sert, Princess Nina Mdivani, Charles Huberich, Zakariah Mdivani, Czar Nicholas II Romanov, Joseph Stalin, costume party, American dollar princesses, fascination with royal & noble titles, Bolshevik Revolution, Soviet states, and siblings dating friends.

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight? by Jack Hylton, Album Charleston – Great Stars Of the 20s
Section 2 Music: Ooh! That Kiss! by Carroll Gibbons, Album Elegance 2
Section 3 Music: It’s Got To Be Love by Roy Fox & His Orchestra with Mary Lee, Album It’s Got To Be Love
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

Dark Side Of The Moon Dec 24, 2021

Show notes

Part 2 of 2 (continued from Episode 46: No Expense Spared)

The most extravagant debutante ball is in full swing, but disaster both inside and out looms on the horizon.

Barbara Hutton’s big debutante ball continues at the Ritz-Carlton. Prince Alexis Mdivani and Louise Van Alen steal the attention, while Silvia begs Barbara to marry the Prince. Barbara’s father Franklyn Hutton finally tells her the true amount of her fortune.

Other people and subjects include: December 22nd – 23rd, 1930, Doris Duke, Silvia de Rivas Castilleja de Guzman, Henry Van Alen, Sam Van Alen, Irene Hutton, Franklyn Hutton, Jakey Astor, Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton, Helena Woolworth McCann, Jessie Woolworth Donahue, engagement announcement, unemployment rising, public & press criticism of rich, press of Barbara’s ball, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, and the double edge sword of the bright spotlight of celebrity vs. the dark sides.

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Nightfall by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 2 Music: Lost In A Fog by Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 3 Music: Moonlight Cocktail by Hutch for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Tea Dance 1920s, 30s, 40s Vintage Tea Party
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

No Expense Spared Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

Come join the biggest debutante ball of the season, of many seasons. It’s going to be one for the record books, and no one is going to want to miss out.

Barbara Hutton has the biggest, most expensive debutante ball ever thrown at the Ritz-Carlton. Everyone attends the wonderful night, but drama starts to unfold amongst her many guests.

Other people and subjects include: December 22nd – 23rd, 1930, Doris Duke, Louise Van Alen, Prince Alexis Mdivani, Cobina Wright, Bill Wright, Franklyn Hutton, Irene Hutton, Nanaline Duke, Jakey Astor, Henry Van Alen, Sam Van Alen, Marjorie Merriweather Post Hutton, EF Hutton, Silvia de Rivas Castilleja de Guzman, Felipe de Rivas Castilleja de Guzman, Happy Shannon, costs of debutante balls, famous guest lists, Mrs. Reginald Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, La Argentina, La Argentinita, Winston Churchill, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., reconstructing night & issues with sources, Hutton biography Poor Little Rich Girl, and fascination of those looking rosily from the outside without knowing darker realities.

Extra Notes / Call to Action:
Instagram: @PowerPrivilegeMoney, @MansionsoftheGildedAge, and @TheGildedAgeSociety
Past Perfect Vintage Music www.pastperfect.com

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Stardust by Freddie Gardner, Album More Sophistication
Section 2 Music: I’m In the Mood for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Elegance
Section 3 Music: Moonlight Cocktail by Hutch for Love by Freddy Gardner, Album Tea Dance 1920s, 30s, 40s Vintage Tea Party
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

The Butterfly Effect Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

Tough financial times force some former debutantes to focus on finding work not husbands. Could this be the future fate of this year’s debs?

Three former debutantes work as mannequins and saleswomen at a “debutante shop” helping this year’s debs prepare for the coming out season. Meanwhile multiple bank failures are happening in Nashville.

Other people and subjects include: October - November 1930, debut shop, Antionette “Toni” Frissell, Varick Frissell, Happy Shannon, Mary Irwin Howell, Rogers Caldwell, Barbara Hutton, Cecil Beaton, debutante trends, Prince Serge Obolensky, Ava Alice Astor, tacky party, Saks Fifth Avenue, October bank failures in Cuba & Portugal, November bank failures in Tennessee & Mid-West, Caldwell & Company collapse, lavish lifestyles & fraud, and the butterfly effect.

Extra Notes / Call to Action:
Debutante Shops Nadia’s in LA and Saks Fifth Avenue in Chicago ads
TW / IG – @asthemoneyburns
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/asthemoneyburns/

Agent Stoker podcast Altered Carbon team actor Chris Conner and writer Brian Nelson https://bleav.com/shows/agent-stoker/ or https://pod.link/1592739514

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Button Up Your Overcoat by Jack Hylton, Album Fascinating Rhythm – Great Hits of the 20s
Section 2 Music: One Two, Button Your Shoe by Jack Hylton, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s
Section 3 Music: Umtcha, Umtcha, Da Da Da by The Rhythmic Eight, Album Fascinating Rhythm – Great Hits of the 20s
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

Merry Widows Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

A doting mother always wants her child to blossom, but sometimes the child especially a teenager grows outside of reach.

Still haunted by his cheating scandal, Huntington Hartford starts Harvard in the fall 1930. While his smothering mother Henrietta Hartford is occupied with a flower show, Huntington and his roommate visit a local brothel.

Other people and subjects include: Ned Rollins, flower shows, prostitution, prostitution fines, rise of plain clothes detectives, special agent Eliot Ness, gangsters, New York vice scandal, Chile Acuna, stool pigeon, Merry Widow condom tins, and modern metal detecting in 1930s WPA work camp spots.

Extra Notes / Call to Action:
Merry Widow condom tin photo
TW / IG – @asthemoneyburns
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/asthemoneyburns/

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Sing A Song of Sunbeams by Ronnie Munro & Orchestra, Albums Tea Dance 2 & The Great Bands Dance Bands Play Hits Of The 30s
Section 2 Music: Did You Mean It? By Jack Hylton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 3 Music: Hesitation Blues by Nat Gonella & His New Georgians, Album Perfect Blues
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

Second Acts Oct 29, 2021

Show notes

As the Met Opera season begins, a society hostess continues to present the front all is well. Will this be her swan song?

As Cobina Wright hosts the opening activities for the 1930 Metropolitan Season, she wonders who also is hiding their losses from the Crash. Dowager Alice Vanderbilt now leases her prized balcony box to close friends. The glamorous attendees enjoy Verdi’s Aida opera.

Other people and subjects include: October 17th – 1930, Bill Wright, Alice Vanderbilt, Elsa Maxwell, Harold Vanderbilt, butlers Bruce & Fred, soprano Lucrezia Bori, Verdi opera Aida, Hamptons Sand Point mansion, TIME magazine, Metropolitan Opera – the Met, rise in thefts, Academy of Music, fire damage, Leopold Damrosch, Walter Damrosch, Arturo Toscanini, Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin, Chinese Monkey King, Neuschwanstein Castle, radio soap opera Painted Dreams, high schoolers first opera experience, and visiting Schloss Schonbrunn, Neuschwanstein, & Beijing Peking Opera House.

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Freddy Gardner, Album Elegance 2
Section 2 Music: Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 3 Music: If This Is Only The Beginning by Billy Ternent, Album Elegance
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

Pinwheels Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

A special ball in the Big Apple kicks off the most prized debutante season. Elite debutantes will be kept busy with a never ending whirl of activities, and participation is not optional.

Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke attend multiple events as part of their debutante season. Endless activities occurring while further away hints of darker economic times looming.

Other people and subjects include: October 18th & 25th, 1930, October Ball, Autumn Ball, Peace Ball, Hotel Pierre, Charles Pierre, Grace Roosevelt, Josephine “Fifi” Laimbeer, June Blossom, Ward Fox, Tuxedo Park, Prince of Wales – King Edward VII, Prince Charles, Duke of Windsor, Nancy Randolph, Cholly Knickerbocker, Inez Callaway Robb, stock market recovery in Spring 1930 & crash again, bank failures increasing, jet set term, EF Hutton, Elizabeth Taylor, Aristotle Onassis, Yves Saint-Laurent, tuxedo dinner jacket, British royal heir apparent, and ongoing lockdown with more illnesses during pandemic.

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Let’s Fall In Love For The Last Time by Mantovani, Albums The Great British Dance Bands & Tea Dance 2
Section 2 Music: I Still Love To Kiss You by Hutch, Album The Age of Style – Hits of the 30s
Section 3 Music: Ooh! That Kiss! by Carroll Gibbons, Album Elegance 2
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

The Legacy Left Behind Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

As a widow prepares for the anniversary of her husband’s death, the daughter still remains in the way of the fortune. The web of secrets is starting to unravel.

On the five year anniversary of Buck Duke’s death, Nanaline must return to Duke University for a memorial weekend. While the university celebrates their former benefactor, Nanaline is reminded of the fortune she lost and schemes to get it back.

Other people and subjects include: Nanaline Holt Inman Duke, Doris Duke, Trinity College, Benjamin “Ben” Duke, widow Mrs. Benjamin Duke, Duke Fifth Avenue Mansion, French governess Jenny Renaud, philanthropy, Duke Endowment, and personal experiences with deaths & recent losses during pandemic.

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 2 Music: These Foolish Things by Benny Carter, Album Perfect Blues
Section 3 Music: A Foggy Day by Carroll Gibbons, Album Sophistication 3
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

Smooth Sailing Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

It’s off to the races when an international yacht competition brings challengers from all over. This year’s winner will be the first of his kind.

The America’s Cup returns with five time challenger Sir Thomas Lipton against defender Harold Vanderbilt. The next set of races will bring in a new era in nautical technology.

Other people and subjects include: September 13th – 18th, 1930, Vincent Astor, Jakey Astor, Henry Van Alen, Huntington Hartford, Barbara Hutton, Doris Duke, Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, Neily Vanderbilt, Neil Vanderbilt, Alva Vanderbilt, William K Vanderbilt, yachts Shamrock V vs Enterprise, trophy Auld Mug, American qualifying races, technology development, Lipton Tea Company, Prince Edward – Prince of Wales – King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, lifelong bachelorhood, homosexuality, Larry Ellison, Oracle, 2021 New Zealand vs Italy, and good sportsmanship.

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Skirts by Billy Cotton, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s
Section 2 Music: Red Sails In The Sunset by Casani Club Orchestra, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s
Section 3 Music: I’ve Got Beginner’s Luck by Roy Fox, Album The Great British Dance Bands
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

The Belle Of Paris Sep 03, 2021

Show notes

While plans are underway for another big and fantastic ball, one heiress is more focused on affairs of the heart and reuniting forbidden lovers. All the fun activity isn’t merely local, next up the beaches in France.

In Biarritz, France, Barbara Hutton wants to help reunite the forbidden lovers – Prince Alexis Mdivani and Silvia. The famed beauty Silvia is minor royal whose family too has lost their fortune to the Great Depression and now must consider a more financially beneficial marriage.

Other people and subjects include: September 1930, Silvia de Rivas Castilleja de Guzman, Felipe Castilleja de Guzman, Spanish King Alfonso XIII, American dollar princesses, Anna Gould, Boniface “Boni” de Castellane, Marquis of Talleyrand-Perigord, uncovering the past & the mysterious Silvia, misspellings & naming conventions, Elsa Maxwell expose, and rise of love scams and romance fraud during the pandemic.

Extra Notes / Call to Action:
My two webinars of the Waldorf-Astoria hotels in time for the 90th Anniversary of the Waldorf-Astoria New York. Please come join me on Monday September 27th for the original 1893-1929 hotel and Thursday September 30th for the current 1931-present at 5:30pm EST / 2:30pm PST. All webinars are $10, live with 1 week access afterwards. We will also get an updated peek at the ongoing renovations. For more information or registration please check out www.nyadventureclub.com or in the Events section at www.asthemoneyburns.com.

Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Did You Mean It? By Jack Hylton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 2 Music: Love Is The Sweetest Thing by Al Bowlly, Albums Perfect Nostalgia, It’s Got Be Love, & Al Bowlly – Love Is The Sweetest Thing
Section 3 Music: It’s the Talk of the Town by Ambrose, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands

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