Who was the Real Life Mrs. Astor in HBO’s The Gilded Age? (pictures)

Mrs. Astor made her debut appearance in HBO’s The Gilded Age during the charity bazaar. Mrs. Astor reigned over New York’s society. Everyone from Aurora Fane to Bertha Russell sought approval from Mrs. Astor. To fall out of favor, was social suicide.

Was Mrs. Astor a Real Person?

Mrs. Astor is a real-life New York socialite during the gilded age. Similar to HBO’s The Gilded Age, she reigned as the most influential socialite, throwing lavish parties and balls. In fact, she threw so many parties that her ultra exclusive guest list became known as the Astor 400.

Was Mrs. Astor Rich Growing Up?

Mrs. Astor grew up very wealthy and had a privileged upbringing. Her family, before she married Mr. Astor, was wealthy and was one of the most prominent families of New York. Her family members were old money families. They were patrons of the art and served on boards of great New York institutions. The women in her family, the Schermerhorn ladies, her maternal side, were notable New York hostesses.

What Kind of Education did Mrs. Astor Get?

Mrs. Astor grew up receiving her primary education from a French teacher, learning domestic skills like needlework, penmanship and dancing. After that, she was sent off to France for school. Mrs. Astor was a francophile, she spoke french fluently and learned to entertain like the french. In fact, her parties were inspired by the French salon.

What was Mrs. Astor’s Maiden Name?

Mrs. Astor’s maiden name was Caroline Schermerhorn. The Schermerhorn were a prominent old money family.

How did Mrs. Astor Meet Her Husband?

They met as neighbors! Mrs. Astor knew her would-be husband, William Astor Jr. all her life. William Astor Jr. was the boy who lived next door to Caroline’s Georgian-style house on Lafayette street. A year older than Caroline, the couple married on September 20, 1853, two days before her 23rd birthday.

How Rich were the Astors?

The Astors were the richest family in America during the gilded age. Mrs. Astor’s father in-law was the head of the family and the richest man in America at the time. The Astors made their fortune from the fur trade, shipping and New York City real estate. In fact, the Astors were known as “The New York’s landlords.” They were one of the biggest landowners in Manhattan.

How Many Children Did Mrs. Astor Have?

Mrs. Astor had five children. After their marriage in 1853, the young Astors immediately started a family. Mrs. Astor’s first born was Emily Astor (born in 1854), followed by Helen Schermerhorn (born in 1855), then Charlotte Augusta, Caroline Schermerhorn (born 1861) and finally the heir, John Jacob Astor IV (born 1864).

Where did Mrs. Astor Live?

Mrs. Astor lived in a 4 story brownstone at 350 Fifth Avenue corner of 34th street (where Empire State Building is now). Built in 1859, Mrs. Astor’s 350 Fifth Avenue house was the home in which she entertained lavishly in and where the Astor 400 originated from.

What is the Astor 400?

The Astor 400 is an exclusive list of the crème de la crème of New York society. During the gilded age, Mrs. Astor had so much influence over New York society that she decided who was and who was not a member of New York’s elite society. Her rational for restricting her guest list to 400 was because she could only comfortably fit 400 guests in her mansion’s opulent ballroom.

Who was in the Astor 400?

The Astor 400 is Mrs. Astor’s exclusive guest list was actually a list of 319 guests from 169 families. The list includes prominent old money families as well as new money with very little social credentials.

The Astor 400 old money families were the Van Cortlandts, Schuylers, Van Rensselaers, Beekmans, Schermerhorn, Suydams, de Peysters and Rhinelanders. Mrs. Astor’s maternal family were the Van Cortlandts and Schermerhorns while her husband descended from the Schuylers and the Beekmans. New Money families, like the Vanderbilts made it to the Astor 400.

Can Newcomers Get into the Astor 400?

Newcomers can get into the Astor 400. Mrs. Astor’s guest list was fluid and not set in stone. Guests fall in and out of favor. Newcomers without aristocratic lineage like the Vanderbilts were able to get on the Astor 400.

And like any great hostess, Mrs. Astor knew that to throw a successful party she needed to mix it up by introducing new blood to the party. She could not have achieved that with the same old money families as her sole guests.

In HBO’s The Gilded Age, Bertha Russell tries to get into Mrs. Astor’s inner circle with hand delivered invitations and notes, encouraging her son Larry Russell to be friendly with Mrs. Astor’s daughter and by offering up her ballroom for the charity bazaar.

What Parties Did Mrs. Astor Throw?

Mrs. Astor is known for her annual ball which is usually held at the end of January or early February. It was the ball of the season, the most fashionable and exclusive party of New York society during the gilded age. Mrs. Astor also threw other lavish parties through out the season but none as fancy and sought after as her annual ball.

What was Mrs. Astor’s Social Calendar Like During the Gilded Age?

In the winter, Mrs. Astor throws her annual ball and hosts numerous dinner parties in New York. In the Spring, she entertains from her Paris apartment in Champs-Élysées. Mrs. Astor’s guests in Paris were notable French families as well as visiting elites from America.

Then in the summer, Mrs. Astor entertains from her mansion in Newport. She is back in her New York townhouse in November where she reigns as queen of New York society.

The Astor 400

Below is a list of the Astor 400.

Last Names of Astor 400	Names of Astor 400
Allen	Fred H
Appleton	Mr. and Mrs. F. R.
Astor	Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob
Astor	Mr. and Mrs.William
Baldwin	Miss Louisa
Baldwin	C.C.
Baldwin	C.C. Jr.
Barbey	Mrs. Henry
Barbey	Miss Eva
Barclay	Mr. and Mrs. James
Baylies	Mr. and Mrs. Edmund L.
Bend	Miss Amy
Bend	Miss Beatrice
Berryman	Miss Georgina
Bishop	Miss Mary Cunningham
Bishop	Heber
Bowdoin	George S.
Bowdoin	Temple
Bronson	Mr. and Mrs. Frederic
Brown	Harold
Brown	William Harold
Bryce	Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd
Bulkeley	Edward
Burden	Miss Evelyn Moale
Burden	Mr. and Mrs. I. Townsend
Burnett	General and Mrs. Henry L.
Cameron	The Misses (Margaret, Isabel, Catherine N., Judah Howe Sears and Anne F. Cameron)
Cameron	Duncan
Cameron	Sir Roderick
Cannon	Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Carroll	Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Cary	Mr. and Mrs. Clarence
Cavendish-Bentinck	Mrs. Elizabeth
Chanler	Mr.and Mrs. Winthrop
Chanler	The Misses (Elizabeth, Margaret and Alida)
Cooper	Mr. and Mrs. Edward
Coster	Harry
Coster	William B.
Cottenet	Rawlins
Crosby	Miss Angelica Schuyler
Crosby	Col. J. Schuyler
Cross	Mr. and Mrs. James
Cruger	Mr. and Mrs. S. Van Rensselaer
Cushing	Miss Edith
Cushing	Thomas F.
Cutting	Mrs. Brockholst
Cutting	F. Bayard
Cutting	F. Brockholst
Cutting	Mr. and Mrs. W. Bayard
Cutting	Robert L. Jr.
Cutting	William Jr.
Dana	Mr. and Mrs. Paul
De Forest	Mr. and Mrs. George B.
Delafield	Miss Elizabeth Ray
Delafield	Dr. and Mrs. Francis
Depew	Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey M.
De Peyster	Mr. and Mrs. Frederic J.
Dyer	Mr. and Mrs. Elisha, Jr.
Elliott	Mr. and Mrs. Duncan
Erving	Langdon
Fish	Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Jr.
Fish	Mr. and Mrs. Stuyvesant
Forbes	H. De Courcey
Francklyn	Mr. and Mrs. C.G.
Frelinghuysen	Theodore
Furman	J.C.
Goelet	Mr. and Mrs. Ogden
Goelet	Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Grant	Miss Julia Grant
Greene	Miss
Greene	Alister
Griswold	Frank Gray
Gurnee	Augustus C.
Hadden	Alexander M.
Hadden	John A. Jr.
Hall	Miss Elizabeth Livingston
Hall	Mr. and Mrs. Valentine G.
Havemeyer	Mr. and Mrs. Charles F.
Hawkes	Robert F.
Hewitt	Mr. and Mrs. Peter Cooper
Hoffman	Miss
Hoffman	Mrs. Charles P.
Hone	Robert Jr.
Howland	Meredith
Howard	Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Irvin	Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Iselin	Mr. and Mrs. Columbus
Iselin	Isaac
Jaffray	Miss Helen
Jaffray	Mrs. William
Jay	Col. And Mrs. William
Jones	Miss Beatrix
Jones	Mr. and Mrs. F. Rhinelander
Jones	Shipley
Kane	Mr. and Mrs. De Lancey
Kane	S. Nicholson
Kane	Woodbury
Kean	Elizabeth
Kean	Julian
Kernochan	Mr. and Mrs. Frederick
Kernochan	Mr. and Mrs. J. P.
Kip	Col. and Mrs. Lawrence
Kip	Miss Edith
Knowlton	Miss Mary
Kountze	Mr. and Mrs. Luther
Lanier	Mr. and Mrs. James
Leary	Arthur
Leiter	Miss Mary Victoria
Livingston	Miss Clarissa
Livingston	Edward
Livingston	Edward de Peyster
Livingston	Mr. and Mrs. Henry B.
Livingston	Mrs. Maturin
Lusk	Miss Anna H.
March	Clement
Marie	Peter
Marshall	Mr. and Mrs. Charles H.
Martin	Mr. and Mrs. Bradley
Martin	F.T.
McAllister	Miss Louise Ward
McAllister	Ward
McVickar	Mr. and Mrs. H.W.
Mills	Mr. and Mrs. Ogden
Moore	Mr. and Mrs. Clement C.
Morgan	Miss Anne
Morris	Mr. and Mrs. A Newbold
Morris	Miss Eva C.
Mortimer	Mr. and Mrs. R.
Munn	Charles
Nelson	Mrs. Frederick
Newbold	Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Oelrichs	Mr. and Mrs. Charles M.
Olin	Stephen H.
Otis	Miss Mary
Otis	James
Parker	James V.
Pendleton	Mr. and Mrs. Francis Key
Perry	Miss Bertha
Perry	Mrs. William A.
Peters	Richard
Pierson	Miss Marguerite
Pierson	General and Mrs. J. Fred
Porter	Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin C.
Post	Mr. and Mrs. Charles A.
Post	Edward C.
Port	Mr. and Mrs. George B.
Potter	Clarkson
Potter	Mr. and Mrs. H.N.
Potter	Julian
Randolph	Miss Cora
Redmond	Goold H.
Rhinelander	T.J. Oakley
Richards	Robert Kerr
Ripley	Mr. and Mrs. S.D.
Ritchie	James W.
Rives	Mr. and Mrs. George L.
Robert	Mr. and Mrs. Christopher
Robins	Mr. and Mrs. H
Robinson	D.T.L.
Robinson	Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Jr.
Robinson	Randolph
Roche	Mrs. Burke
Rogers	Miss Julia Fish
Rogers	Mrs.
Roosevelt	Mr. and Mrs. James
Rutherfurd	Mr. and Mrs. Lewis
Sands	Miss Edith Cruger
Schuyler	Mr. and Mrs. Philip
Shepard	Miss Agnes
Shepard	Mr. and Mrs. Edward
Sherman	Mr. and Mrs. William Watts
Sloane	Miss Adele
Sloane	Mr. and Mrs. William D.
Smith	J. Clinch
Stevens	Mr. and Mrs. Byam K.
Stevens	Miss Elizabeth
Stewart	Lispenard
Stewart	Mr. and Mrs. William Rhinelander
Stokes	Miss Olivia Eggelston Phelps
Stokes	Mr. and Mrs. Anson Phelps
Sturgis	Mr. and Mrs. F.K.
Suydam	Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lispenard
Tailer	Miss Fannie Bogert
Tailer	E.N.
Talleyrand	Marquise De
Tiffany	Belmont
Tooker	Miss Emily M.
Tooker	G. Mead
Twombly	Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton McKown
Vanderbilt	Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius
Vanderbilt	George W.
Van Rensselaer	Mrs. A.
Van Rensselaer	Miss Alice
Van Rensselaer	Miss Mabel
Varnum	James Mitchell
Waterbury	Mr. and Mrs. James M.
Webb	Alexander S.
Webb	General and Mrs. Alexander S.
Webb	Miss Carrie
Webb	Mr. and Mrs. W. Seward
Welles	Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin
Wells	Mr. and Mrs. W. Storrs
Wetmore	Miss Edith
Wetmore	Governor and Mrs.
Whitehouse	Worthington
Whitney	Mr. and Mrs. William C.
Whittier	Mrs. C.A.
Wilks	Matthew Astor
Willing	Miss Susan
Willing	Barton
Wilmerding	Miss Georgiana L.
Wilson	Miss Grace
Wilson	Mr. and Mrs. Orme
Wilson	Richard T. Jr.
Winthrop	Miss Marie Austen
Winthrop	Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan
Winthrop	Egerton
Winthrop	F.B.
Wysong	Mr. and Mrs. J.J.

List of Astor 400

The Gilded Age is Streaming on HBO, Mondays at 9pm

Bibliography: The First Four Hundred: Mrs. Astor’s New York in the Gilded Age by Jerry E. Patterson

You May Also Be Interested In:

The Gilded Age Film Locations (pictures and where to visit)

Who was Ward McAllister in the Gilded Age? (pictures)