Readers of my book, Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age, often ask me where they can view more photography of “Weld,” the Anderson’s summer home in Brookline, Massachusetts. The mansion was torn down in 1955 and then, until the publication of my book in 2016, largely forgotten. The book has sparked a […]
A compendium of short, illustrated essays about the people, buildings, gardens, art, books and more that define the long 19th-century in the U.S.
Isabel Anderson | The Gilded Age in America | Page 4
This post was originally published in 2016. Please scroll to the bottom of this page for updated information about the emeralds Isabel is wearing in this photograph. Isabel Weld Perkins was born on March 29, 1876, during the year of the American Centennial. To celebrate her 2016 birthday in a special way, her biographer, Skip Moskey, […]
The Gilded Age in America | An eclectic compendium of short, illustrated essays about the celebrities, buildings, gardens, art, books and more that help define America's Gilded Age. | Page 5
by Skip Moskey Pierre Lorillard’s houseboat “Caiman”, pictured here in a watercolor published in 1893 in The Illustrated American. (Source: Google Books.) We often associate yachts and steamships with Gilded Age vacations and recreation, but did you know that houseboats were also once the “in” thing for wealthy boaters like Pierre Lorillard, Alfred Gwynn Vanderbilt, […]
Isabel’s Afternoon at the Movies | The Gilded Age in America
After Larz Anderson’s death in 1937, Isabel Anderson started finding new ways to socialize and entertain herself on a much smaller and simpler scale than she had when her husband was alive. Giving large parties, wearing fancy clothes, hobnobbing with high society, and traveling to the four corners of the earth had been Larz’s lifestyle, not hers. After her […]
Isabella Stewart Gardner | The Gilded Age in America
One of the Gilded Age’s most celebrated personalities was Isabella Stewart Gardner, known affectionately during her lifetime by friends and strangers alike as “Mrs. Jack.” Isabella and her husband John L. “Jack” Gardner make several appearances in the new biography, Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age. The connections between the Gardner and […]
Isabel Anderson | The Gilded Age in America | Page 3
On Easter Monday, March 28, 1910, Larz and Isabel Anderson attended a field day for children at Randle Highlands in the District of Columbia. Known now as Washington Highlands, the area was first developed by Col. Arthur E. Randle (1859-1829), a prominent Washingtonian. The children of Randle Highlands petitioned Isabel to attend their festivities and help give […]
Once Lost, Now Found – The Story of a Painting | The Gilded Age in America
By Skip Moskey Terrace Garden, Rome by John Elliott. ca. 1897. Oil on canvas. Private Collection. On January 31st, 1896, Larz Anderson, then serving as first secretary of the American Embassy in Rome, wrote to his mother that he had dined the night before at the home of Maud and John Elliott. There were two other […]
Gardens & Horticulture | The Gilded Age in America | Page 6
Though Larz Anderson never knew his great-grandfather, the Cincinnati wine merchant Nicholas Longworth (1783-1863), he was very familiar with his imposing mansion in downtown Cincinnati. Longworth’s Greek Revival mansion and famous formal garden distinguished it from all other properties in the city. Larz visited the property often. His grandparents, Larz and Catherine Longworth Anderson, lived […]
Biography | The Gilded Age in America | Page 4
On Easter Monday, March 28, 1910, Larz and Isabel Anderson attended a field day for children at Randle Highlands in the District of Columbia. Known now as Washington Highlands, the area was first developed by Col. Arthur E. Randle (1859-1829), a prominent Washingtonian. The children of Randle Highlands petitioned Isabel to attend their festivities and help give […]
My Afternoons with Mark Twain
![2002_Fall_marktwain[1]](https://listenupaudiobooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2002_Fall_marktwain1-474x270.jpg "2002_Fall_marktwain[1]")
By Skip Moskey Mark Twain’s house (view from the rear), Hartford, Connecticut (Photo by Skip Moskey) Since the publication of my biography of Isabel and Larz Anderson in 2016, people have asked me where my fascination (or some might say – my obsession) with the Gilded Age came from. I blame it all on Mark […]
A compendium of short, illustrated essays about the people, buildings, gardens, art, books and more that define the long 19th-century in the U.S.
As someone who researches a wide variety of topics related to the intersection of art, architecture, and society during America’s Gilded Age, I have come across something that has confused and perplexed the small community of people who read, write, and think about such things. And that is whether the Bar Harbor “cottage” of George […]
Books | The Gilded Age in America | Page 8
Isabel Anderson started her career as an author with the publication in 1909 of The Great Sea Horse, a large and complex project that took several years to complete. The 25 short stories in Sea Horse are populated with mermaids and “merboys,” seashells, fairies, flowers, gnomes, and human-like creatures called “brownies and pinkies.” The stories […]
Books | The Gilded Age in America | Page 2
By Skip Moskey People often ask me what books I’ve most enjoyed reading about the Gilded Age. Here are three favorites from my biography shelf. Click on the book image for more information; these are all available as very low-cost used copies on Amazon.com. Happy reading! Henry James: A Life, by Leon Edel. This […]
Isabel Anderson | The Gilded Age in America
Antonio Scali, 1931 The cultural and political connections between Italy and the United States during the Gilded Age emerged as a constant theme in the research for my book, Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age. In the 1890s, Larz served as first secretary and later chargé d’affaires of the American Embassy […]