Thursday, December 29, 2022 – THE INVITATION WAS AS EXCITING AS THE EVENT
FROM THE ARCHIVES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2022
ISSUE # 873
If Not Perfectly Clear,
Postponed One Week:
Invitations of the Gilded Age
NYC Municipal Archives
Invitation to the Fourth Annual Excursion of Ivy Lodge No. 65, July 10, 1893. Early Mayors Records, Thomas F. Gilroy. NYC Municipal Archives.
Among the preoccupations of those at the at the apex of the city’s social scene (or those who wished to be) is the world of charitable functions. To be more specific, who was invited to what charity event (and who was not invited) formed the centerpiece of much the conflict between new and old money New York families that is engagingly depicted in the program.
Complimentary Ticket to the Tournament at the New Game of Billiards at Tammany Hall, November 11, 1879. Early Mayors Records, Edward Cooper. NYC Municipal Archives.
The importance of these social events resonated with city archivists who remembered seeing invitations and other artifacts of these functions in the Early Mayors’ Records. This series includes correspondence and documents from New York City mayoral administrations from 1826 through 1897 and totals 157.5 cubic feet. The collection had originally been assembled by Rebecca Rankin during her 32-year tenure as the Director of the Municipal Library between 1920 and 1952. This was a core collection in the Municipal Archives when it opened in 1952 and remains one of the most important series documenting nineteenth-century government and policies. The Early Mayors’ Records finding guide is now available online.
Invitation to the First Annual Summer Festival for the Benefit of the Immigrant Girls Home, August 13, 1891. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.
Two blogs in 2020, The Transcription Project, Early Mayors’ Collection, and
The Transcription Project, Early Mayors’ Collection II , discussed how archivists, working remotely in 2020, transcribed descriptive materials that enhances access to the intellectual content of the series. Researchers will be able to more easily identify the invitations and other artifacts of the social scene, such as the samples reproduced here.
Invitation to the Grand Annual Pic-Nic for the Benefit of St. Mary’s Literary Institute, June 7, 1880. Early Mayors Records, Edward Cooper. NYC Municipal Archives.
Invitation to the Family Excursion of the Property Owners Association, July 22, 1897. Early Mayors Records, William L. Strong. NYC Municipal Archives.
Here are a few examples. Today we can appreciate them for their artistry, color, and typography—evocative of the ‘Gilded Age’ in New York City—and as artifacts of a world long-gone.
Invitation to Grand Annual Ball of the Legion of Justice, March 9, 1891. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.
Program, Metropolitan Opera, January 24, 1891. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.
Hat Check for the Tough Club, February 21, 1890. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.
Knights Temperance Invitation, September 16, 1890. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.
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Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
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Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
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Sources
NYC MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES
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