News about William Kissam Vanderbilt
How a snub over a box at the OPERA tore Manhattan high society apart: When nouveau-riche scion William Vanderbilt's $1m bid for seats at the 'old money' favorite was rejected, he exacted his revenge in a gloriously petty way
www.dailymail.co.uk,
November 5, 2023
The newly wealthy tycoon families founded The Metropolitan Opera after being refused from New York society's highest echelons by old money families. The Academy of Music, the old favorite, was defunct within three years. It was the start of the opera season, but the building was demolished. The Opera Wars are on HBO in the second season of The Gilded Age, and although the plot is rooted in history and a conflict that rocked high society as the wealthy New York families of old, including Astors, Livingstons and Schermerhorns, battled to keep the Vanderbilts' names out of their cloistered cliques.
Priciest pre-WW1 car EVER: 111-year-old Simplex Torpedo Tourer sells for £4m
www.dailymail.co.uk,
February 3, 2023
There are rare cars, and then there are unicorns. And this 1921 motor is certainly the latter. It's a Simplex, a US auto brand that existed only between 1906 and 1915. It was the last time a car from this manufacturer came to auction in 2006. Last week, this particular model, a 1912 50HP 5 Passenger Torpedo Tourer, was auctioned in Arizona to the highest bidder at a motor auction, totaling £3.9 million. This makes this 111-year-old vehicle officially the most expensive pre-First World War War car of all time.