TAYLOR BROWNGILDED ASHEVILLE MINITERM

Upper Class Women of the Gilded Age

The Role of an Upper Class Woman

The main role of a woman was to act as a hostess Receive calling cards and callers, as well as returning the calls Plan seating charts and menus Keep household running smoothly Plan parties and other events Make sure all of the servants of the house were properly cared

forA woman was to act properly

According to scholar Nan Johnson, in the Gilded Age quiet women were considered the “wine of life” ¹

A proper woman was to know when to speak and what to speak of, and most importantly, when not to speak

Women were discouraged from having strong voices

An Elite Woman’s Dress

A Victorian woman wore ² Drawers Camisole Shift Corset Petticoat Bustle Dress Gloves Stockings Shoes

She might also carry/wear Parasol Fan Gaiters (shoe covers)

Me in full Victorian dress

Proper Etiquette for Dining ³

Guests should be seated boy-girl at a table ⁴You must not speak to anyone other than the

people directly next to you You speak to the person on your right for one course, then

for the next course, the person on your left, and so onAll dishes should be passed to the leftTopics that should be avoided

Politics Religion “One’s own affairs” Anything that could cause controversy

Proper Etiquette for Dining, Continued ⁵

Modesty is stressed Do not laugh at your own jokes Do not mention influential acquaintances Do not speak of your “superior” education Control any desire to shine

Avoid any scenes or quarrelsAlso Avoid

Foreign languages Slang Interrupting others Whispering Volunteering information Intimate questions Lengthy anecdotes

Gilded Asheville Miniterm students observing proper

etiquette

Formal Dinners 6

Usually consisted of around 7 courses Each place setting had up to 15 different utensils (of which guests

must know the purposes) Lady of the house planned / approved menu At the Biltmore, dinners included

Truffles Sorbets Salads Cheese and biscuits Ice cream Fruit Club soda Coffee Grape brandy Sherry

Proper etiquette must be observedBiltmore’s Banquet

Hall

Women’s Pastimes at Biltmore ⁷

DancesFormal mealsParlor games

Chess Cards Mah-jongg

SwimmingBowlingCroquetPicnicsDrawing Playing music

A Game of Croquet

A Day in the Life of a Woman at Biltmore ⁸

8:30 Hot water brought upstairs for the pitcher and bowl in the bathroom9:00 Morning tea served in the bedroom, servants assisted in getting

dressed10:00 Breakfast in the Winter Garden11:00 Change into a walking outfit 11:30 A stroll though the gardens12:30 Change into a Luncheon Outfit1:00 Lunch in the Breakfast Room2:00 Change into riding clothes2:30 Horseback riding 4:30 Nap or rest in the bedroom5:30 Dress for dinner6:30 Aperitifs served in the Second Floor Living Hall7:00 Dinner in the Banquet Hall9:00 A string quartet plays in the Gallery11:00 A stroll on the Library Terrace11:30 Go to bed Biltmore Estate

Edith Vanderbilt

Married to George Washington Vanderbilt in June of 1898

Mother of Cornelia Vanderbilt Known for incredible grace and

exceptional hostess skills Bought Christmas presents

every year for all the children of Biltmore, even those of servants

Arranged for much of the Biltmore Estate’s land to be sold in order to keep the household running after her husband’s sudden death in 1914

Edith and Cornelia Vanderbilt

Groundbreaking Women of Gilded Age Asheville 9

Julia Wolfe Mother of writer Thomas Wolfe Owned boarding house Shrewd businesswoman In a time where women could not get loans from banks, Julia

Wolfe owned a house and ran a successful businessElizabeth Blackwell

First female doctor in the United States Worked as a nanny for a doctor and read his medical books at

night Was admitted to medical school because the students were given

a vote, and they thought it was a joke She graduated first in her class and went on to open the first

female-run hospital, along with the help of Florence Nightingale

Groundbreaking Women, Continued ¹º

Lillian Exum Clement First female attorney in NC

to practice without a man Elected to North Carolina

House of Representatives by a margin of 10,368 to 41

Introduced 17 bills, 16 of which were passed Allowed women who had

been abandoned to apply for divorce in 5 years instead of 10

Helped create private voting booths

Analysis

During the Gilded Age, women were seen as possessions, designed to look pretty and keep a household running smoothly They were expected to follow proper rules of etiquette and

manage a household Women had little influence in the world outside of the home

Upper class women of the Gilded Age were expected to appear perfect at all times They wore corsets to manipulate their figures, and never spoke of

their true beliefs or feelings, as it was considered poor mannersThis all suggests that a woman’s place was as the lady

of the house, always with the interests of her guests or family in mind, rather than her own

Endnotes

1. Johnson, Nan. “Reigning in the Court of Silence: Women and Rhetorical Space in Postbellum America.” Philosophy and Rhetoric. Vol. 33, No. 3 of On Feminizing the Philosophy of Rhetoric. Pennsylvania: Penn State Press. 2000. 221-42. Print.

2. Whitfield, Lisa. Smith McDowell House, Asheville, NC. March 2, 2011. Oral presentation.

3. Elder, Dana. “A Rhetoric of Etiquette for the ‘True Man’ of the Gilded Age.” Rhetoric Review. Vol. 21, No. 2. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2002. 150-69. Print.

4. Whitfield.5. Elder.6. “The Gilded Age at Biltmore Estate.” Asheville: The Biltmore Company. 1992.

Print. 7. Gilded Age at Biltmore8. Gilded Age at Biltmore9. Williams, Brenda. HerStory Tour. Asheville, NC. March 2,2011. Oral

Presentation.10. Williams.