Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Mrs. Howard Gould's "The Crystal Rood" (1914)
The Crystal Rood
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Gould Trial: Her (and my own) Phyrric Victory
The law doesn't interest me much, the newspaper was changing each day as the miraculous, flying new century threw new sparks, and the people were mercurial as you and me.
In some sense I think 1909 is no more lost or found to us than, say, 2004: for if you access the web-archives of certain blogs and newsites, or if you were to watch video-tapes of NBC Nightly News from 2004, you will have the sensation of witnessing something mishappened, under-developed and even meaningless. The tragedy may be that what we witness will never be in its right context. "Hold everything!" is the judicious shout to the heavens. "Let's get this straight."
Mr. Gould Responsible
I don’t mean to knock “source material” too hard, and my general view is that as each new history book is written our confabulation of memory becomes worse, if only due to changing “P.C.” attitudes, but also because historians rely on one another and their parents’ work. (What’s the latest word on the veracity of Sandburg’s 'Lincoln'? I’ve heard people think better of it lately.) But if you are blessed to retrieve your history from contemporaneous sources, like these 1909 New York Times articles, you can’t keep yourself fooled for very long about the importance or even the truth of certain events. And in this case everything became water under the bridge almost as fast as it would today.
I've learned just about nothing from Henry Gould’s trial for abandoning his wife, so I've been trying to remember what first surprised me about this sad case, that I wanted to share.
Most of the early articles, with the most startling accusations against Mrs. Gould, were on the front page of the Times, in the prime space for the day's most important news--- traditionally, the upper right hand corner article. I don't attribute this to slow news days, although a startling murder case finally put the Gould articles on the very back page (which seems to be the prime spot for entertainment) just as Mrs. Gould's defense was presented.
Genocide continued in Armenia during this time period, and armies were still in battle after the 2nd Constitutional Crisis in Turkey, which resulted in the over-throw of the Sultan and further weakening of the Ottoman Empire. In Washington, after a lot of surprisingly brave shenanigans regarding a new Tariff schedule, President Taft was spading the ground for a federal income tax, which would involve amending the constitution.
In short, I expected The Times to be more dignified, and not cater so well to my unseemly interest in public stonings and the details of peoples’ private lives.
To think, now. She wore the same style black dress each of these hot summer days of the trial, when people could only fan themselves for relief from the heat (finally one day the judge did apparently order some electric fans).
To think, now. She was there to save her reputation and of course to save herself from poverty. It was an imbroglio, a trial that ought to have been played out in a circus tent (in evening time, rather than a stifling court room).
Mr. Gould had offered to 'return' to Mrs. Gould (or at least allow her the same social station and same allowance of funds) if she'd only agreed to sign a pledge not to drink. Paraphrasing her now: 'I would sign myself away as a drunkard? Never!'
Instead, the details of her apparently drunken behavior (including an incident where she cameoed at a luncheon, to scratch or somehow bloody one woman and give another woman a black eye) ended up in the worst public record of all: the newspaper and then peoples' faulty memories.
And a hundred years later here I am with from 'The Times Machine', making hay.
The other surprise for me (and therefore a learning experience, for what it's worth) was not so much the falling away of masks, but the lack of protection afforded to the proverbial, pre-suffrage 'Woman On The Pedestal'. If you factor in the mores of 1909, Mrs. Gould’s public humiliation may have been as stunning as Jennifer Wilbanks’, the runaway bride in 2005 (something that still takes my breath away).
I think the worst moment was when the actor Farnum testified that he’d first met Mrs. Gould when he was a boy of eight, and she was on the stage. (He was the man they alleged may have spent the night with Mrs. Gould 20 years later). This was after many failed attempts to reveal Mrs. Gould’s age, which she clearly held as a useful secret, a secret which ought to be permitted her. You didn’t ask a woman’s age then, nor even now as it simply invites unreasonable prejudice.
Maybe my surprise is at myself: for still having some undisturbed if childish belief about the innocence of this day and age. But we should remember that the upper classes had more freedom than royalty, and the lower classes of every age could be as criminal or immoral as today. Middle class families and their ministers must have been scandalized (to their credit) or else the New York Times would not have pedaled this story (and with such excellently detailed reporting too). So maybe my belief in that innocence can remain intact.
My Grandmother had two pretty portraits of idealized Edwardian Era women in her living room. As I read these articles I couldn't get these two idealized figures out of my mind. Remember, in this newspaper, which boasted that it would only print what was fit to print, it was suggested that Mrs. Gould not only slept with Farnum but they’d also had lunch together at a road-house!!
I found it interesting, but not surprising, that the defense wanted to make sure the judge understood Mrs. Gould had once been 'on stage'. An actress can marry above her station, and become a lady, but the way to put her back in her place is to remind people of her back-ground.
I remember that under cross-examination, Mrs. Gould was pressed about her different stage names, as if they were criminal aliases. She had to change her first stage name after her step-father objected. So, acting was not a respectable occupation, and I think we know why. Only a few women could ever stand out as remarkably talented, to be admired and adored, while hundreds of others were mere props, part of an entertainment. They were a vulnerable group of women whose virtues would always be questioned because it was well known they were always being preyed upon.
Maybe with source material, we don’t discover facts so much as we do our prejudices about certain times in history. This is why I ask myself, not what I learned, but what surprised me.
I think my aim was to find a developing story to share in serial style and allow to unfold here at nearly the same pace it unfolded in real time.
This is what 1909 has offered so far: The Gould’s Summer headliner, then sideshow.
Take heed: my scroll-blog here is mostly horse-feathers. I should quote myself on that in the header. Also I should repeat that I’m no historian, but only someone who is haunted by the black and white photographs of my long dead ancestors, which my grandmother showed me when I was eight years old.
The people in those photographs frightened me, and I felt terrible pity for them being so long gone; fated to dust and now, in fact, probably dust. One becomes increasingly dead as time goes by, it’s sad to say (and these are comforting words: ‘they still live in our hearts’).
I like to remember now, the people of 1909 had God, Jesus and the Bible. They had one another, most of all. (I should have felt pity for their hard work and frequent bereavements more than their human fate. )
Anyway, let me say "meh". And in conclusion, Class of 2009: damnation, but Mrs. Gould should have got a lot more money, if you ask me.
From earlier in the trial of Mr. Gould for abandonment, a representation (fair or not) of Mrs. Gould's spending habits:
Mrs. Gould's Expenses
fwky8xht3z
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Mrs. Gould Continues Testimony
I like the actor Farnum, especially his last quote. I find myself 'standing around like a mutt' quite often. Well put, well put...
Mrs. Gould Denies Drinking and Swearing
Wright alarms public regarding bicycle and automobile safety
Aeroplane as safe as auto, says Wright.pdf
Friday, June 26, 2009
Lusitania and Maurentania Cut Rates
Big Liners Cut Ocean Rate
Snarky Editorial Questions English Motives
English Exaggerate Fear of Barbaric Europe
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Gould Divorce Trial considers Manahattan Cocktails
Note how the Southern man refuses to hear of a black woman referred to as a 'lady'...
Mrs. Goulds Checks for St. Regis Drinks
Monday, June 22, 2009
Mr. Gould's defense complete and catastrophophic
Mrs Gould Will Testify Again
1909: Navy May Ban Cigarettes
As we accustom ourselves to the new sanity about cigarette smoke, we marvel at what was 'normal' only a few years ago. It's already becoming hard to believe people smoked in resturants. Years ago, of course it must have been appalling as cigarettes became so popular. They were different from cigars and pipe smoke: the frequency of use, the eventual ubiquitousness (women didn't smoke cigars or pipes normally but in the 1830's began to smoke Spanish 'sigaritos'). Eventually we all lived in a noxious indoor cloud. And while it was universally accepted to smoke in an elevator was rude, parents thought nothing of smoking in their cars with their kids.
Some relief could be had by becoming a smoker. I suppose some people picked up the habit in a subconscious way to adapt.
With the factory manufacturing of cigarettes, the insanity of chain-smoking caused as much an uproar in the early 1900's, as the uproar is now, with the percieved 'right' to smoke indoors finally taken away. Recovering our senses now, the facts below are interesting in a new way.
1906-06-30: FEDERAL FOOD AND DRUGS ACT of 1906 prohibits sale of adulterated foods and drugs, and mandates honest statement of contents on labels. Food and Drug Administration begins. Originally, nicotine is on the list of drugs; after tobacco industry lobbying efforts, nicotine is removed from the list.
Definition of a drug includes medicines and preparations listed in U.S. Pharmacoepia or National Formulary. [JDJ: is this what Obama has just reversed?)
1914 interpretation advised that tobacco be included only when used to cure, mitigate, or prevent disease.
Source for bulleted list.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Mrs. Gould looks into Philidelphia mirrors...
What can be in her future? She's not 20 anymore. I don't see moving pictures. And to travel in vaudeville would be too shameful.
Mrs Gould Hunts for Evidence
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Coney Island dresses up in a hurry
Coney Island
This Fatty Short opens with a scene of Luna Park.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Mrs. Gould and the 'Up All Night Look'
In October, 1906, a Miss Harris was stationed on the 6th floor of the Bellvue-Stratford in Philadelphia, where our excitable Mrs. Gould (former actress, and then a fabulously wealthy socialite) had a five bedroom suite with a few lady friends.
At 7:45 a.m. Miss Harris saw the actor Dustin Farnum exit Mrs. Gould's suite and call for the elevator. She then observed that Mr. Farnum rode up to the 14th floor, where he had his own room.
She dutifully telephoned Miss Garner, the 14th floor's desk clerk.
Have I told you Dustin Farmer was starring in a play based on The Virginian? The Virginian is a great novel, and considered to be the first "Western". By Owen Wister. You should read it sometime.
Miss Garner, alerted by Miss Harris' telephone call, saw the actor as he got off the lift. With the aid of the mirrors watched from her desk as he entered his room. Then she called a chambermaid and arranged a subterfuge. She sent the chambermaid to Mr. Farnums's room to ask him if he needed fresh towels. Perhaps the maid could get a good look at the actor's bed.
It was reported back that, no, Mr. Farnum's room had not been slept in!!1!!1. So Miss Garner reported this back to Miss Harrison.
Miss Garner told Miss Harris that Farnum had that "Out All Night Look". But on the stand she added that Mr. Farnum was never very well groomed. (Perhaps he had a Wild West look for his stage role.)
Miss Harrison then alerted hotel managment. It is not recorded here what happened after that.
***
Mind, this was in 1906. For two years, Miss Harrison wrestled with her conscience, whether she should inform Mr. Gould about his wife's betrayal. Finally she decided the Christian thing to do would be to 'follow the Golden Rule' and write to Mr. Gould.
According to testimony, one of Mr. Gould's attorneys was then sent to visit Miss Harrison at the Young Womens Christian Association (Y.W.C.A.)
It came out today, incidentally, that Miss Harrison is now employed at The Belmont, where Mrs. Gould has been languishing in (relative) poverty. This news startled and pained Mrs. Gould, the reporter notes.
****
Please don't let my summary here discourage you from reading this very engrossing article. I have left out many of the most interesting signs of the times. I hope my summary encourages everyone to read this, who is interested in American cultural history.
To follow the divorce trial from the beginning, you can scroll down through my entries looking for the 'Gould' name. This is surely the best reading in the New York Times of 1909 so far, and it was always on the front page, above the fold. On some days it was even in the far right column, which is usually reserved for the most important story of the day. (Yes, this is while President Taft was preparing the country for an income tax.)
The details are minute and hook you along. There is also verbatim testimony (Q's and A's).
*****
Most surprising is Mrs. Gould's willingness to go through this ordeal, and her general good spirits. (She must be sober. We've learned that she is very disagreeable when drunk). Two of her charges are already dismissed. The contest now is whether Mr. Gould is guilty of 'abandonment'.
Tomorrow is Sunday in 1909. Hopefully there will be opinion articles and letters to the editor about the case. I'm not yet sure if that was apropos in the 1909 Times.
Naturally, I have not looked ahead. I have no idea what becomes of Mr. and Mrs. Gould. I already know too much about the future in general, and I am reading my daily 1909 paper because of stories like this, which reveal so much about our forebears and what they could and could not endure.
This is all news to me, each day, and it's a marvel. I feel like I'm doubling my life-span, and not just because I'm partially escaping the news of our own WMD/Rogue State era.
It's just possible I may live to see the day when the New York Times reports about Sputnik. I will be nearly 100 years old and so thoroughly---no, uniquely--- mixed up by then, my nurses may give me special attention.
See, there' that too...To be distinguished even if it's by double-barrelled senility.
Gould Divorce Trial Dearie
Nude Painting Controversy
Bridal Morning
Bridal Morning Painting Opposed in Pittsburg
Emma Goldman: 'Puritans' still using smelling salts
Emma Goldman 2
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Gould Divorce Trial: Now the Footman too
I don't know what to make of this. Did Mrs. Gould stab her hostess with a fork and punch her friend in the eye?
Mrs Gould at Party
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Heaven help us: busy Martians
This curious article about the 'artificial' canals on Mars seems to peter out from exhaustion. Also the headline does not warn of the startling blow to come: the Martian canals are not ancient! There seem to be new canals, and recently repaired canals as well.
For me it wouldn't be so much a fear of having an enemy planet. It's more to do with the verse from Psalm 8:5, about mankind. "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour."
To be plain, I mean that I would feel a nervous jealousy, wondering just how much glory and honor these dern aliens have compared to us.
Mars Canals Dr Lowell
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Mrs. Gould's Servants Testify
The Goulds were married for eight years , probably married in 1898. Her acting career began in the 1880's, but the court did not allow Mrs. Gould's age to be put in the record. She is still attractive, I believe, and probably in her 40's? Mrs. Gould may have been famous in her own right before the marriage. Bill Cody was her manager at one time.
Mr. Gould was robber-baron rich (see post below) So, this is a singular artifact, atypical in many ways.
Still, it's true that personal details of divorce cases (and simple marital problems) received great publicity. Mind, I write this merely as a 1909 newspaper junkie/"time traveler", not a historian.
Most surprising to me are instances when news reports revealed the names of third parties who may have been suitors or lovers. Most people would agree---eventually they agreed---that this was a brutal newspaper practice that must stop. (Imagine the family feelings of those third parties. They weren't always mere glancing wounds, but at times certainly mortal.)
1909 was an era of progress and reform, but with many false starts, and so much to consider in the way of unintended consequences. Civilization's victory over 'yellow journalism' , in regard to divorce cases, was nearly complete.
This is before that.
_____
I plan a series of posts about "Fainting and Swooning in 1909".
When servants testify, it's time to faint.
___
Socialists were already accused of targeting 'the family' as an institution, but it would sound like a joke to say they were really culpable in the rising divorce rate. Shame becomes a less fearful prospect once it is witnessed among society's elite. You could blame 'the rich', and competitive newspapers, as reasonably as you would blame New-Age Free-Love types for popularizing Reno.
____
Henry James addressed the subject of divorce in his novel What Maisie Knew (1897). (I'm personally acquainted with someone who actually read 'Maisie' all the way through! Jiminy Christmas...but I digress.)
You can find my first post about the Gould's divorce here, with a Times editorial.
Note: it's easy to miss the full article reproduced here. Use toggle button in upper right corner and be sure to scroll all the way down, as there is a break in the print that may fool you. Much of the testimony is produced in the second (bottom half) of this article.
Mrs. Gould Excitable
I'll post more as the story develops. How things can get any worse for poor Mrs. Gould is hard to imagine, as we approach the tipping point where we start to pity the (apparent) villain.
This is not an era when, as Dylan sang, "what's good is bad, what's bad is good". Fame and infamy were still opposites. There would be no reality TV show, and I'm sure no profitable self-caricature.
If Mrs. Gould wrote a memoir, we'll see if it's from Thomas Nelson Publishers in Nashville. I doubt the Suffragists would have anything to do with her. She could have taken a "Doll's House" defense I suppose.
Hapless husband arrives home early
Monday, June 15, 2009
AKA: "The Smoke Fairy"
The Kaiser's Kindly Feelings
Kaiser to Recieve Clergy
Africans Reject Prussian 'Virtues'
Prussian Military Bans Blacks