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Social Ladder
A classic account of the social scene in American high society, by a woman very much a part of it
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
15 people want to read
About the author
Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer
9 books1 followerMrs John King Van Rensselaer, 1848-1925.
Mrs. Van Rensselaer was born Maria Denning King and known as May. The daughter of Archibald Gracie King, both her husband’s family and hers traced their American lineage back two centuries. She disdained the flashy ostentation of the nouveau riche and was the author of what The Pittsburgh Press in 1915 called “that disturbing genealogical study, ‘New Yorkers of the Nineteenth Century,’ which caused a panic in the ranks of the Four Hundred.” She wrote in her The Social Ladder “Society once connoted, first of all, family; its primary meaning at present is fortune. Years ago, it stood for breeding; now it represents, instead, self-advertisement.”
Mrs. Van Rensselaer was born Maria Denning King and known as May. The daughter of Archibald Gracie King, both her husband’s family and hers traced their American lineage back two centuries. She disdained the flashy ostentation of the nouveau riche and was the author of what The Pittsburgh Press in 1915 called “that disturbing genealogical study, ‘New Yorkers of the Nineteenth Century,’ which caused a panic in the ranks of the Four Hundred.” She wrote in her The Social Ladder “Society once connoted, first of all, family; its primary meaning at present is fortune. Years ago, it stood for breeding; now it represents, instead, self-advertisement.”
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