The Gilded Age, specifically in New York City, took place from about 1870-1900. This time period is so fascinating because of the absurd amount of wealth that was being thrown around by the upper class. The rules of society (specifically for women) were so strange and so confining. This is a time that the average modern American would not be able to connect to (maybe today’s technology billionaires could) and they must have seemed like other worldly beings to their contemporaries. They created luxurious houses, draped so many jewels around themselves, and stuck to a rigid code of etiquette all to cultivate an image. The members of the upper class during this era wanted to create something that America did not have. They wanted to be the aristocracy (like in Europe with their dukes, earls, etc.), yet, as this was America, there were no titles. They even had a queen, the formidable Mrs. Caroline Astor, who ruled and called the shots for what was considered “proper society”.