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Curling, Central Park circa 1900

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Florence Vanderbilt Twombly, 1898. She was Commodore Vanderbilt’s last surviving granddaughter and, according to some, her death in 1952 signaled the end of New York City society.

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The Harry Payne Whitney mansion at 2 West 57th Street was a bit of a hand-me-down for Gertrude and Harry.

The house was built in 1875 for millionaire Frederick W. Stevens who commissioned architect George Harney to design a French mansion for him with a separate and distinct ballroom.  Upon his death, it was sold to Oliver Payne and then given to his sister Flora and her husband, William Whitney.  Flora died of a heart attack in 1893 and William gave the house to his son, Harry - which worked out well since Gertrude's parents happened to live across the street.

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Harry Payne Whitney, an avid polo player and thoroughbred horse breeder, died in 1930 at the age of 58 of pneumonia.

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Harry Payne Whitney and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II, with their wedding party at The Breakers in Newport - August 25, 1897

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Barnum's American Museum, NY - 1853

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In 1888 Alva Vanderbilt and her family traveled to Egypt on their yacht.  Kind of looks like a fake backdrop, though.

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The waitstaff at Sherry's restaurant, 1902

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1904: The atrium of the Simpson Crawford Co. decorated for Easter, centered around a giant papier-mâché bunny bursting through an egg on a platform on the ground level

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1899, Fifth Avenue Easter Parade

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Nancy Astor, the American-born wife of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor. She was renowned for her wit as well as her beauty (her sister was married to Charles Dana Gibson and was the inspiration for the Gibson Girl, so it ran in the family). She was also the first woman to sit as an MP in the British House of Commons. She appears here wearing her famous tiara.

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A horse-drawn ambulance outside Bellevue Hospital in New York City, 1895 

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Strolling along Broadway, 1906