The Skiing Party, Wengen, Switzerland by Sir John Lavery

For much of the nineteenth century, it was customary for Society to spend the winter months in warmer climes such as the Riviera, where the capricious weather of England or Russia was forgotten amongst the charms of sun, warmth and gambling. Some time during the mid-1890s, as the craze for outdoor sports gripped English and Continental society, a few intrepid sportsmen took up skiing. The sport was not wholly unfamiliar, as Switzerland was a somewhat popular destination for invalids and others on the European spa tour, but the concept of sports created solely for the winter season was largely unknown in England. Skiing, however, did not become overwhelmingly popular until the late 1900s, when Society discovered the Swiss Alps. To the horror of the French, wealthy Europeans and Americans deserted the Riviera by droves, to patronize such places as St Moritz or Davos or Caux, to learn to ski, to ice-skate, or to toboggan down the slopes. Almost overnight, the quiet invalid resorts nestled amongst the snowy downs of the Swiss Alps transformed into smart, chic places where society could mingle with their like against a background no different than that of Paris or Vienna.

Further Reading:
Switzerland in Winter by Will & Carine Cadby
The Exploration of the Alps by Arnold Lunn
Edwardian Promenade by James Lavery
Belle Epoque: Paris in the 1890s by Raymond Rudorff

Contrary to popular belief, Sherlock Holmes was rather a cutting-edge Victorian gentleman. Guy Ritchie’s version of Conan Doyle’s immortal sleuth does err on the side of too much physicality, but otherwise, Holmes was a fighter as well as a deducer. The sport in which he indulged was bartitsu (Doyle misspelled it as “baritsu”, though scholars have yet to deduce whether this was intentional), a style of martial arts devised by Edward Barton-Wright around 1898. Having spent the previous three years in Japan, Barton-Wright developed his method for self-defense from the various styles of jiu-jitsu, from boxing, from Swiss wrestling, from a French kick-boxing style named “Savate“, and the stick-fighting method created by Swiss master-at-arms, Pierre Vigny.

Barton-Wright spent the next four years promoting and developing this new sport (a portmanteau of jiu-jitsu and his own surname) in London by opening up a school devoted to bartitsu, holding public demonstrations, conducting interviews, and writing copious articles and a book expounding on the physical and mental benefits of the sport (this was the era of “Muscular Christianity”). The school, named The Bartitsu Academy of Arms and Physical Culture, but known informally as the Bartitsu Club, was located at #67b Shaftesbury Avenue in Soho. In an article for Sandow’s Magazine of Physical Culture vol. 6, (January 1901), journalist Mary Nugent described the Bartitsu Club as “… a huge subterranean hall, all glittering, white-tiled walls, and electric light, with ‘champions’ prowling around it like tigers.” Barton-Wright brought Japanese jiu-jitsu masters to train and fight at his club, and it soon became a hub of extreme physical culture. Nugent, however, also shared that despite Barton-Wright finding “their inclination to haggle over lesson prices ‘a little tiresome;, women were actually welcome to train at the Club. The memoir of another of the instructors, the Swiss wrestler Armand Cherpillod, includes a very cloak-and-dagger tale about his teaching a wealthy woman at the Club, only to later discover that she was a “plant” who was passing his wrestling tricks on to his opponents in forthcoming matches.

The fame of bartitsu and the Bartitsu Club grew quickly, and gentlemen as far abroad as India rapidly acquired the skills Barton-Wright wrote of in his books, interviews, and articles. Barton-Wright’s prowess became legendary, and his claims to have defeated seven men within three minutes during a public match caught the eye of the Prince of Wales, who ordered a personal demonstration. What made the sport so quickly popular was its relative ease of adoption; much of the moves involved ones own body and more likely, one’s cane or walking stick. Since the late Victorian/early Edwardian era was the heyday of the walking stick, the claim that a single gentleman, skilled in bartitsu, could beat away a band of ruffians armed with “cudgels, knives, shillelaghs, bonkers, batons, and even truncheons,” was immensely appealing. The combat was extremely simple to pick up, as it was remarkably similar to fencing:

First, as regards clothes : all that is required is a suit of flannels and a pair of shoes without heels; the masks should be of cane similar to the pattern used for single stick and well padded over the cheek. Gloves are not generally used to guard the hands as there is no need for them when a man is fairly proficient.

It is taken for granted that the reader is familiar with the ordinary attitudes adopted in fencing; that is, as regards position of the legs at ”the engage” and when lunging.

First Position.

“On guard”-~ Assume the position of the fencing engage but with the right hand raised slightly above the head, arm nearly straight, keeping the stick nearly horizontal point to the front, left arm hanging down behind and kept well out of the way.

Note: After making hits, guards and points always return to this position as soon as possible, and remember that all the positions described apply equally to the left hand as well as the right.

Guards.

Head,—Keeping the arm nearly straight hold the stick horizontally a few inches above the head, hand slightly forward, and well away to right to avoid being hit on the knuckles.

Face.—Drop point of stick over to the left hand and elbow nearly level, stick perpendicular and three or four inches away from the left cheek.

Face sideways.-Without changing position of the body move stick across to the right, so that it falls perpendicularly down close to right cheek, elbow well up.

Body.—Drop right hand and move stick across front of body keeping elbow level with the shoulder : let the stick fall perpendicularly close to left side.

Flank.—Move the hand across so as to let the stick similarly guard the right side; keep elbow, hand and shoulder level as possible.

Leg.—The leg is guarded simply by moving it back about 12 inches behind the left, retiring a pace, or bringing left foot back to right, both legs straight.

Rear guard.—Stand equally balanced on both feet, left foot about 18 inches in front of right, toes pointing to the front, right foot pointing to the right, holding the stick as before described, raise the right arm over the head so as to keep it a few inches above the forehead, point of the stick inclining forwards and downwards, left arm stretched out in front, back of the hand to the left, fingers extended.

Hits.

1. When making a hit at an opponent’s head, always keep the fingers uppermost, back of the hand underneath.

2. Care must be taken in making all hits, never to check the blow, but carry it through, i.e., disengage continually and then return immediately to the ” on guard;” if the blow is checked, you cannot be in time either to guard yourself or to make a riposte.

3. The hit is made by a sort of circular sweep of the arm, fingers uppermost, and for loose play and practice the blows dealt should be extremely light ; this is done by loosening the fingers slightly.
Head.—From ” on guard ” hit opponent’s head, follow through and return to ” on guard.”

Face.—Keeping stick horizontal hit left side of opponent’s head, either head, cheek or neck.

Face sideways.—Same as above but hit right side.
Body.~-Hit opponent’s body on right side.
Flank.—Hit opponent’s body on left side.

Leg.—Hit inside of opponent’s leg ; the most useful places are just above the ankle, inside of the knee and shin.

Points.

1. Points are made as in sword play, also by throwing the stick forward with the right hand and allowing it to run through the other, as the stick strikes the opponent both hands will be grasping the stick ; knuckles of left hand uppermost.

2. Points are made with the butt end of the stick at any part of the body, the most favorable places being at the throat and ribs.

3. For obvious reasons pointing is not resorted to in loose play as it is too dangerous, but it can be practiced when learning.

Unfortunately for Barton-Wright, bartitsu declined in popularity by 1903 and was actually eclipsed by jiu-jitsu, as taught by the Japanese martial artists he invited to England. Though bartitsu was adopted by women, jiu-jitsu was taken up by women and children with alacrity, and the former in particular were avid martial artists, as newspapers and periodicals expressed the need for unprotected women to arm themselves in case of assault. Indeed, after bartitsu’s decline, a woman, Mrs. Edith Garrud, established her own dojo, which became a haven for suffragettes, who took on the sport to defend themselves during their violent clashes with police (Tony Wolf has written a book on Mrs Garrud and the “jiujitsusuffragettes,” available here). After the closure of his school, Barton-Wright turned to physical therapy, and if not for the mention (though misspelled) of this short-lived fad by Conan Doyle, bartitsu would have remained a footnote in history. Today, the Bartitsu Society, founded in 2002, revives this long-forgotten sport, and combines historical martial arts with modern martial arts, making a complete and attractive bridge between us and our Victorian forebears!

Despite its roots in European paganism, Halloween is a thoroughly American holiday. During the Gilded Age, Americans took Halloween quite seriously, even going so far as to celebrate it wherever they happened to be–as German society soon discovered when the expatriates residing in Berlin shook up the Kaiser’s capital with “games, Jack-o-lanterns, mince pies, and other Hallowe’en hijinks.” Americans of this time spread their Hallowe’en celebrations from the 31st of October until the morning of the 3rd of November, a period know as Allhallowtide.

During the Colonial days only those who kept the customs of England celebrated Hallowe’en, partaking of such amusements as apple-ducking and snapping, and girls trying the apple-paring charm to reveal their lovers’ initials and the comb-and-mirror test to see their faces. Otherwise, ballads were sung and stories told, for the dead where thought to return on Hallowe’en. However, the customs did not take root in American culture until the late 1840s, with the widespread migration of the Irish to the United States, and the immigration of the Scottish after the 1870s, solidified the holiday. Hallowe’en was initially a home celebration, where Irish- and Scottish-Americans hosted parties and balls, with perhaps a recitation of Robert Burns’ poem “Halloween” or a telling of Irish legends.

By the turn-of-the century the holiday was thoroughly commercialized–Halloween postcards, and decorations made by Dennison Manufacturing Company (which published its first Halloween catalog in 1909) and the Beistle Company–and could be thoroughly unsafe. Now vandalism and violence in the streets terrorized the holiday, and by the 1910s, neighborhood organizations came together to encourage a safe Halloween, and now, rather than playing tricks on their neighbors, children went from door to door receiving treats. By the 1930s, “beggar’s nights” had become very popular, and the concept of “trick-or-treating” rose in popularity, becoming the practice for Halloween celebrations after WWII.

As for traditional celebrations, bobbing for apples, carved pumpkins, and candy corn (The Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia was the first to commercially produce candy corn in the 1880s) commemorated the harvest season. While it was not unusual for the children to be put to bed and the adults to depart for riotous Hallowe’en parties, the holiday became one of the few occasions where people of all ages could celebrate with one another.

Further Reading:
The book of Hallowe’en by Ruth Edna Kelley
Games for Hallow-e’en by Mary E. Blain
Food Timeline: Halloween foods: Traditions and Party Menus
Wikipedia: Halloween customs
Halloween: An American Holiday, An American History by Lesley Bannatyne
Death Makes A Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween by David J. Skal

Newport, known as the Queen of Resorts, or as Elizabeth Drexel Lehr stated ironically in her memoirs: “the very Holy and Holies, the playground of the great ones of the earth from which all intruders were ruthlessly excluded,” was transformed each summer for the sole and very conspicuous consumption of New York’s most exclusive society. Entree into this tiny kingdom by the sea was highly sought after, and nothing–not wealth, lavish entertainments, nor even making a splash in the highest European circles could crack this nut–as the grand doyenne of Chicago society, Mrs Potter Palmer, soon discovered when she made her first foray into the city. But Mrs Palmer was made of sterner stuff and she kept battering the gates of social recognition until the Mrs Astor had to acknowledge her Midwest counterpart. Many others, however, were not so determined nor so successful in their attempts to enter Newport society, and defeated and with lightened pockets, they were apt to sail away to more congenial climes, perhaps even Narragansett Pier, a smart Rhode Island city, though not as smart as Newport, of course.

Prior to the early 1880s, Newport was a sleepy town whose charm lay largely in its agreeable climate and quaint Georgian air. Prior to the Civil War, Southerners journeyed north to Newport to escape the sweltering heat of their summers and did not disturb the genial air blanketing the city. A small but recognizable number of wealthy elites from other cities began to arrive in Newport, also attracted by the weather, and built the first mansions–but these were simple and modest, as native Newporters frowned on ostentatious display. Mrs August Belmont, a member of the Four Hundred, attempted to recreate the social milleu of New York but it wasn’t until Mrs. Astor, at the urging of Ward MacAllister, summered there that Newport officially arrived for the Four Hundred. The Astors purchased Beechwood in 1881 and promptly spent $2 million renovating it to their standards. Following in their steps was Alva Vanderbilt who in 1888 was given carte blanche to design and build a Newport estate by her husband as a birthday present. She hired Richard Morris Hunt and mischievously erected a tall wall around the construction site to keep away prying eyes. Marble House cost $11 million to build and furnish and Alva threw a ball to celebrate the completion of her “cottage” in 1892.

Just as the Vanderbilt mansions on upper Fifth Avenue sparked a rush to build magnificent mansions to replace the declasse brownstones of yesteryear, Alva’s Newport cottage was a gauntlet thrown to others, including her own brother-in-law, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to build a mansion even greater than Marble House. This was The Breakers. The ground was broken in 1893 and two years and seven million dollars later, Cornelius threw open the doors to this seventy room mansion to the awe of everyone. The Breakers stood on 13 acres of land at Ochre Point and faced the ocean, whose spray and crashing surf provided a dramatic backdrop to this impressive “cottage.” Joining Beechwood, Marble House, and The Breakers were other magnificent cottages such as Chateau-sur-Mer, The Elms, Rosecliff, Belcourt Caste, Ochre Court and Rough Point. These mansions and the accompanying wealth surrounding them completely changed the tone of Newport. Now, the city was all about the very, very rich.

Though the only hotels in Newport were for the lodging of salesmen from Tiffany, Mumms and other purveyors of luxury items, it was quite easy to “crash” the city, and the year-round inhabitants kept the Four Hundred from total exclusivity. To mitigate unwanted persons from mingling with them, a number of financial hurdles were erected, such the rather steep fee of keeping up appearances. For example, one could buy membership to the Newport Casino for $500, but keeping up appearances afterward was a pill for it was not unknown for an average “cottager” to spend $25,000-$40,000 on staff and maintenance of their residence alone. Women were expected to have on hand 80-90 new dresses, as no one ever wore a dress twice, and an entertaining budget of at least $150,000! And gentlemen weren’t exempt for Newport was one of the principle yachting centers in America, as the America’s Cup sailed annually in the vicinity, and the costs of buying and outfitting a yacht could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, minus the cost of keeping the boat in tip-top shape.

Stamina was also a requirement for the schedule was grueling and tightly regulated:

8-9 am: Breakfast. Change into riding habit
9-10 am: Morning ride. Change into day dress and drive in a phaeton behind a matched pair to the Casino, or to shop.
11-noon: Swimming at Bailey’s Beach.

According to Elizabeth Drexel Lehr, “Only the elite could bathe at Bailey’s Beach. It was Newport’s most exclusive club. The watchman in his gold-laced uniform protected its sanctity from all interlopers. He knew every carriage on sight, fixed newcomers with an eagle eye, swooped down upon them and demanded their names. Unless they were accompanied by one of the members, or bore an introduction from an unimpeachable hostess, no power on earth could gain them admission. If they wanted to bathe, they could only go to Easton’s Beach—’The Common Beach’ as the habitues were wont to call it. There they would have the indignity of sharing the sea with the Newport townspeople, referred to by Harry Lehr [her husband], who was fond of quoting the sayings of Louis XIV, as ‘Our Footstools.’”

Noon-2 pm: Luncheon on yacht or picnic on a local farm
2-3 pm: Drive to Polo Field to watch a polo match from carriage
3-5 pm: Promenade in carriage down Bellevue Avenue. Cards are left.
5-8 pm: Tea on lawn or terrace. Change for dinner
8-10 pm: Dinner on yacht, or supper before the weekly Casino dance, to which tickets are sold for $1 to spectators
10 pm-early morning: Dances, cultural offerings, theme balls with second supper at midnight and breakfast as dawn breaks over Sakonnet Point

With such tightly-restrained gaiety, it’s a given someone would break out to lessen the monotony, and for the staid Newport schedule, Harry Lehr and his Triumvirate, of whom Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish was his prime cohort, were at their service. Horseback dinners and Little Egypt scandals aside, it was in Newport that many of the Four Hundred’s grossest indulgences were, well, indulged in. Mamie Fish treated Gilded Age society as a plaything, establishing her modus operandi early on by declaring “I’m so tired of being hypocritically polite,” and was known for kicking her guests out of her home when she grew tired of them (accordingly, her invitations were highly sought after). With Harry Lehr at her side, the two terrorized Newport society, throwing dogs dinners, servant suppers and monkey fetes. So notorious were their antics, the more conservative members snubbed them–but that didn’t stop Mamie or Harry one bit. A particular antic that survives in the annals of history involves Grand Duke Boris of Russia who came to America at the invitation of Mary Goelet. Mamie announced a ball at Crossways in honor of the Grand Duke and purposely excluded a favorite of Mrs Goelet’s from the guest list. Mary retaliated by letting it be known none of her friends would attend. Mamie refused to be checkmated and turned to Harry for advice. When guests arrived at the Fish residence they were informed that Mamie’s guest of honor was Tsar Nicholas II! The eager guests bowed low when the doors were thrown open to announce the entrance of His Imperial Majesty–Harry Lehr dressed as a Tsar! Everyone had a great laugh over this, including the Grand Duke who met Harry the next day to crown him King Lehr.

When the summer ended so did the season, though after the turn of the century a few socialites stayed on into the early fall, and the Four Hundred moved on to its next social enclave. This jewel in the crown of New York society began its slow descent by the outbreak of WWI and though it retained prominence as the social resort, the new generation of idle rich found the Gilded Age mansions rather cumbersome and outmoded. Thankfully many of these outstanding mansions remain standing and available for tours to retain an appreciation for American social and architectural history.

Further Reading:
A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs Astor in Gilded Age New York by Greg King
Newport Villas: The Revival Styles 1885-1935 by Michael C. Kathrens
Wicked Newport: Sordid Stories from the City by the Sea by Larry Stanford and J. Bailey
The Golden Summers: An Ancient History of Newport by Richard O’Connor
The ultra-fashionable peerage of America by Charles Wilbur de Lyon Nicholls
This Fabulous Century: 1900-1910 by The Editors of Time Life
To Marry An English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace
Baedeker’s United States, 1909 by Karl Baedeker
Class and Leisure at America’s First Resort
The Newport Postcard Museum

The Edwardian era saw the growth of golf into a worldwide sport. Despite a brief entry into English consciousness in the 15th and 16th centuries, the game became wildly popular outside of Scotland when Englishmen founded the Royal North Devon Club at Westward Ho! in 1864. There were golf clubs in Britain before this–and indeed the first golf course was St Andrews in Fife (est circa 1506)–but they were founded by Scotsmen for Scotsmen, retaining the sport’s insular popularity. After the foundation of the Royal North Devon Club, the sport of golf spread throughout England and beyond, into the United States.

Golf’s overwhelming popularity was sparked by the obsession of the Anglo-Scots politician, Arthur Balfour. Though he came to the game late in life and was actually never a very good player, he nonetheless destroyed the image of golf as being an old man’s game and replaced it with the image of a sport suitable for relaxation for a busy man. The other influence for the avid playing of golf was the sheer skill shown by Scottish players in the 1880s and 1890s, whose methods were then adopted by American and English golf players. Fittingly, in Scotland all classes of people continued to play golf, whereas in England and especially America, it became aligned with the idle rich. By the turn of the century, there were hundreds of golf links dotting the British and American landscapes, and in the latter country, the rise of golf coincided with the development of the country club.

Between the years 1894 and 1914, the “Triumvirate”–Englishman J.H. Taylor, Scotsman James Braid, and Channel Islander Harry Vardon–dominated the open championships, raising the bar for sportsmanship to inhuman levels. This also translated to the skill level of women. Ladies played golf in Scotland but it spread more rapidly in England and especially in London where, in 1893, the Ladies Golf Union was formed. The best women golfers at the beginning of the century were in Northern Ireland, chief among them May Hazlet and Rhona Adair, who won five English and nine Irish championships between 1900 and 1908. Dorothy Campbell (Mrs. Hurd) was equally a dynamo, winning the Scottish women’s championship three times and the British twice. She then moved to America where she won the American National twice and the Canadian Open three times. The most important women golfers of the Edwardian era were Lottie Dod and Cecil Leitch. Dod came to golf from a background in tennis, where she had won the women’s singles lawn tennis championship at Wimbledon five times. She was also an international hockey player and the best woman archer in Britain, making her a pioneer figure in British women’s sport. Leitch played golf from childhood and set a new standard of iron play for women.

The development of the sartorial side of golf arose after the sport spread beyond Scotland. When American players first came to play on British courses they caused a great degree of interest by appearing on the links without their coats and vests and played in nothing but shirtsleeves and suspenders. The old guard looked upon this attire with disapproval, believing the correct garb in which to play golf was a heavy tweed suit. A middle ground was reached, though Americans continued to play coatless, with a pair of tweed knickerbockers, golf coat with pleats to allow movement, and a tweed cap. Ladies were warned in their golf books from donning “mannish” attire as ties, bloomers and caps, but the majority conformed to notions of femininity and went out to play in heavy tweed skirts, straw boaters and thick, sprigged boots. Despite this, many saw golf as an emancipator for “none of the pre-golf pasttimes led their devotees so far afield or brought them together in such numbers as golf has done.”

Further Reading:
Edwardian England, 1901-1914; ed by Simon Nowell-Smith
Ladies’ Golf by May Hazlet
The Book of Golf and Golfers by Horace Gordon Hutchinson