The Gilded Age is a period in American history characterized by a rapidly growing economy, extreme social inequality, and political corruption. The term comes from the title of a novel penned by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner and published in 1873. The rapid economic growth during this period came from a boom in industrial activity, especially in the areas of steel, petroleum, and transportation. These industries were run as monopolies or oligopolies, lining the pockets of a select few. Collis Huntington, Belle’s lover and eventual husband, made his fortune as a railroad tycoon. Other prominent names that rose up during this time are also featured in the book, including the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers.

The men who made their money during the industrial boom of the Gilded Age were termed “robber barons,” and did not immediately gain acceptance into high society. New York high society, during the beginning of the Gilded Age in particular, continued to be run by families who came from ancestral money and elite social pedigree. The most prominent of social arbiters in this time included Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, known simply as Mrs. Astor, and her associate, Ward McAllister (Taylor, Elise and Stephanie Sporn.