Gilded Age Documentary: Ward McAllister

Who was the so-called Arbiter of the Gilded Age, the Autocrat of the Drawing Rooms, Samuel Ward McAllister (1827–1895)? This Southern born gourmand revolutionized American cooking with his emphasis on farm grown dishes, picnics and turkey. A lawyer by trade, McAllister or "Mc" lived in Europe for five years and sat at Queen Victoria's table, enhancing his appeal to New York society. Back in New York, McAllister relied on his family's turkey plantation and madeira cellars for favor. His farm, Bayside Farm, contained 10,000 fruit trees planted by McAllister himself. Under the patronage of his distant cousin, Mrs. Caroline (Schermerhorn) Astor, McAllister reached great heights but his favor came crashing down after the publication of his 1890 memoir "Society As I Have Found It".

Sources:

Ward McAllister, Society as I Have Found It (1890), https://www.gutenberg.org/files/55300/55300-h/55300-h.htm

Rebecca Onion, The Gilded Age on HBO, Slate.com, https://slate.com/culture/2022/02/gilded-age-hbo-nathan-lane-ward-mcallister.html

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