November 23-30, 1916
Thanksgiving, 1916 found Kate Roosevelt breaking-in a kitchen maid. “New waitress, Ida Anderson, came. She has cleaned the silver and I sent the Roosevelt Family “flat silver” and tea and coffee service to Dorothy.” Kate’s daughter, Dorothy Roosevelt Geer, was the recipient of the family heirlooms as well as a fine and pampered pedigree.
Servants
As the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt’s late cousin, Hilborne Roosevelt, the young widow was born with her own silver spoon in her mouth that afforded her the opportunity to enjoy the life of a socialite in New York City in the early twentieth century. She was an only child. Dorothy and her mother, Kate Shippen Roosevelt were best of friends and often went to the theater, concerts and social events together and of course celebrated all of the holidays with each other. A live-in governess for Dorothy’s two sons, Langdon Jr. and Shippen Geer, Miss Gowans, made this gad -about life style possible.
Ruth Chatterton in “Out of the Kitchen”
With the fledgling Ida Anderson in the kitchen helping to prepare Thanksgiving dinner, Kate and Dorothy were able to partake in “Come Out of the Kitchen,” a play that Kate described as “Rather pretty and amusing.” Based on the novel of the same name written by Alice Duer Miller it told the story of a reversal of fortune suffered by a formerly well-to-do southern family, the Dangerfields. When a wealthy investor from the north, played by Bruce McCrae, offers to lease the old Virginia plantation, he asks the family, that includes the beautiful Olivia Dangerfield, played by Ruth Chatterton and her siblings to stay on as cooks, housekeepers and butlers, offering them a reversal in roles as well. They were the ones used to having servants waiting on them.
Bruce McCrae
Staged at the George M. Cohan Theater on Broadway and 43rd Street, it was a romantic comedy performed in three acts. The plot was right up Kate Roosevelt’s alley. Light enough for a laugh yet saturated with satirical innuendos, the play was also thought provoking involving the issue of slavery in the South.
After reading Kate Roosevelt’s glowing review, I wondered if she knew anything about the author, Alice Duer Miller. A graduate of Barnard College, Miller actively influenced political opinion and her writings and poetry positively impacted the suffrage movement, a topic that Kate Roosevelt was not averse to voicing her own negative opinion on.
1916 Buick
Wrapping up the evening, Kate Roosevelt, wrote, “The new black and white taxis don’t come up as far as Broadway yet,” but she wasn’t worried about taking that mode of transportation that newspapers were boasting offered a luxurious, limousine-like ride for far less fares than the competition. Elmer McCue, her chauffeur, was waiting curbside. He was introduced in her diary as just another one of her employees. “Elmer McCue has been here in New York since Wednesday. He is here to be our chauffeur and houseman and will drive our new four cylinder Buick equipped with winter top.”
The theme this Thanksgiving seemed to be servants, those working on Southern plantations and those employed at plush apartments in New York City.
Sharon Hazard’s Dowager’s Diary appears on Thursday.
Photo One:
Alice Duer Miller’s Poem Illustrated in Puck’s Magazine
public domain
Photo Two:
Servants
Library of Congress
Photo Three:
Ruth Chatterton in “Out of the Kitchen”
public domain, 1916
Photo Four:
Bruce McCrae the actor
Actor’s Birthday Book
Photo Five:
1916 Buick
wiki
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