The Passing of the Idle RichMartin, Frederick Townsend
History
The Passing of the Idle Rich
Martin, Frederick Townsend
Rich people -- United States; United States -- Social conditions -- 1865-1918; Wealth -- United States
The leader of a wealthy clique in a Western city was struck with a
unique idea. He was tired of spending money. There was nothing new
for which to spend it. He gave a “poverty social.” The thirty guests
came to his palatial home in rags and tatters. Scraps of food were
served on wooden plates. The diners sat about on broken soap boxes,
buckets, and coal-hods. Newspapers, dust cloths, and old skirts were
used as napkins, and beer was served in a rusty tin can, instead of the
conventional champagne. They played being poor for one night, and not
one of them but joined in ecstatic praise of their host and his unusual
ability to provide a sensation.
A bored individual with a fondness for gems covered as much of his
person as possible with diamonds. When he walked abroad, he flashed and
sparkled in the sunlight. He, also, became the possessor of a happy
inspiration. He went to his dentist and had little holes bored in his
teeth, into which the tooth expert inserted twin rows of diamonds. He
had found another way of spending money.
A Southern millionaire purchased an imported motor car. It cost him
twelve thousand dollars when it came off the ship. He looked at it in
scorn and called in decorators. The car was refitted completely. It was
equipped with two diminutive rooms, a living apartment, and a sleeping
room. Hot and cold water fixtures were put in and space was found for a
small bath-tub. A kitchen with a full equipment of cooking utensils was
added, and, when the various tradesmen and mechanics completed their
work, the car resembled a complete and luxuriously furnished home on
wheels. The original cost of twelve thousand dollars had been brought
up to thirty thousand and the owner was temporarily contented.
Very young and very wealthy was the young man whose attentions to an
embryonic actress amused a community a few years back. It was the young
man’s opinion that he was desperately in love with the lady, who in
later years married a publisher of songs. The millionaire youngster
showered the girl with gifts. He gave her rings, bracelets, necklaces,
and diamond-studded combs for her black tresses until she glistened
from head to foot. The very buttons of her gloves were diamonds and her
shoes were fastened with monster pearls. The question of taste never
entered into the situation. It was simply the spending of money and
the bedecking of a coarse, but crafty, stage girl. In three years, she
succeeded in throwing away almost a million dollars for the deluded
youngster, at the end of which time they parted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account