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REAL story of Mamie Fish and her Primate Prince, whose parties horrified Gilded Age America, is too wild for even HBO's new hit series
Mamie Fish was no great beauty. Nor was she especially rich or well educated. But she became the life and soul - literally - of New York's Gilded Age party scene.
Mamie's invitations were the hottest tickets in town – and everyone from the old money Astors and Vanderbilts to celebrities like Oscar Wilde and Sarah Bernhardt clamored to be a part of these legendary, no-expense-spared events, even if that meant dodging lightbulbs thrown by an intoxicated chimp. Her initial soirees displeased societal arbiters like Ward McAllister, the man played by Nathan Lane in the HBO series, who compiled the list of 'the 400' most influential people in New York society. At her annual Harvest Ball, guests were required to dress as farmers, and ate on long wooden tables, while Mamie's home was decorated with scarecrows, haybales and thousands of sunflowers.
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