The criticism in the newspapers and pulpits across the country was intense. The ball cost $370,000 at a time when $400 was the per capita annual income. One outraged protestant minister thundered: “You rich people put next to nothing in the collection plate, and yet you’ll spend thousands of dollars on Mrs. Bradley–Martin’s ball.” New York City promptly doubled the tax assessment on the couple’s New York mansion.
Read the rest of John Steele Gordon's essay in City Journal.
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