"In America, there is Society. Then there is Real Society. Real Society is part of Society, the upper part. Everybody who is in Society knows who the people in Real Society are. But the people in Real Society do not necessarily know who the other Society people are. The two groups seldom mix. Real Society is composed of older people. It is composed of older families. Older families are better people. Better people are nicer people. Newer people may be richer people than older people. That doesnt matter. Ordinary Society people may get to be Real Society people one day only if they work at it. It sounds confusing but its really very simple. Cream rises to the top."

Stephen Birmingham (1968), The Right People



Despite the obvious pretention of this quote, there is something very true in its portrayal of how the upper class in America was percieved for the greater part of the 20th century. They were America's Aristocracy, and though wealth was indeed a part of it, much of being part of that world had to do with things money couldn't buy. This is no longer the case. With the rise of the media and a newfound emphasis on equality and meritocracy, the idea of high society in America is being completely redefined. America's aristocarcy as they were are dying out with this generation. This is my attempt to capture that way of life, in some way, before it is truly gone.

Nicholas Mele