The famous socialite and interior decorator, Elsie de Wolfe, was born on this day in 1859. Elsie is most well-known for her 1913 book The House in Good Taste; In a review of the book’s enormous influence, The New Yorker would eventually write that ”interior design as a profession was invented by Elsie de Wolfe.”

An older Elsie de Wolfe photographed amongst the extravagance of her Paris apartment (x).

Ella Anderson de Wolfe was born on December 20, 1859 in New York City. Her father was a Canadian-born doctor who provided a comfortable life for his family, but in a look back at her childhood, Elsie would say that she went through life as “a rebel in an ugly world.” When she was young, Elsie began a career as an actress. She appeared in a few plays and one act comedies but enjoyed no real success. It was while travelling with the Empire Stock Company and assisting in the art of staging plays that she found herself interested in interior design.

The passion for design and aesthetics was already there, but it took pulling some string to get Elsie de Wolfe’s name on the map. Once Elsie began foraying into the uncharted territory of interior design as a career, it was her partner Elisabeth Marbury who secured her such prestigious clients as Amy Vanderbilt, Henry Clay Frick, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Although Elsie was simply known as an actress of mediocre fame in the 1890s, Elisabeth was a wildly successful literary agent who had managed the likes of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. The two had first met at a party and soon entered into a Boston Marriage; it was her partnership with Elisabeth and the design of their multiple New York Homes that truly made Elsie’s reputation.

Elsie with her partner of over 40 years, Elisabeth “Bessie” Marbury, in 1923 (x).

In 1926, Elsie was married to a diplomat by the name of Sir Charles Mendl and became the Lady Mendl. However, the marriage was only formed out of convenience for both parties and Elsie remained true to Elisabeth until her death. For the rest of their lives, the women moved through high society as the artsy lesbian power couple of New York City. One friend even described them as “"the willowy De Wolfe and the masculine Marbury… cutting a wide path through Manhattan society.” Elsie would be named the best-dressed woman in the world by Paris magazines in 1935 and be immortalized in the lyrics of multiple Cole Porter songs before her death on July 12, 1950 at the age of 90. Elisabeth has preceded her, passing away in 1933.

Elisabeth Marbury was one of the first female theatrical and literary agent and Broadway producers. She was born and raised in a wealthy and influential New York family and discovered her career amidst the amateur theatrical performances of late-Victorian New York high society. In 1891, she moved to Paris and became a literary agent, representing the interests of her European clients throughout the English-speaking world. In the United States, she joined several other agents in forming the American Play Company. Her work as a theatrical agent and producer contributed significantly to the development of the characteristically American form of musical comedy. In 1903, along with the American philanthropist Anne Tracy Morgan and the American heiress Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, Elisabeth Marbury helped found the Colony Club, New York's first women's social club. In 1923, she published an autobiography, « My Crystal Ball ». 

For 40 years, Elisabeth Marbury had an openly lesbian relationship with the renowned interior designer and socialite Elsie de Wolfe. They lived together in France, where they purchased and restored the Villa Trianon near Versailles (along with Anne Tracy Morgan), and then in New York City, at Irving House and later at 13 Sutton Place. In both France and the United States, they were renowned hostesses. Their Sunday salons became famous for hosting numerous American and European celebrities connected with the arts, society, and politics.

Yoruba tunic, late 19th-early 20th century, glass and stone beads, cloth (probably cotton), and thread, Princeton University Art Museum.

THIS MF IS THE MOST GECKO YOU CAN GETTTT!!!

New Caledonian Giant Gecko (Rhacodactylus leachianus), family Diplodactylidae, endemic to New Caledonia

This is the longest and heaviest gecko species in the world, growing up to 17 inches total length, and weighing up to 300 g.

Photo via:  Northern Gecko Specialty, firststategeckos

Photograph by Shannon’s Reptile Room

Photo via:  Coast To Coast Exotics Ltd

Eden

Standing Male Cupbearer. Sumerian, Iraq, 2900-2350 BCE.