Blog response

Through these blogs I learned a lot! In Alexis' I learned about a murder in the 1920s which had 3 victims involved. I also learned a lot about Coney Island in Noelle's blog. I thought it was interesting how the people set up the amusement park by having three different parks and with each being unique in its own way. Also in Marissa's blog I learn how Christmas became such a grand holiday! Overall everything I read was very interesting.

Elsie de Wolfe (Research)

In the 18Th century more people were middle class and began to spend more of their money on luxuries and leisure. With time being more open instead of working all the time people began to host parties and have people come to their house for social gatherings. Elsie de Wolfe opened the eyes of many people when it came to the presentation of their homes. She introduced more style to a home by the color of the room, the design of the furniture, the amount of light let in through elegant curtains, and the way all of this and accessories where placed in the space. De Wolfe opened the eyes of America to how a room can express a families or business' style, personality, and standards through the designs in that room.  

Some of Elsie de Wolfe work.

Elsie de Wolfe is known as one of the first interior designers in America. Born into wealth in New York, Elsie at a young age was know for acting, but even better known for her wardrobe in the plays she performed in. She became a professional actress and acted it comical and historical  plays with in the 1980s. De Wolfe was better known for her clothing, which her producers let her choose herself, then she was for her acting in the plays she performed in. Later De Wolfe moved in with a friend, Elisabeth Marbury, who was a powerful women figure in New York. Marbury a widely known as a successful literary agent and business representative for businesses in New York. When de Wolfe moved in the women cleaned out the space and de Wolfe introduced soft warm colors to the space and gave it some French elegance.  After de Wolfe did this task she decided she wanted to turn it into a profession and do it professionally.

Elsie sitting with some of her work

 She was given the opportunity to decorate and show her work to the public when Marbry decided to open a exclusive women's club called the Colony Club. Marbury chose de Wolfe to redecorate the space they had for the club because Marbury saw how de Wolfe redocorated the space they lived in. De Wolfe gave the club a new look that did not resemble a men's club. She created a causal female look with wicker chairs for furniture, light colored walls, light drapery, and tile covered floors. The decorations caught the attention of the ladies in the club and spread the word about de Wolfe and her work.

Some of Elsie's work

After de Wolfe being the talk of the town she began to redecorate more clubs, many private houses, opera boxes, a dormitory at Barnard College and she created a model house so others could view her work. As the word spread she started to work for very well-known families being the Morgans, Fricks, Windsors, and Vanderbilts. De Wolfe told America, "I opened up the doors and windows of America and let the air and sunshine in." Through all her hard work and popularity de Wolfe and her companion Marbury bought and restored the Villa Trinanon in Versailles, France. 

The Colony Club

Traveling to France she fell in love with the 18th century designs of English and French furniture. Taking these styles back to America, she introduced more comfortable furnishing, that had style, so it would be more comfortable for guest. This made having more parties popular because the people invited could enjoy themselves in a beautiful and comfortable atmosphere. 

Self Portrait 

Ten years of being a very successful interior designer, America entered World War I. She halted her work and became a nurse in France to help during the war. For this she earned the Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor. 


Elsie de Wolfe achieved many great things for a women in this time period and became a well known figure. She opened the eyes to many Americans and showed people how important the design of a room could be.

This year National Retail Federation believe that American will spend around six dollars more this year on halloween then last year. Last year it was estimated that we spent around 67 dollars on Halloween, making this years pricing around 73 dollars. This 73 dollars should cover costume, candy, and decorations for this holiday. From 2005 to 2011 the prices have gone up by 28 dollars. With Christmas (winter) coming in 1st with America's most retail spending being at 457.4 billion dollars , Halloween comes in 6th being at 5 billion dollars a year.

Home work question 9

The growing precipitation the Molly Maguires contributed to labor activism was motivated by dangerous radical.

From watching Faces of America I learned that we are all in a way immigrants. It showed us that our ancestors came to America many years ago. It is crazy to think that when you look at your class mates to think thy if you were sitting next to their ancestors from a hundred years ago they might be from a place different then your own. Its awesome to know that America is made up of so many different cultures all put together in on united nation. I believe the term nation of immigrants means that we are a nation of of previous immigrants to the country which there fore make us in a way immigrants are self.

To me it is crazy to think that my family before me lived in a different country and moved to America possibly for a new opportunity for jobs or because conditions were that great in their country. I wish I knew why my family members came to America and if they were possibly thinking about the future of their children and grand childrens life. I can understand why my irish ancestor came tO America, possible because the potato famine, but I am not sure about my others. This is some I wish to look into.

In the episodes of Faces of America it explores 12 well known people of America and exams their family history. The episode shows viewers that in a way we are all immigrants to America because our ancestors were immigrants to America at one time. The episodes can inspire others who watch the show to find out more about their family history. It showed the 12 people in the show where their families where from and what impact they had while they were alive.
The show inspired me to find out more about my ansestors. I discord that my last name Rathel is German and my middle name Hardin, which is a previous last name us Irish. I think that the show is a awesome example p how oblivious we are to knowing where our family roots came from, and what impact they had before they came to America. I deffinentaly recommend it to anyone who is interested in history or ancestry.

Carnegie- Philanthropist

On this web site I read that Carnegie was a philanthropist because he believed in the Gospel of Wealth. It stated that in 1902 he founded the Carnegie Institution which funded scientific research. He assisted the institution with a ten million dollar donation. He also gave money which provided 2,000 public libraries and he also gave $125 million to the Carnegie corporation to aid colleges and other schools.