Black And White Ball
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The Black and White Ball was a
masquerade ball A masquerade ball (or ''bal masqué'') is an event in which many participants attend in costume wearing a mask. (Compare the word "masque"—a formal written and sung court pageant.) Less formal "costume parties" may be a descendant of this tra ...
held on November 28, 1966, at the
Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, a ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Hosted by author
Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
, the ball was in honor of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' publisher
Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, whi ...
.


Impulse

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
decided in June 1966 to throw a lavish party. He was at the height of his popularity as an author and as a public figure following the publication of his
non-fiction novel The non-fiction novel is a literary genre which, broadly speaking, depicts real historical figures and actual events woven together with fictitious conversations and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction. The non-fiction novel is an otherwi ...
, ''
In Cold Blood ''In Cold Blood'' is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote learned of the qua ...
'', earlier that year. For the first time Capote had the financial resources to host a party he deemed worthy of the friends he had cultivated in
high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...
. According to Capote's friend, the writer and editor
Leo Lerman Leo Lerman (May 23, 1914 – August 22, 1994) was an American writer and editor who worked for Condé Nast Publications for more than 50 years.Grimes, William (August 23, 1994). Leo Lerman, 80, Editor at Conde Nast Magazines. ''The New York Time ...
, Capote had declared in 1942 on a journey to the writer's colony
Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March  ...
that when he, Capote, became rich and famous he would throw a party for his rich and famous friends. Capote always discounted the story but through constant repetition it became part of the ball's legend. Capote's friend, author
Dominick Dunne Dominick John Dunne (October 29, 1925 – August 26, 2009) was an American writer, investigative journalist, and producer. He began his career in film and television as a producer of the pioneering gay film ''The Boys in the Band (1970 film), ...
, had given a black and white ball in 1964 for his tenth wedding anniversary. Capote attended with Alvin Dewey and others he had met while researching ''In Cold Blood''. Capote was also inspired by the " Ascot scene" from the film ''
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'' in which the women were all dressed in black and white.


Planning

After deciding to throw the party, Capote had to select a guest of honor. Throwing the party for himself would have been viewed by his society friends as vulgar. Rather than selecting from amongst his stable of beautiful society women he called his "swans", Capote chose ''The Washington Post'' publisher Katharine Graham. "Truman called me up that summer and said, 'I think you need cheering up. And I'm going to give you a ball.'...I was...sort of baffled....I felt a little bit like Truman was going to give the ball anyway and that I was part of the props." For his venue, Capote chose the Grand Ballroom of the
Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, a ...
in New York City. Capote had long held a deep affection for the Plaza, even setting the opening scene of his attempted first novel, ''
Summer Crossing ''Summer Crossing'' is the first novel written by American author Truman Capote. He started the novel in about 1943 and worked on it intermittently for several years before putting it aside. For over 50 years ''Summer Crossing'' was thought to be ...
'', in a Plaza dining room. Capote enlisted Evie Backer, who had decorated his apartment at United Nations Plaza, for the event's decor. Initially Capote planned to cover the ballroom's white and gold walls with heavy red drapes but Backer and Capote's friend
Babe Paley Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley (July 5, 1915 – July 6, 1978) was an American socialite, whose second husband William S. Paley was the founder of CBS. Known by the nickname "Babe" for most of her life, she was named to the International ...
convinced him to abandon this idea.Davis, p. 157 Instead he brought in the color with red tablecloths. Rather than flowers, Capote had the tables adorned with gold candelabra wound with
smilax ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...
and bearing white tapers. The menu, to be served at midnight, consisted of scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuits, pastries, spaghetti and meatballs and chicken hash, a specialty of the Plaza and one of Capote's favorite dishes. To drink, Capote laid in 450 bottles of
Taittinger Taittinger () is a French wine family who are famous producers of Champagne. The estate is currently headed by Vitalie Taittinger, who is the daughter of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger (born 1953), a member of the consultative committee of the Banq ...
champagne. Capote spent $16,000 on the ball.Gathje, p. 133


Guest list

Capote purchased a black-and-white composition book and spent most of July sitting by his friend Eleanor Friede's pool compiling his initial guest list. Capote carried the book with him everywhere he went for the next three months, constantly adding and deleting names. Among the guests were
Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, ''The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, whi ...
,
Lady Bird Johnson Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (''née'' Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 when ...
,
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
, the
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
,
Gloria Vanderbilt Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (February 20, 1924 – June 17, 2019) was an American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite. During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother ...
,
Babe Paley Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley (July 5, 1915 – July 6, 1978) was an American socialite, whose second husband William S. Paley was the founder of CBS. Known by the nickname "Babe" for most of her life, she was named to the International ...
, Billy Baldwin,
Marianne Moore Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. Early life Moore was born in Kirkwood, ...
,
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
, the Maharani of Jaipur,
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
,
Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also know ...
,
Gloria Guinness Gloria Guinness previously Gloria von Fürstenberg, née Rubio y Alatorre (27 August 1912 – 9 November 1980) was a Mexican socialite and fashion and cultural icon, as well as a contributing editor to ''Harper's Bazaar'' from 1963 to 1971, con ...
,
Lee Radziwill Caroline Lee Bouvier ( ), later Canfield, Radziwiłł (), and Ross (March 3, 1933 – February 15, 2019), usually known as Princess Lee Radziwill, was an American socialite, public-relations executive, and interior decorator. She was the y ...
,
Brooke Astor Roberta Brooke Astor (née Russell; March 30, 1902 – August 13, 2007) was an American philanthropist, socialite, and writer who was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation, established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, son of John Ja ...
, Pat Sheehan,
Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
, and the Italian Princess
Luciana Pignatelli Luciana Malgeri Pignatelli (13 January 1935 – 13 October 2008)Mary Tannen, "Why We Love Fashion? It's a Challenge—An Unfinished Woman", The New York Times, 23 February 2003 was an Italian socialite who was a social arbiter, spokesmodel for Cama ...
(wearing a 60-carat diamond borrowed from
Harry Winston Harry Winston (March 1, 1896December 8, 1978) was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchang ...
).


November 28, 1966

Leading up to the ball, many guests attended one of sixteen small private dinner parties that Capote's friends had been drafted to host.


Aftermath

The Black and White Ball was credited for an immediate upsurge in masquerade and costume parties. It has been described as "a pinnacle of New York's social history". Six days after the ball, on the December 4 episode of the television panel show ''
What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...
,'' panelist
Arlene Francis Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American actress, radio and television talk show host, and game show panelist. She is known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game s ...
wore the mask she had worn at the party, transformed into a blindfold. The wearing of blindfolds during the show's special Mystery Guest segment was customary on the part of the panel.


Re-creations

Princess
Yasmin Aga Khan Princess Yasmin Aga Khan (born December 28, 1949) is a Swiss-born American philanthropist known for raising public awareness of Alzheimer's disease. She is the second child of American movie actress and dancer Rita Hayworth, and the third child ...
hosted a Black and White Ball in 1991, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original. The ball, held in a tent outside
Tavern on the Green Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has been op ...
, was a charity event that raised $1.4 million for the Alzheimer's Association. In anticipation of selling the contents of the Plaza Hotel,
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
Auction House recreated the Black and White Ball in 2006 at
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
. The event followed Capote's dress code, schedule and menu exactly and the
Peter Duchin Peter Oelrichs Duchin (born July 28, 1937) is an American pianist and band leader. Early life and education Duchin was born in New York City, the son of pianist and band leader Eddy Duchin. His mother was Marjorie Oelrichs, a Newport, Rhod ...
Orchestra, which had played the original, played the recreation. TV chef
Ina Garten Ina Rosenberg Garten ( ; born February 2, 1948) is an American author, host of the Food Network program '' Barefoot Contessa'', and a former staff member of the Office of Management and Budget. Among her dishes are ''cœur à la crème'', celery ...
recreated a scaled-down version of the event for a themed dinner party on her daytime cookery show
Barefoot Contessa ''Barefoot Contessa'' is an American cooking show that premiered November 30, 2002, on Food Network, and is currently the oldest show on the network's daytime schedule. Hosted by celebrity chef Ina Garten, each episode features Garten assembli ...
. She served chicken hash followed by French toast and truffles for dessert, in keeping with the black and white theme of Capote's party.


Notes


References

* Clarke, Gerald (1988). ''Capote: A Biography''. New York, Simon & Schuster. . * Davis, Deborah (2006). ''Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball''. John Wiley & Sons. . * Gathje, Curtis (2000). ''At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel''. Macmillan. . * Nowell, Iris (2004). ''Generation Deluxe: Consumerism and Philanthropy of the New Super-rich''. Dundurn Press Ltd. . * Plimpton, George (1997). ''Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career''. New York, Doubleday. {{ISBN, 0-385-23249-7. Balls in the United States Masquerade balls Truman Capote 1966 in New York City November 1966 events in the United States