Dreaming of living life as a richer , more popular version of yourself — and , obviously , as rich and more popular than your rivals — is a timeless enterprise . Every geezerhood has had its ruthless societal climbers , and the Gilded Age at the turn of the 20thcentury — when the gap between the rich and the poor was particularly immense — was no elision . Before realness television or Instagram fame were around to sling people up the social run , here are the often - extreme measures would - be socialite had to resort to .
1. Seduce someone rich.
Marriage has always been a great path to weasel your way into the upper class ( and for some , still is ) . Entrap a rich businessman or loaded widow with your beguiling attentions , then sit back and delight the lavish company for the eternal rest of your life . Before all these nettlesome notion of “ passion ” and “ romance ” became commonplace , marriage was seen as a occupation determination , one in which young people and their parents would jockey for position trying to secure a betrothal to the most socially and economically profitable match potential .
2. Find a lord who’s fallen on hard times.
At the remainder of the 19th 100 , America ’s richest course of study was full of industriousness titans , whose fortunes had been late produce in railroads or manufacture . They were vagabond in dough , but the nouveau riche did n’t always ingrain older - money aristocrat . British aristocrats , on the other manus , had mess of social clout but crumple fortunes . A wedlock between , say , a wealthy American steel inheritress and a struggling British lord would save the lord ’s debt - ridden land while catapulting the gentlewoman into a novel story of social sophistication .
3. Cross your fingers and pray a distant relative kicks the bucket before he can have a son.
While the American moneyed classes could leave their destiny to whomever they wish , European gentry have always been more restrict . In England , for instance , aristocratic titles and estates still must go to the oldest manful descendent ( the crapper is the exclusion ) . The firstborn daughter of a lord is SOL once her beginner dies ; his wealth will go to the oldest male in his line , even if it ’s a distant cousin . So if you happen to be of modest means but have a far - flung relative with no male heir , you could stand to inherit his intact chance , even if you ’ve never met the man ( extra brownie points if you hook up with one of his now - displaced girl ) .
4. Fervently hope an older brother dies.
Fancy aristocratic titles like earl and duke ( and the fortunes that company them ) only go to the old son , per a system called primogeniture . All other children are doomed to a life of envy and gall . However , if some … fortuity … were to betide all the older sons who suffer before him in demarcation , a young brother would stand to inherit that grand castle that once seemed so impossibly out of range . As it happens , disease had a comparatively high chance of taking out children in 1900 anyway , so chances were relatively high that your sibling might die young .
5. Make a ton of money.
The sheet - to - rich tale is an American basic . They say that money ca n’t purchase you passion , but if enough libraries are name after you , it ’s hard for multitude to indicate that you ’re one of the riffraff . Andrew Carnegie , for instance , was yield a poor weaver ’s son in Scotland , but became one of the richest men in America by the remainder of his life as a steel baron . Before he died , Carnegie render $ 350 million to libraries and university , making himself a home name in the summons .
6. Join the military.
Becoming an police officer in the military could set up you into the respectability of a gentleman’s gentleman . You generally had to have money to become an officer ( until the 1870s , British soldiers had to buy their officeholder ’s perpetration ) , but a uniform could turn Modern money into a modicum of upper - class self-respect .
And in the Gilded Age , the U.S. military elite made bank . Officers almost always get from at least the middle class , but even the lowest rank and file of officers made well enough money to enjoy the living of the bourgeoisie . You be intimate , if you could leave the frontier for long enough to enjoy it .
7. Find God.
For Catholic man , becoming a priest was a way to achieve greater position in the community . climb up the religious life history ladder was also a manner to climb the social and economic ladders — though with anti - Catholic opinion take to the woods high during the Gilded Age , the gain might not render as much to the world at large .
8. Vacation at a fancy resort.
Once upon a time , traveler had little choice but to chafe elbows at the local inn , whether they were wealthy merchant or poor Pilgrim . However , in the early 20th 100 , a whole sight of unlike repair options ( at different Mary Leontyne Price points ) opened up . The plentiful and fashionable of the Northeast vacation in mythical Newport , while the commoners head to Coney Island ( as if ! ) . Where you could afford to drop your leisure time meter aver more than a little something about your social position .
9. Fake it.
Before the net made it wanton to dig into a alien ’s past , it was n’t knockout to completely fabricate a crime syndicate story . Oh , you ’re a count from a far - flung land ? Sure ! In nineteenth century France , for instance , petty noble often invented title that were not de jure theirs . These became known as titles of courtesy . So , when in doubt , just excogitate a sheer - faced lie and say it confidently while looking down your olfactory organ . How could someone defy call into question a mortal of such imposing heritage as yourself ?
