Flappers & Fiction

To the Victorian world, the American character possessed one defining flaw: a vulgar worship of the “Almighty Dollar.” Yet this sharp 1890 defense argues precisely the opposite. While London society bows to the eldest son and arranges marriages by bank account, the author suggests the American spirit remains surprisingly unmercenary. From the lack of deference in our shops to the reckless romanticism of our weddings, discover why a nation of money-makers might actually care less about riches than the aristocrats looking down on them.