THE APPRAISER CALLS
Encounters with Aristocracy
by
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“When I first began my career [as an art appraiser in the ‘70s], America became enthralled with “Upstairs/Downstairs.” Now, forty years later, new versions of the same story lines have recaptured our fascination. While these have been pure fiction, what follows are true vignettes of Old Money life from my years among the rich and quietly famous. And I can assure my readers the real Biddles, DuPonts, and Rockefellers exhibited all the grandeur, falderal—and occasional witlessness—of their made-up British counterparts.”
—from The Appraiser Calls, Encounters with Aristocracy
“The knowledgeable and always entertaining John Hazard Forbes takes us along as he unlocks the secret enclaves of exclusive families, often exposing much more than the mere value of their possessions.”
—E. Shaver, bookseller
The Appraiser Calls is the latest addition to the Old Money America book series. Each chapter is a true recollection of the author’s encounters with the very rich and quietly famous. Within each self-contained chapter, the reader will meet remarkable people of elegance, whimsy, courage, foolishness, and tragedy – plus the cover-up of a nasty crime.
The Addendum section includes notes on Old Money savior faire, the secret language of America’s oldest and richest families, and an actual room by room appraisal of every item inside an elegant New York City townhouse.
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About the Book
“When I first began my career [as an art appraiser in the ‘70s], America became enthralled with “Upstairs/Downstairs.” Now, forty years later, new versions of the same story lines have recaptured our fascination. While these have been pure fiction, what follows are true vignettes of Old Money life from my years among the rich and quietly famous. And I can assure my readers the real Biddles, DuPonts, and Rockefellers exhibited all the grandeur, falderal—and occasional witlessness—of their made-up British counterparts.”
—from The Appraiser Calls, Encounters with Aristocracy
“The knowledgeable and always entertaining John Hazard Forbes takes us along as he unlocks the secret enclaves of exclusive families, often exposing much more than the mere value of their possessions.”
—E. Shaver, bookseller
The Appraiser Calls is the latest addition to the Old Money America book series. Each chapter is a true recollection of the author’s encounters with the very rich and quietly famous. Within each self-contained chapter, the reader will meet remarkable people of elegance, whimsy, courage, foolishness, and tragedy – plus the cover-up of a nasty crime.
The Addendum section includes notes on Old Money savior faire, the secret language of America’s oldest and richest families, and an actual room by room appraisal of every item inside an elegant New York City townhouse.
About the Author
John Hazard Forbes is a Mayflower descendant, an Ivy League graduate, and his branch of the Forbes clan appears in Burke’s Peerage. His mother’s people—the Hazards of Newport, Rhode Island—included a governor, two commodores, and a general at Gettysburg. Forbes’ wife, Christina, is from one of the grand old families of Savannah.
Outside his immediate circle, Forbes’ thirty-five year career as an art expert and appraiser gave him unusual entrée into the houses and lives of many rich, long-standing families. Art experts must be observant, and no detail – regardless of how small—can go unnoticed. So along with their artwork, John Hazard Forbes observed the customs, manners, and viewpoints of America’s established elite.
Everything in his OLD MONEY AMERICA books is rooted in Forbes’ interactions with some of America’s most remarkable patricians. Having known elites in New York, Pennsylvania, New England, the Mid-west, and the South, he is in a unique position to report on the attitudes and behaviors of our own unique brand of aristocracy.