Old Money America: Aristocracy in the Age of Obama

The upper class. The upper crust. Brahmans, blue bloods, and high society. Patricians, plutocrats, and aristocrats. Each describes Americans who have enjoyed generations of wealth and prestige, but such people never use these terms. Old money is preferred. In Old Money America, author John Hazard Forbes shares an insider's view about old money and the life of America's upper class.

Forbes' thirty-five-year career as an art expert and appraiser gave him unusual entrée into the houses and lives of the old rich. Along with their collections, he closely examined the customs, manners, and viewpoints of America's upper crust. Old Money America presents a discussion of the:

• Ironies of old money
• Who and where of old money
• Financial secrets of old money
• Hallmarks of old money
• Care and housing of old money
• Secret language of old money
• Skeletons in the closet of old money
• Simple life of old money
• Gear and garb of old money

Having known the elites of New York, Pennsylvania, the Midwest, New England, and the South, Forbes is in a unique position to observe and report on his interaction with these remarkable, if often peculiar, people.