A reader question.
Dear Muffy,
It seems like there are iconic or historically meaningful locations that have been pivotal to the evolution of the preppy culture. You have shown some of them here, Murray’s Toggery in Nantucket, Choate, the Guilford green, the gravestone of Thomas Dudley, The University Club in New York, the site of the first Harvard-Yale Regatta in 1852, South Beach on Martha's Vineyard, the rowing boathouses along the Charles River. What are others, like Phillips Exeter, Brooks Brothers' original New York location, Newport's Rosecliff Mansion where scenes from The Great Gatsby (1974) were shot, and the John F. Kennedy's Hyannis compound? The more wonky the better!
If you're including boathouses along the Charles, you probably need to mention Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River near the Philadelphia Museum of Art - it's a place that's central to the development of rowing in the US, all built in the 19th century. In the interest of political fairness, the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Walker's Point. For prep schools, add Phillips Andover alongside Exeter and Choate. Yale's campus in New Haven, Harvard's campus in Cambridge.
ReplyDeleteJ. Press in New Haven. The original store was basically destroyed in the 2013 nor'easter, but they have a new spot. Newport and Annapolis as significant hubs for sailing and tennis; Newport is not only one of the great historic sailing locations with all the former America's Cup competitions but also hosts the tennis hall of fame and has grass courts. The historic districts in Charleston, S.C. and St. George's, Bermuda. Augusta National Golf Course as an iconic destination for preps who play or enjoy watching the game.
You beat me to it – I was going to mention Boathouse Row and also suggest substituting the Dad Vail Regatta for Harvard-Yale. And I too thought of Walker’s Point, which does not play as large a part in the popular imagination as Hyannisport but is more truly “the thing before preppy.”
DeleteNothing associated with the 1974 Great Gatsby movie counts – it was a historically bad film and in any case the themes of the novel were the corruption and moral bankruptcy of the Eastern establishment.
Thomas Dudley was certainly a man of prominence, but a Puritan in the strictest sense. My own ancestor, who arrived in Newtowne (Cambridge) in 1635, decamped during Dudley’s tenure to the Plymouth Colony, “tired of the theocratic orthodoxy of The Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England.”
Rather than naming J. Press or Brooks Brothers specifically, I might identify the more general area around 44th and Madison which was home to both of those establishments as well as Tripler, Paul Stuart, and Chipp (and maybe Mark Cross?). Expand that eastward to Grant Central Station and you take in the Algonquin Hotel and Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Penn, and NY Yacht Clubs, all on 44th.
A Choate grad once told me, “there really are only three prep schools, Andover, Exeter and St Paul’s. You can add Groton, but that’s like a cult. After these, it’s a very slippery slope. Many schools are basically in the lodging business.”
DeleteI think friends who attended some 'other' places like Hotchkiss, Deerfield, Middlesex, St. Andrews might take issue with your Choate friend.
DeleteFor the Harvard campus Sanders Theater and Memorial Hall will suffice. Durgin Park in Boston but it's been closed for a while now.
ReplyDeleteThe shadow on most any New England Congregational Church. The one in Harwinton Conn is particularly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIf we approach the desirable prep locals from the 30,000 foot level, on page 188 of the TOPH 38 New England locations are listed for consideration.
ReplyDeleteT OPH ?
DeleteTOPH = The Official Preppy Handbook - https://www.amazon.com/Official-Preppy-Handbook-Lisa-Birnbach/dp/0894801406
DeleteI’m puzzled. Wouldn’t that be like being of French descent and reading a book on how to become English and thinking that you could become English ?
DeleteTokeneke, Stockbridge, Roger Sherman Inn, W 44th Street as mentioned above, Trapp Family Lodge
ReplyDeleteBoathouse Row, J. Press, Durgin Park(in memory).Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLitchfield, Salisbury, Sharon... pretty much all of NW Connecticut.
ReplyDeleteSo true!
DeleteBlack Rabbit has the nicest patio. We took are kids for brunch before a Kent/Hotchkiss hockey game.
DeleteThough it is tempting to offer proper nouns, in New England, the little platoons of (the thing before) prep are blessedly all around. In mud rooms, a disposition, the roll of a collar, the smell of a 240 wagon with hockey and tennis bags in back (not always pleasant). Most of our institutions are in hollowed out disrepair in one way or another, well off their original purposes, but the preppy oversoul endures in a million small ways.
ReplyDeleteA wonderfully insightful comment. Thank you!
Deletesince you said "the more wonky the better", I'll add 'between the ears' to the list
ReplyDeleteSadly, the original Brooks Bros. location at 346 Madison Avenue in New York was retained by the man who caused the company to file for bankruptcy, i.e. the fraud and hack retailer Claudio Del Vecchio. He plans to develop the property now that he no longer has any connection to Brooks Bros. Despite nearly running BB into extinction, his family's wealth enabled him to retain the flagship store.
ReplyDeleteWhat is equally sad, is that CDV sold Brooks Bros. to one of the most avaricious mall operators in the world - SIMON MALL PROPERTIES. Like Del Vecchio, the Simon family has absolutely ZERO interest in preserving and protecting the historic legacy of Brooks Bros., the quality of its products or retaining customer's good will.
In the not-too-distant future, 346 Madison Avenue, NY, NY will be just another address along Madison Avenue and before long, people's memories of the flagship store that once stood there will fade away.
Brooks Brothers is a top choice for many. But it never could and still can’t supersede J. Press. Madison Avenue plays to the masses.
ReplyDeleteThe school and college crew "Sprints" rowing championships on Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, mass.
ReplyDeleteThe initial post suggests that 'the site of the first Harvard Yale Regatta in 1852' should be on the list. I wonder if he/she meant Center Harbor on Lake Winnipesaukee, NH (where those races were held that year) or the Thames River's Connecticut Red Top and Gales Ferry camps.
ReplyDeleteAll of Castine, Maine and since NY was mentioned in the op, the Antique Boat Museum's annual show and regatta in the Thousand Islands. While the museum is new, by our standards, ;) the boats are gorgeous examples of the kind of craftsmanship and stewardship that this community appreciates and which I consider to be part and parcel of WASP and prep culture.
ReplyDeleteTime to open the cottage!
Heidi
I have purchased art at the Susan P Adam gallery in Castine.
DeleteSurprised no one mentioned the Orvis flagship in Manchester VT or the LLBean flagship in Freeport ME…
ReplyDeleteFamily home and family cottage should be included as stickers one can paste into this atlas should it go to press
ReplyDeleteFenway Park of course!
ReplyDeleteI strongly second the inclusion of W. 44th, from Grand Central to 6th Ave, for all the reasons stated above (the Yale Club alone would suffice, but there are so many other "preppy" landmarks as well). Some other thoughts: In addition to the iconic white-steepled Congregational churches on so many NE town greens, the stone, square-towered, vaguely neo-Anglo-Norman Episcopal churches on those same town greens must be given their due (Christ Church in Guilford, Grace Church in Amherst, St. Stephen's in Middlebury, St. Luke's in Gladstone, the stunning St. Ann's at Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, among many others). The train from New Haven to Grand Central. "The Street" in Deerfield. The Mount Holyoke campus in South Hadley. Ashley Hall School in Charleston. The great old college-town inns: the Hanover Inn, the Middlebury Inn, the Lord Jeff in Amherst, the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill.
ReplyDeleteI like the addition of the old college-town inns! I would add the Colgate Inn to the list.
DeleteFour Seas Ice Cream in Centerville.
ReplyDeleteTrue!!
Delete