Was there a social class system in New York in the 1950s?

Answer 1

Absolutely. For what it is worth, as long as there are people who inherit money, people who earn various amounts of money, there will be always be a social class system. In the 50's there was an aristocracy of inherited money and social position, families like the Biddles (originally a Philadelphia Main Line family), the Astors, the Vanderbilts, etc., who were loosely termed "the 400" based on a fairly famous guest list put together by (I think) Mrs. Vincent Astor in the late 1800's; this group was also generically termed "high society". There were those who were in the arts and often accepted into the upper social circles (musicians and fine artists come to mind), there was the upper level of the business world (doctors, partners in law firms -which were often founded by members of the old 400 families- etc.), who might marry into the wealthiest families, assuming the person went to the "right" schools and knew the "right" people. After that, social class was largely defined by money and education, tho it was unusual for someone who worked for a living to crack into upper levels of society (assuming they wanted to). A look at the homes in Manhattan, basically backs this up - wealthy people lived on Park and Fifth Avenues, less wealthy people (at the time) owned brownstones up and down the Upper East Side streets, but the closer to Park and Fifth Avenues, the wealthier you were considered. As you move out from Park and Fifth Avenues, the real estate became more affordable, and more affordable generally meant people who worked for a living.