Lore 309: Party Favors
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Who is Madame Cherie and what is her story?
She may have been Antoinette at birth, but to most people today, she's Madame Cherie. Born in Paris in 1878, Antoinette had a humble upbringing, working as a seamstress and a nightclub dancer. In 1909, she got married, a normal choice for a normal girl. Or, well, so she thought. But she soon discovered that her new husband wasn't quite who he seemed to be. No, the man that she knew as Andre was actually Anthony Macaluso, a fugitive from the law. But Antoinette didn't run the other way. No, instead she figured, hey, if he can fake an identity, why can't I? And so, with imagination and the art of the con on her side, the couple left Paris and moved to the best location on earth for starting fresh, New York City.
And so, goodbye Antoinette and hello Madame Cherie, one of the 1920s' most infamous socialites. Spinning backstories of glitz and glamour, these lovebirds wriggled among the city's elites. And it worked. Soon that humble seamstress was designing costumes on Broadway. But as we all know, nothing gold can stay. And when her beloved Anthony died in 1924, Madame Cherie was bereft. She ditched New York City, vanishing into 600 acres of New Hampshire woodlands. And there, deep in mourning and far from society, she built... A castle. Half Roman ruin, half French chalet. This place was lavish, festooned with furs and scarlet draperies, with a massive stone staircase winding up the side. It was like a real-life fairy tale.
But don't get me wrong here. Just because she moved into the woods didn't mean that she quit being a socialite. On the contrary, Madame Cherie became famous for her opulent drunken parties thrown right there in her forest palace. All the biggest names in the New York theater scene came to drink their way through Prohibition, while Madame Cherie reigned over it all from a cobra-backed chair she called the Queen's Throne. Now, what did the rural New Hampshire townies think of her? Nothing flattering, that's for sure, but she didn't care, flaunting her boa-clad, bejeweled self wherever she could. Eventually, though, the money ran dry and the madam's reign ended. She spent her final days in a nursing home, surviving on welfare until passing away in 1965 at the age of 87.
But while it lasted, that mysterious party girl and her forest castle had been one of New England's most glamorous secrets. And, well, if the stories are to be believed, maybe it still is. Because, you see, it's said that if you hike the public trails in the part of Chesterfield, New Hampshire now known as the Madame Cherie Forest, you might just hear the sounds of a phantom party wafting through the trees, while a shadowy costume woman hovers just out of sight. How will you know you're in the right spot? Oh, that's easy. Just look for a crumbling grand staircase curving upward toward the sky. That's right. The ruins of her castle are still there. It just goes to show some parties linger on long after the final guest has left.
I'm Aaron Manke, and this is Lore.
Thank you.
It was a time that was known as the Reign of Terror, and it certainly lived up to that name. As the most notorious stage of the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror was a nearly year-long stretch between 1793 and 1794 that would go down in history as one of the bloodiest times the world has ever seen, and it was all thanks to a rather ironically titled group called the Committee of Public Safety. Yeah, suffice to say, public safety may not have been the most accurate title for these guys. Essentially, this revolutionary committee put itself in charge of France, running the government as a dictatorship. And their favorite pastime? Killing any and all opposition to the revolution. And sure, that included executing rival political leaders as well as the ruling aristocracy, like Marie Antoinette's famous beheading.
But the Committee of Public Safety murdered plenty of ordinary citizens, too. Basically, if they decided that you weren't supporting the cause loudly and proudly enough, well, that was it. Off with your head.
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