New York's Scoundrels, Scalawags, and Scrappers: The City in the Last Decade of the Gilded Age

By: John Tauranac

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Synopsis: The 1890s was the tail end of the Gilded Age. It was not a &“Golden Age,&” it was a veneer, and although the decade is specifically called &“The Gay Nineties,&” the gaiety was generally reserved for the top ten percenters. If you were a common working stiff—or worse, a common working &“stiffette&”—life was not so gay. Most New Yorkers played by the rules of the game, although some fudged a bit. Others, along with the managements of some businesses and some administrations of the municipality, played by totally different rules, successfully gaming the system to their advantage. The few who fought for truth and justice generally went down fighting. These are New York&’s scoundrels, scalawags, and scrappers.