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After deciding to throw the party, Capote had to select a guest of honor. Throwing the party for himself would have been viewed by his society friends as vulgar. Rather than selecting from amongst his stable of beautiful society women he called his "swans", Capote chose
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publisher
Katharine Graham. "Truman called me up that summer and said, 'I think you need cheering up. And I'm going to give you a ball.'...I was...sort of baffled....I felt a little bit like Truman was going to give the ball anyway and that I was part of the props."
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and bearing white tapers. The menu, to be served at midnight, consisted of scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuits, pastries, spaghetti and meatballs and chicken hash, a specialty of the Plaza and one of Capote's favorite dishes. To drink, Capote laid in 450 bottles of
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The Black and White Ball was credited for an immediate upsurge in masquerade and costume parties. It has been described as "a pinnacle of New York's social history". Six days after the ball, on the
December 4 episode of the television panel show
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that when he, Capote, became rich and famous he would throw a party for his rich and famous friends. Capote always discounted the story, but, through constant repetition, it became part of the ball's legend.
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For his venue, Capote chose the Grand
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wore the mask she had worn at the party, transformed into a blindfold. The wearing of blindfolds during the show's special
Mystery Guest segment was customary on the part of the panel.
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convinced him to abandon this idea. Instead he brought in the color with red tablecloths. Rather than flowers, Capote had the tables adorned with gold candelabra wound with
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pool compiling his initial guest list. Capote carried the book with him everywhere he went for the next three months, constantly adding and deleting names.
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decided in June 1966 to throw a lavish party. He was at the height of his popularity as an author and as a public figure following the publication of his
182:, for the event's decor. Initially Capote planned to cover the ballroom's white and gold walls with heavy red drapes but Backer and Capote's friend
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hosted a Black and White Ball in 1991, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original. The ball, held in a tent outside
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home in 1964 for their tenth wedding anniversary. Attendees at the Dunnes' ball included such luminaries as
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recreated a scaled-down version of the event for a themed dinner party on her daytime cookery show
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Rodman, Sarah Jane (2014). "Party of the
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Generation Deluxe: Consumerism and
Philanthropy of the New Super-rich
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At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel
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Master's Thesis, Harvard University Division of Continuing Education.
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The Black and White Ball is recreated and featured in episode 3 of
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Orchestra, which had played the original, played the recreation.
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Truman Capote's Grandest Affair: Inside the Black-and-White Ball
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Capote spent $ 16,000 on the ball (roughly $ 150,000 in 2024).
1182:"Everything We Know So Far About 'Feud: Capote vs. The Swans'"
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Auction House recreated the Black and White Ball in 2006 at
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in which the women were all dressed in black and white.
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1144:. October 2006. pp. 74–6.
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1037:.
891:,
834:,
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